<p> What’s been happening at the Gurung Playgroup?</p><p>Gurung Playgroup is located in the hall of Croydon Park Public School</p><p>These activities are available every week at the playgroup</p><p>Play dough – The reason this is beneficial to the children is because it helps children develop strength in their hands. By manipulating the play dough they are using muscles in their hands that are required for writing and holding a pencil. These are skills that ALL children will need when they begin school.</p><p>Parachute games – As a group we play games with the parachute. This teaches children to play alongside other children in a positive way. It also helps children to learn to follow simple directions. They will also learn about counting and colours.</p><p>Painting – Painting is often something that children can experience for the first time at playgroup. Children learn eye-hand coordination, they will develop their hand and arm strength and also learn colours, turn-taking and sharing.</p><p>Every week we sing songs at the end of the playgroup. This teaches children to sit and concentrate. They learn to count, listen, share, take turns and positive social skills. Children can also increase their vocabularies and learn new words and phrases.</p><p>Even though the children are ‘playing’, they are still learning many important skills that will help them have a positive start to school. It is never too young to expose your child to these types of activities and learn new skills or foster the ones they already have.</p><p>The children will learn to make friends with other children, which will make them feel good about themselves and contribute to their self-esteem.</p><p>Children who will be attending Croydon Park Public School and those who will attend other public schools will benefit by being in the school environment, as the playgroup is located in the school. They will feel more comfortable when they start school because they have been in a school hall, walked through the BIG playground and possibly even used the toilets at BIG school.</p>