Rainy day fun.

Today some of the morning children began exploring how to make Pom poms, they worked with Ashleigh and Brenda to cut out the circles out of cardboard and then began watching with curiosity as they got shown how to begin making their very own Pom pom.

The children showed how well they could perservere with difficulty as they took their time threading the wool through the small hole and around the cardboard. We noticed as they worked alongside each other they were very busy concentrating on what they were doing so that they could achieve their goal of making a Pom Pom. You have worked hard, kua mahi kaha.

The children really enjoyed choosing the colour of the wool they wanted to use and then waited patiently for it to be connected to the previous colour for them to start treading again. When things are difficult don’t give up, ka pakeke te haere kaua e hemo.

The children tested their hand eye coordination and patience as they worked for a long period of time alongside each other on a common goal. 

We look forward to seeing if the children will return to their half made Pom poms tomorrow that are ready and waiting to be finished.

An easter hunt

Our last day of term 1 today and the teachers had a special surprise for the children.

As soon as children were told about eggs that were hidden 'out the back' at kindergarten they were excited to begin searching. As children searched for the eggs some found them instantly while others took a bit longer to find one. It was great to see that those who had trouble finding one were supported by their peers, displaying manaakitanga/care and respect. As children found eggs they shared their excitment with others, through the espressions on their face and body language. For example jumping into the air holding the egg up high!

Showing Manaakitanga - A Snail's Castle

This morning a small group of children were huddled close together in the sandpit, there was complete silence as they watched a snail move across the sand and onto a shell.

"We're making a home for the snail, its a castle" Ben suddenly called out in excitement!

"Don't touch him" said Grace

"Yeah, we need to be gentle" Ben added. He pai koe ki te whakaaro pēna - Thats good thinking.

We continued to have a conversation about caring for our natural environment and lots of children were using the words 'care' and 'respectful' when talking about how to look after the snail. This is reflective of manaakitanga, something that is important to us here at Geraldine Kindergarten.

As we sat around watching the snail slide along the shells and onto the stones Eli said...

"I know turbo, he goes faster than racing cars, its so cool". It became obvious to us that Nathaniel was sharing knowledge from home, about another snail that he knows.

Grace found humour as we watched and she began to laugh "ahahaha hes crossing the road".

What a special experience today as this group of children communicated with clarity and precision, found humour and shared their knowledge all while showing manaakitanga toward the snail and each other.

Developing whanaungatanga/relationships in play

This afternooon a group of children enjoyed using some of the cricket equipment. Initally James found a bat and was instantly on a hunt for a ball, after finding one Hugo joined in and together they took turns hitting the ball. The smiles on both boys' faces after they hit the ball shared the pure excitement they felt. They continued to take turns hitting the ball toward each other for quite some time, the ball wouldn't always be hit on the first go so perseverance was key as they tried and tried again.

Guy, Elliot and Myra had been watching James and Hugo in play for some time, so when they had finished they were quick to have their turn! They had a slightly different approach to their play, a tee was used to hit the ball off. Ke tahi te whakaaro pai -  That's a good idea. Once Guy had his turn hitting off the tee, Elliot had his turn and this continued. Myra wasn't wanting to have a turn with the bat, she was happy to watch - smiling each time the boys hit the ball.

Throughout these experiences the children involved spent valuable time together, building trust that supports the development of their whanaungatanga/relationships. Turn taking was clearly evident in the games played and allowed the children to get to know one another a little better.

PM - Balancing!

We are fortunate to obtain some great resources from WAVE that children can explore the skills they have.

Wintrow holds his Mum's hand to use his balancing skills on the colouful connecting blocks. The snake trail gives Wintrow a moment to practice placcing his foot one in front of the other where concentration is needed to suceed. 

But the children discover there are other ways of making their pathway that is prompted by striving for accuracy to step on the circles and even more excting to see, a small friendship group applying their own challenging walkway!

We get the job done  

Ka oti i a mātou ngā mahi

Kindergarten Black Caps!

We have been  having our very own cricket world cup games at Kindergarten! Well that is what you would think when you hear the  chatter as  they  makes the rules of play! 

James contributed a wonderful way to work out whose turn to bat.

Eeny, meeny, miney, mo!

Catch a Tiger by the toe!

If he squeals, let him go!

Then Mum counts to 10!

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10!

Upon 10 and who the hand is pointing to gets the nod to bat with James!

Wilbur has been instrumental introducing the game and has shown us wonderful skills of running between the wickets and has been practising his over arm bowling (we have had to signal a few wides though!).   The cricket game has encouraged a group of boys to work together in a team environment 

and  even though the batting is the favorite we can be proud of them negotiating turns and taking risks to bat, bowl and be wicket keeper!

Bees at Work!

What was under the blue blanket? We couldn't see, hear or smell anything! Lifting the blanket we were  amazed and looked with wonderment to see a lot of bees!

Gavin (Ruby's Dad) generously came to visit at the end of the morning with one of his hobbies from home.  He replicated a beehive to make it really visible to see the bees at work.

There was lots of movement and Gavin explained there is only one Queen Bee. After lots of searching for the largest bee it was spotted near the bottom and laying its eggs in the vacant comb holes.

Another fact we heard was that the bees drag the dead ones from the comb and drop them down to the bottom. 

But what was most fascinating was seeing the yellow filled combs that was the honey,  the yummy honey!  

We are respectful, we listen, we learn.  

He rōpū manaaki, he rōpū whakarongo, he rōpū ako mātou.