Extracurricular activities
Besides the School program, Nursery School, Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten students participate in the following Activities:
Littles Music
Music is a rare sensorial and emotional education which sharpens the mind and sweetens the soul.
The students at Littles enter its wonderful world through experimentation, improvisation, movement and play.
Play, on the other hand – and above all team play – is the most effective and fun way for socializing, developing new stimuli, boosting knowledge and imagination. By putting an emphasis on play, therefore, our pupils will be able to:
- Get to know many percussion, strings, wind instruments, but also electronic instruments, learning to distinguish their sound.
- Participate in various music-kinetic games aiming at free expression, integration in a group, acceptance of diversity, adherence to rules, but also the creation of roles of their own.
- Improvise with rhythm and melody, words and verses.
- Discover their voice through song, imitation, theatricality.
- Liberate their body through movement and dance.
- Learn through play about the basic elements of music, like notes, pause, scales etc.
- Experiment producing sound with alternative or improvised instruments. Can a taut rubber-band make music? How does sound change in water?
Littles Atelier
A smudge may mean nothing in the eyes of an adult. However, for the child it is the narration of a silent story.
At Littles we gather every week in order to tell our own story, without words, grammar and syntax. But with our imagination, colors, lines and every kind of material as our tools, either from nature or recyclable.
The materials which are to be found in the area function for each child as separate data which hide a line, a shape, a color each. The children learn to choose them based on these important properties that each one contains. Then, they learn which of these properties can form relations and they start combining the materials. Gradually, their cognitive and expressive experience develops and the foundations are set for creativity, not only in the art domain, but in every aspect of life.
More specifically:
- We encourage the child to observe, to experiment, to create, to discover itself, its uniqueness and its personal ways of expression, to “introduce itself” (to present itself to others), to communicate with those around it, to become part of a team, to cooperate.
- We respect spontaneity and the abstraction of children’s painting “without rules”.
- We introduce the child to different forms of art and culture.
- We learn that even with the simplest materials we can construct our own unique world.
Optional Activities
Besides Activities integrated in the Program, the students can take part in a number of Optional Activities:
Littles Sports
Students of all levels (Nursery School– Pre-Kindergarten – Kindergarten) will get to know the secrets of sports through innovative techniques and games, under the guidance and supervision of specialized sports educators. At the same time, they will have the opportunity to develop their coordination and coordination abilities, sharpen their observation skills and build their physical fitness, thus creating the foundation for learning the techniques of sports and to develop them from a young age. The pupils will learn basic neuromuscular coordination, flexibility, equilibrium exercises, physical condition and observation development and then the basic exercises and techniques of each sport, making a material introduction into the world of sports.
The program “Littles Sports” takes place in the external and the internal space of the school, which is shaped by special equipment. The equipment consists of a mini tennis net, mini basket hoops, hoops, skittles, racquets, balls of different types and a great number of logistical aids, which are appropriate and safe for the physique of children of this age.
Our little friends will have the opportunity to learn the following sports through a circular teaching form, once a week, for one teaching hour for each team of participants.
- mini tennis
- mini basketball
- track
- javelin / discus etc.
- gymnastics & dance movement
- zumba / hip-hop / kids aerobic
In addition, the sports program can be shaped to include additional activities, indicatively:
- archery
- mini soccer
- baseball
- croquet
- badminton
- mini golf
- yoga
- trampoline
- handball
Littles STEM
It is a program designed for Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten children and is intended as a first contact with the world of STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics], where children learn by experience the basic principles of programming, robotics and engineering. The benefits of such a program exceed the narrow learning frame, equipping children with a valuable new way of thinking and acting and help them to conquer so-called 21st century skills: critical thinking, creative thinking, communicative clarity and cooperative ability. In this way, our pupils acquire a structured way of thinking and an unconventional mind which enhance their natural talents!
Through play and technological interaction our pupils will get into contact with the basic principles of programming, robotics and engineering and will consolidate by experience the mathematical concepts taught at Littles. By using the attractive educational technology Beebot, Bluebot, Dash & Dot and WizeFloor, as well as Lego, our pupils:
- Will be taught in programming environments, learning to understand a code and simulate an algorithm.
- Will learn to use and program robots with simple orders.
- Will understand by experience basic engineering principles through constructions.
- Will consolidate mathematical concepts through interactive games.
Littles Dance
Students learn the basic principles of dance and movement through play, stories and fairytales, using props like scarves, magical wands, flowers etc. with different kinds of music and varied rhythms stimulating imagination and the innate tendency of children for movement.
The purpose of the activity is to encourage the child to create images, come into contact with rhythm and music, get into a new social group with new friends, making its first dance steps.
As part of musical-kinetic education, students will have the chance to get into contact with their body, movement and rhythm and develop mobility, flexibility, rhythm understanding and correct body posture, acquire a sense of space, stimulating their creativity and imagination. The lesson is accompanied by different kinds of music, musical instruments and special dance equipment.
For participation, the following are required:
- tights
- t-shirt
- slip-resistant socks
- shoes
Littles Drama
Have you ever asked yourself what will happen if you mix a little fun, imagination, joy, colors, balls, dance, laughter, fabrics, pirates, see-saws, a company of Littles and anything else you can think of? Theater play, of course! We play, we laugh, we dream, we share, we give, we are moved, we discuss, we become the heroes we love, we make friends, we get to know ourselves! I make stories, I look for words, I share ideas, what can you choose! I win and I lose, rules and action, I change roles, everything in class! One-two-three, the game starts! I play, I run, I laugh, I stop! This is definitely theatrical!
The program concerns a set of dramatization, myth-creating, improvisation and theatrical actions carried out with tools such as:
- Theatre play – theatre action
- Musical-kinetic education
- Bodily expression
- Fairytale narration – Myth creation
Littles Jiu Jitsu
This program has an intense element of play. Through play the children learn:
- To function in groups
- To have better concentration
- To display discipline
- Their bodies’ possibilities, but also their limitations
- To have better neuro-muscular coordination
- Coordinated and tight movement
One more important qualification and life instrument acquired by little children is that of self-defense and self-protection.
In this program, little children learn:
- To have control over space
- To recognize danger
- To keep safe distances from danger
- When danger is very near, to scale down and
- If it cannot be helped to act based on the three concepts ‘easily – quickly – effectively’.
It is all done through inventive games so that self-defense becomes a fun lesson, not fear and bad quality of life.
Littles English Club
An advanced educational program, where students enrich their vocabulary and ability to express themselves in the English language, using well-known book series.
The program is addressed to Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten students.
For Littles English Club, a special educational program has been prepared which specifically includes:
- Monday – Mathematics
- Tuesday – Natural Sciences
- Wednesday – Environment
- Thursday – Visual Arts
- Friday – Music/Theater
The approach of the above scientific fields is achieved through an experiential learning framework in a playful way. With this method children feel self-confident in using the English language and cultivate their linguistic and phonological skills.