The afternoon children and Lee Corlett

This week Lee brought along some planks, they were narrow and close to the ground. The children had to walk along them frontwards , sideways and backwards. To add another challenge Lee got us to crawl along the planks, this was a much more difficult task ( I know because I tried). The reason it is more difficult is because our centre of gravity changes. This is a great way keep your brain active. Lee also took the children through some challenges with hurdles, using the monkey bars and the climbing wall. Having Lee in kindergarten always leaves us a new challenge and is fun too.If you wondering just what we get up to with Lee we invite you to stay and join in sometime. Keep an eye on the noticeboard for when he will be with us again.

Mary had a little Lamb"

It's true, I did and this week at kindergarten we all got to have a little lamb for a while, when one of our families brought in a one day old lamb for us all to enjoy. Some children got turns to feed her with a bottle and everyone who wanted to got a chance to pet "Honey Lamb". We were all amused by her antics and it was fantastic watching children practice using gentle hands and voices around her. For some of the children this was a first time experience, being up so close to a lamb which made them feel a little unsure but as they took time to sit and watch a while first they soon were coming up close for a chance to pat "Honey Lamb". We all hope "Honey Lamb " comes back for a visit soon.

What have the teachers been up to?

Lynne, Margie, Sue, Mary and Sue have been involved in alot of professional development throughout the year. More recently we ran a very successful Web 2 workshop (on a Saturday), for teachers from other kindergartens and other early childhood centres in Nelson, Blenheim and even one from Australia (she was here visiting).

What have we done - an evening at the Nelson Museum with the Nayland Primary teachers on the Treaty of Waitangi,
-a workshop with a visiting music and movement teacher,
-Margie is going to present to a group of 2nd year student teachers
 - we are all attending a team workshop on the “Art of Facilitation”, which will be followed up by visits from the instructors, to observe us in action.
-We are also organising a “Creativity Conference” for our Nelson Kindergarten Association and hope to have 120 people attending in September.
-We will be attending Ulearn 2010 in October during the term break.  Margie and Lynne will be presenting a workshop to other teachers from right across the education sectors, and Sue, Mary and Sue tell us that they will cook the tea. (Well, we have got news for them!)

Fish, Fish and More Fish!

Over the past couple of weeks children have been making fish for the wall, giving them more ownership of Fish philosophy and bringing it to the fore again. Some wonderful fish were made using colourful dyes, children referring to a book for ideas about what type of fish they would like to make. This led to lots of thinking and discussion about shape, size, colour, and the various features of the fish. This week more fish were created using sheets of under-painted paper and black felts. Some children were content just to help with the under-painting of the paper while others explored both that process and the drawing of fish and other creatures. So do check out the fish wall in the blue room. And if your child comes home with a special fish it means that they have been a kind friend and made someone's day.

Gluten free baking.

Having previously had unsuccessful experiments of using gluten free flour to bake with, I was very interested this week when a Mum arrived with all the ingredients to make gluten free scones.And as always soon a group of children gathered all very keen to have a turn to mix , stir and pour .Gluten free flour feels a little like corn flour in texture so it is quite different to work with and so I was relieved to have an expert in our midst.As i took photos I listened to children comment on the texture and saying things like " it feels so soft"
Very soon the children had completed the task and a tray of scones were ready to go into the oven. We are lucky indeed to have family and whanau who are prepared to come and share time and skills with us, our tamariki always benefit.Please if you have something you think the children would enjoy or a new skill they might like to try come and talk to one of us.

caring for our worm farm.

Here at kindergarten we want children to have first hand practical experiences while learning to care for the environment. The worm farm sits right out by the garden , in a obvious spot where children can interact with it whenever they choose and this is exactly what happened this week. One child came and asked me if we could look at the worms, So off I went to get some gloves. When I came back he had competently dismantled the farm and was busy exploring.Another child came to join us and soon we discovered that a generous amount of liquid had been collected in the bottom of the farm. This is also known as "worm wees" and is a perfect fertiliser for the garden.We poured it into a bucket, diluted it with water and used it on the garden. Ka pai tou mahi korua(Great work you two)

Let's Make Lunch!

Wednesday 21st July

I had a keen group of willing helpers when it was suggested that we could make something for the teachers for lunch. "Can I help too?" was the much asked question. I had brought along the recipe for 'Poor Man's Souffle', a quick and easy savoury dish to make with young children. It involves buttering and cutting bread, grating cheese, cracking eggs (always a challenge for little hands!), and using the electric beater as well as mathematical concepts as they measure and pour ingredients. And the end result was a great looking and tasty dish that the teachers did devour for lunch. Next time I have promised that we will make it for the children to eat. Meanwhile, here is the recipe. Some of you might like to make it at home with your children. I doubled the recipe which made heaps.





Poor Man's Cheese Souffle

6 slices buttered bread cut into fingers
3 eggs
1 bowl grated cheese
2 1/2 cups (500 mls) milk
salt & pepper

Put half the bread fingers on bottom of souffle or casserole dish. Cover with half the cheese then another layer of bread and then remainder of cheese. Beat milk, eggs and seasonings together and pour over the bread and cheese. Cook at 180 degrees for approx. 45 mins and it is golden brown and well risen. Enjoy!

