Dig a Hole

The sandpit was a very busy space this afternoon as the tamariki decided to dig to the North Pole! Working interdependently is a great Habit of Mind to develop and big group activities like this definitely  encourage this skill. As the tamariki worked, some exciting taonga/ treasure was discovered. A hippopotamus and a spade. We don't know how long they had been hidden in the sandpit for!

Then the tamariki composed a song. Ashleigh had been talking about rhyming words and what rhymes with hole...this is the song we could hear from the sandpit. 

Hole Hole dig a hole

Hole Hole dig a hole

Hole hole dig a hole 

To the North Pole

The children decided they might even find Santa Claus there. Āe mārika! How about that! Such an industrious afternoon, with much fun, discovery and learning.

 

It's Been Snowing

With great excitement children returned to kindergarten after an unexpected long weekend with kindergarten closing on Friday due to the snow. Sharing stories of how they had all spent the day was a fun way to make connections with friends.

Exploring children's working theories around their concept of snow was also interesting.

As I put a child on the mini bus on Thursday I explained " Tomorrow it may snow" and having recently shifted from Auckland, he naturally asked " What's snow? " What an incredible first hand experience lay waiting to be discovered the next morning at his house.

So today the environment still encouraged a revisit and wonderment and awe as snow still lay around in places and a little extra had been added to explore in a different way.It is winter ,tona hotoke, it is very cold , he tino makariri !

Pyjama day fun

After much planning and antipation today was the day to wear pyjamas to Kindergarten for a pyjama party.  The children arrived wearing all sorts of pyjamas and excited faces.  At Kotahitanga time we were able to look around the circle and see what all our friends PJ's looked like and out of everybody only two children had the same PJ's on! 

Then it was time to work together and share our ideas around pancake making, luckily we had an expert on hand (Gavin) to extend our knowledge.  We needed to listen carefully to keep ourselves safe while the hot fry pans were on but wow it was so cool to watch the mixture turn from liquid to solid, great scientific exploration.

Soon the pancakes were cooked and we set up the tables for our shared morning tea of fruit, yogurt and pancakes.  We gathered together for karakai then found a space at the long, long table.  We needed to manage our impulsivity and practise manaakitanga  as we waited for all our friends to sit at the table before we began our feast.  

Then it was time to enjoy our morning tea together, there was discussion, laughter and fun had by all as we enjoyed the delicious Kai.

What an awesome day it's such a wonderful experience to share special times with our friends.

Extending an interest

Today a small group of girls came up and asked... "Can we please do some highland dancing"?  It was a really cold morning so the dancing was a great idea to help us warm up.  We sorted out the projecter and connected up the iPad - exploring technological awareness to follow through on the plan.  Soon we were ready to go.  The music started and it was time to practise our steps this took concentration, persistence and co-ordination. He pai to kanikani - great dancing!

As the girls danced small groups of children were drawn in by the music to watch and be part of the experience.  As the dancing continued a variety of children came and took a risk to give it a go.

Being involved in musical experiences provides our children with the opportunity to discover and develop different ways to be creative and expressive.

What a great idea girls it's so fun to exercise our bodies in such a fun way.  Highland dancing takes precision and practise I look forward to learning more about the steps with you.  

Taking responsible risks.

Our children have come back from their term break ready to start taking new and exciting risks here at kindergarten and today they have been doing just that. 

Some of the children have been challenging themselves on the bikes going slowly up one side of the ramp and carefully waiting for the ramp to tip up to ride down the other side. 

Others have been testing out their climbing and jumping skills, using the blue box and cylinder that have been set up differently since the start of the term. Some children have chosen to jump from the cylinder while others have jumped from the blue box, over top of the cylinder down onto the mat. 

Āe mārika, How about that!

 Our kindergarten built ladder has been found in some intesting places as the children take a risk to see if they can climb up and attached the bunny cords around the post.

Taking responsible risks is a Habit of Mind we often encourage here at Kindergarten and our children have been using this habit in all areas of their play.

Fi And Hugh Played their Ukuleles!

What a lovely jam session we had with Fi and Hugh as they played a few old favourite tunes. It gave the children a chance to show off some great dance moves they have. 

Beau, James and Elliot all led from the front! 

It was perfect timing to have the ukeleles playing with the annual festival on this weekend and we will be able to hear them playing as we walk the Night Trail tomorrow night! 

It is fantastic time for our Kindergarten to be so involved with the community as a whole. 

Kai pai mo to mahi to everyone participating with us on the Light the Night Trail! 

Sewing with Sandra!

Sandra arrived today saying, "I've got the sewing machine!" 

The children were instantly curious to find out what Sandra was going to do with her sewing machine. It was strange too because the children were actually taking a sewing machine to bits using all those wonderful tools like a screwdriver and spanner. Sandra's sewing machine was going to be used for quite another purpose! 

Sandra gathered the pasifika material and set about to sew right around the edges we call hemming. Wintrow said, "I'm really good at this. I'm an expert!" Sandra chuckled probably wishing she was an expert too! 

We found out she was! The sewing machine made a continuing whirring noise and Leo and Nikau were most interested and we could hear Sandra say, "Now, push the pedal with your foot!" And the whirring would start up again. They had to problem solve how much to push down and then lift their foot to stop. 

This was an amazing activity and showing the interdependency between teacher and child(ren).