" It's a fairy house!"

Wonderment and awe has been reflected in every child's face who has taken a risk and entered the cardboard box with coloured lights coming through the ceiling . " It's a fairy house" squealed one child "No..... It must be Christmas time" suggested another . 

The children created their own " rules" to reflect the use of the box to ensure that manaakitanga ( care and respect) was shared by all . He pai koe ki te whakaaro 
That’s good thinking ! 

The large cardboard boxes dropped off on a regular basis from a furniture carrier continue to be favourite resources that the children can creatively alter to reflect the interest at the time . 

Our fun night in Tekapo

On Friday we asked the children if they had any idea where the teachers might be heading overnight on a "team building" adventure .

"Nepal" suggested one child , "New Zealand " another contributed  . Well it was Tekapo thanks to Heather's great organising . 

When we arrived we were out till it was dark finding clues all over the town and taking on some of the challenges on the way like the flying fox and school adventure playground. Āe mārika ,how about that!

Then after tea we played lots of innovative games that made us laugh till our sides hurt . We had so much fun we wish we could have stayed longer . 

We wonder what we will be up to next term? 

Baking at kindergarten.

This week after some of the morning children collecting some of Brownie and Silkies eggs, we thought it would be a good idea to do some baking and use up some of the eggs. Pancakes was the choice of the day. When Sandra was ready I went out and said to the children outside, we are going to make pancakes inside if anybody would like to help. 

Inside we took responsibility for making sure everyone had nice clean hands, and then it was time to get out the ingredients to bake. The children took turns measuring out the flour, milk, sugar and cracking the eggs into the bowl, and then mixing them all together to make the pancake batter. 

Next we explored what would happen when Sandra turned on the electric fry pan, straight away the children shared "it will get hot" Tino pai rawa atu, excellent. The children then talked about safety around hot things and spent a period of time watching the pancakes cooked.

It was now time to cut the pancakes and put some jam on them, we worked really hard at managing our impulsivity and not eating the pancakes after we put jam on them as we decided we would share them round with all our friends at lunch time. They were delicious too. 

Face painting at kindergarten.

Today after some children exploring putting 'art' paint on their faces we decided it was a great opportunity to get out some face paints for the children to explore. 

Four colours were chosen and put out in little pottles with cotton buds and different types of mirrors. 

It wasn't long before there was a group of children trying their skills at painting their own faces, their was a lot of concentration and managing their impulsivity as they painted while remembering the only guideline to painting their face which was to keep the paint off their lips as it wasn't good to get it inside their mouth.

As the children explored painting their faces we heard lots of laughter, joy and fun being had. For some children the painting initiated the exploration of dramatic play after painting their faces and for others they were just enjoying the creative process of the painting on their own bodies. 

This is very creative ,he tino auaha tēnei.

While having fun, being creative with the cotton buds and face paint the children were strengthening and developing their fine motor skills and pincer grip which is also used when writing. Tu meke, fantastic.

Taking Responsible Risks.

This afternoon a lot of our children began exploring the climbing frame, negotiating how to climb up the green curved ladder onto the red box and then over the wobbly swing bridge. As children began climbing they watch others in front of them to see how they could achieve the same goal getting to the top or the other side. 

With support from teachers children explored different ways they could get onto the boxes and then down again. A large mat was placed at the bottom of one of the boxes for the children to take a risk and jump off to get to the ground. The children started off needing help by having a hand held as they jumped until they gained enough confidence and the understanding of how to land that they could take a responsible risk and give it ago themselves. When things are difficult don’t give up, ka pakeke te haere kaua e hemo.

As they continued to climb and jump they watched and learned different techniques from each other (ako) some using language to support this process and others just listening to their ideas. 

Having fun climbing and jumping helps develop childrens, large motor skills, coordination and strengthens their bodies. Ko te korikori tinana he pai mō te hauora, Exercise helps us stay healthy.

Bye, Bye, Bye

Recently 2 and a half year olds have been starting in our afternoon session. And today children took the time to get to know one another a little better as they called out across the playground. 

"Bye, bye, bye" Leo and Digby called from the railing along the ramp. 

But who were they calling out to?

Kaydynce was pulling Chania and Micah around the track in a trolley. Who were waving and also calling "bye, bye, bye" as they made their way around the track. 

The significance of this small snap shot of the day was different for each child as they are all at different stages of their journey here at kindergarten. Whanaungatanga/relationships are valued here and today these were clearly being developed and even strengthened as the two groups of children connected across the playground. Pupuritia tēnā ahau - hold onto that attitude. 

Building Progress

This morning some children had noticed the building had arrived at kindergarten to continue work on the 'new room' out the back. Several children stood about watching the actions of the builders in excitment, anticipating what was going to happen next. There were lots of conversations happening about exactly what the builders were doing and everyone was keen to share their own idess snd theories about exactly what they thought was happening. Tu meke - Fantastic. There were also lots of links being made as children shared their own persoanl connections with the builders, reAffirming the importance of whanaungatanga/relationships here at Gerldine Kindergarten. 

"Thats my uncle ____" Shared Macy

"I know him because he goes to my Dad's work to get wood" Angus added.

Angus began to build inside alongside what he saw the builders doing outside. Placing blocks on the ground in very symmetrical ways, sharing that he was building a bridge. The work that is going on outside out double doors is definately being reflected in children's play and we cannot wait to see what influence it has as the building process continues.