At the Early Learning Centre we too are learning all about GEM + EM (Gratitude, Empathy, Mindfulness and Emotional Literacy), with the help of The Resilience Project. We recognise that families are children’s first and most important educators. The Resilience Project recognise this too, so as well as all the activities we do at kindy, they have given us a Koala named ‘Cozy Koala’, to help families engage in GEM activities at home.

Cozy Koala gets to go home, in his special backpack with his special journal, with a different child each Friday. He joins in with family activities and adventures and helps to guide families to practise GEM during their time together. Families have been practising some of the GEM activities such as making a list of how they like to spend time together, what they do to change their mood, going on a gratitude walk, doing acts of kindness and sharing with each other things that went well each day, things that made them smile and things that they are looking forward to doing the next day.

These are some of the adventures Cozy Koala has had with our families so far:

• Going to the Murray Bridge Bunyip, playing footy and sitting in the ambulance with Kove.
• Going on a big loader and drawing portraits with Lulu.
• Going out for lunch and playing on the swings with Phoebe
• Jumping on wool bales, sitting in the wool and keeping an eye on the sheep in the shearing shed with Jack.
• Cuddling and sleeping with Archie.
• Riding a skateboard and playing with cousins with April.
• Playing, joining in with family tea and icecream with Ruby.
• Swinging on the swings outside with Sebastian.
• Riding in the car in his very own booster seat, getting up close to a pet sheep and going to the post office with Meika.

At the end of his visit, families fill in a page in Cozy’s ‘Gem Adventures Journal’. They then bring him back to kindy to share the adventures they had with Cosy, with their peers and educators.

We look forward to sharing more of Cozy Koala’s adventures in another newsletter before the end of the year.

Mrs Trish Horstmann