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Educator Invitations and Provocations Community Spotlight – Bee Week, National Reconciliation Week, Pirates and More.

by The Empowered Educator Leave a Comment

 I've always found it inspirational to take a peek at other educator invitations and provocations for early learning.

Sometimes we just need a little help to think outside the box and use the materials and spaces we already have available in different ways to engage and connect with young children.

Some elements will work for the resources, environments and children you currently work with...and some won't. But it's always interesting to take a look through a different lens at how others approach early learning experiences, activities and environment setups.

My advice to educators though is always 'keep it simple' and REALISTIC.  

And that's why I'm so thankful to have a group filled with thousands of diverse, creative and generous people - all with an interest in early childhood and early learning.

With that in mind I'm so pleased to introduce you to our new monthly series...

Community Spotlight -  Playful Ideas FROM Educators FOR Educators

Each month I'll be selecting some of the most engaging ideas from our Empowered Educator Facebook Group and sharing them with you. 

I will feature amazing activities and ideas from REAL educators participating in our group and social communities...so let's get started and take a look at Community Spotlight #1....

Educator Invitations and Provocations for early learning - Ideas for Bee Week, National Reconciliation Week, Pirates,

World Bee Day Setups and Invitations to Play

Educator Invitations and Provocations for early learning - Ideas for Bee Week, National Reconciliation Week, Pirates,

Last month we celebrated World Bee Day. World Bee Day celebrates our hard-working little pollinators and it was lovely to see many Empowered Ed members making bees the focus of the week.

Along with the invitations and provocations, educators actively encouraged bees to their own gardens too. You can see their work below: 

Anju from Sai Family Daycare shared this BEE-utiful idea ...

Bee Week setups early learning Anju

Shared by Anju from Sai Family Daycare

Anushka from Om Family Day Care shared this colourful bee themed provocation with us. 

World Bee Day setup ideas early learning

Shared by Anushka - Om Family Day Care

Debbie shared that they celebrated World Bee Day by creating awareness of the plight of our Bee population and their value to the environment.

The parents participated by planting a flower in a recycled pot and taking it home to their garden๐Ÿ

World Bee Day invitation to play

Shared by Debbie McFallan

If you want to encourage bees and other living creatures to your garden this post I shared recently has lots of child friendly ideas. 

how to attract insects to your garden

National Reconciliation Week Activities

Educator Invitations and Provocations for early learning - Ideas for Bee Week, National Reconciliation Week, Pirates,

National Reconciliation Week was a topic of discussion in our groups last week and Reconciliation Australiaโ€™s theme for 2021, More than a word. Reconciliation takes action urges the reconciliation movement towards braver and more impactful action. The Reconciliation Australia website has some resources that are worth checking out. 

Below you can see some of the ways our Empowered Ed members focused on National Reconciliation Week. 

The images below were shared by Anju from Sai Family Day Care

Vicki from Little Nature's Family Day Care shared how they focused on National Reconciliation week.  

Invitations and Provocations 

I love taking a peek into our member's environments and I know you'll love seeing what they've been up to as well. Check out some of these fun ideas below. 

Abigail from Learning Through Play Family Day Care showed us how the children were having fun with the tuff tray. You can find more community tuff tray ideas HERE.

early learning water table sensory table ideas

Shared by Abigail from Learning Through Play Family Day Care

Anju didn't let the fact that we don't get snow stop her from setting up a snow sensory bin - shaving cream was a fun alternative. 

Educator Invitations and Provocations for early learning - Ideas for Bee Week, National Reconciliation Week, Pirates,

Shared by Anju from Sai Family Day Care

Cindy from Cindy's Family Day Care had children asking for a pirate theme and she certainly delivered one! How much fun does this look! I'm sure a lot of imaginative play took place there. See some more fun ways to encourage dramatic play HERE.

pirate boat setup for ealry learning

Shared by Cindy from Cindy's Family Day Care

Everyone LOVED this idea from Desi from Little Mini Lighthouse Family Day Care - she used old frames and added them to her sensory invitations - what a great idea!

Try an op shop or garage sale to get your own frames or ask parents for donations.  

sensory drawing fine motor activity for early learning

Shared by Desi from Little Mini Lighthouse Family Day Care

Desi also explored Norway  and the Northern lights. The children had lots of fun making different coloured lights on the blinds.

The children also enjoyed exploring the doll and different pictures like the colourful houses in Norway. What a beautiful idea! 

Educator Invitations and Provocations for early learning - Ideas for Bee Week, National Reconciliation Week, Pirates,

Shared by Desi from Little Mini Lighthouse Family Day Care

Another popular idea was this upcycled art activity from Desi - painting on old records. Just make sure you're not painting over a valued classic! 

early leanring provocations painting on records

Shared by Desi from Little Mini Lighthouse Family Day Care

Rachael had a mini beast focus and made this engaging mini beast small world. The children then chose a mini beast to paint. 

mini beast small world and painting

Shared by Rachael Honeysett

Rebecca set up some sensory and messy fun with chia slime. You can find a chia slime recipe HERE or see some of my favorite child safe slime recipes HERE.

Educator Invitations and Provocations for early learning - Ideas for Bee Week, National Reconciliation Week, Pirates,

Shared by Rebecca Wild

We always love upcycling boxes and items from the junk box and this car wash small world from Vicki looks like fun! See more upcycled cardboard box ideas HERE.

Car wash small world play

Shared by Vicki from Little Nature's Family Day Care

Tammy also upcycled some cardboard (and added some bubble wrap too) for a fun and messy painting experience. 

cardboar box painting with bubblewrap

Shared by Tammy Stuart

Rachel shared a farm tuff tray setup - I'm sure we all have some farm toys floating around that we could use to make a similar one. 
Educator Invitations and Provocations for early learning - Ideas for Bee Week, National Reconciliation Week, Pirates,

Shared by Rachel George

Want to be featured in our next monthly Community Spotlight? Share you photos in the Empowered Educator Facebook Group  and you might just see your work featured here next month. 

Educator Invitations and Provocations for early learning - Ideas for Bee Week, National Reconciliation Week, Pirates,

A Little About Me

Jodie Clarke is an early childhood professional supporting educators who want and need to stay passionate about the work they do! She has 30 years hands-on experience in the early childhood and human services sectors across many different roles.


Jodie is mum to 3 in Australia and has already helped thousands of educators with their work through her popular blog posts, activity ideas, online training and e-books.

Filed Under: educator tips, Home daycare, Play & Learn At Home Tagged With: communityideas, environments, invitations to play

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Jodie
Hi, I'm Jode, Mum to twins and a teen, and an early childhood educator.
I love to share ideas & resources for play based learning
Find out more about me here...

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