Let's get physical!

This term we have begun taking a small group of children for a walk, run, game of soccer, what ever the children fancy on the day. Even in the rain we have put on coats and gumboots and off we go.
Having some space to run around for just a few minutes is a great adventure. Children are great at playing statues and listening for the whistle to freeze.
This week we have had fun chasing seagulls on the top paddock and kicking the soccer ball around the back court.
Children put their name on the list of up to 10 names if they are wanting to come. We will go rain or shine!

Glue Gun Construction

The glue guns and a refreshed collection of soft and hard, natural, and other materials have added a new dimension to construction over last term and again this term.
The glue guns themselves take practice to master, the cold pack sometimes needed for fingers that have had glue dropped onto them. From simple glueing of materials onto a base, to more complex structures, children explore pattern, design, balance and direction as they problem solve how to make their structures stable.
Current events have been explored with an oil sucker upper being constructed to save the birds from the gulf oil spill.

On Monday we were discussing the issue of reaching the top of the carpentry house and how unsafe it is to climb on the house. I told the children we had been meaning to buy a step ladder. One child turned and said " You can get one from Mitre 10 in the building site part". Good idea I thought so we planned to walk to the shop the next day to buy a step ladder. What a long way it is down the railway reserve but it was worth it for fluffy and a cheese scone plus a play in the playground. We also bought new padlocks, some more string and a couple of
very flash watering cans.

Children were great at walking with their partners and holding hands. Some magic walking beans on the way home helped also, alias jelly beans!

Icy Fun

You can imagine the delight, the children expressed, at the sight of a mountain of glistening white ice, heaped in the playground.
They explored with all their senses. Rolling, sliding, slipping, tasting, throwing, being buried.
It was a full body experience for many children. Relishing the experience of being covered in the ice.
Questions - how did it get here.
Theories - it fell from the sky, Father Christmas bought it. It comes from the mountains
Stories - We went to the snow.
Observations - Its cold. Its wet, crunchy, slippery.

Is it Ice or Slushy?!

24th June 2010

In spite of all the rain that had fell the previous day there was still some ice lying on the ground for the afternoon children to have fun with on the Thursday. Armed with little shovels some tried to dig it up while others had fun throwing it at the climbing wall. Then Lynne added some paint to it which looked very cool, a bit like fruit slushies. Lots of children got busy then trying to dig up the coloured ice. It was pretty tricky as it had gone so hard over night but that did not stop the children from attempting to get it onto their shovels. But I think the most fun was had by those that were brave enough to have a turn on the little sled. There was so much laughter and excited faces when that was happening! I wonder if any children got up to the real snow during the term break.

Ice Sculptures come to Kindergarten.

Following on from the children s' interest in early morning frosts and cold weather we arranged for a tonne of ice to be delivered to kindergarten. Sadly I was sick and so missed out ( but I know someone else will write all about it) The photos looked amazing. I was delighted to be a kindergarten a week later when Southern Distributors kindly donated us some ice sculptures to explore and marvel over. Right from the moment the truck arrived out side the front fence the children were intrigued . The two friendly men carried in the large sculptures and the children quickly followed.We all oohed and ahhed as they placed a yacht, two swans and a clam shell in the water trough. Children were fascinated by the sculptures and their interest was held right throughout the next two days. The children had opportunity to explore with a 'hands on approach " the scientific concepts of water ice , freezing and melting. On the second day the children also began to add "props" to their play, as penguins, whales, and dolphins began ot frolic in the water and climb on the ice bergs. I always find it brilliant to observe children exploring and making sense of the new by incorporating things they are already familiar with. What a great opportunity for us all experience first hand the properties of ice. And once again I find myself delighting in the community we live in that makes these type of experiences available for children. Thank You Southern Distributors.

Screen Printing

Friday 18th June

This morning lots of children got creative with screen printing. For some this was a revisiting of a process they were already familiar with but had not had any practice at for some time. So some working through of each step was necessary. For others it was a totally new art medium to work with. We also had some parents joining in. One parent had asked her son if he would like to do a print but he showed no interest. When I asked her if she would like to do one herself she jumped at the opportunity! So we had adults and children learning together, children often taking on the role of teacher as the more experienced ones were able to support those new to the process. A wonderfully busy morning with children engaged throughout.

What happens to our rubbish?
A little while ago a group of children and I buried some food scraps, tin foil, plastic and yogurt pottles in the garden. The question we asked is "What will happen to our rubbish". Some children theorised that the worms would eat it all so we decided to wait and see what we would happen. Today ( six or so weeks later) was the day to dig in the garden and make some more discoveries. We found the yogurt pottles tin foil and plastic covered in dirt and with a few worms inside but no other changes. The food scraps had turned into beautiful rich soil and the children decided the worms had done a great job. The conclusion the children came to "the worms can eat the food but not the rubbish" . In order for children to be able to care for the world and take responsibility for it they first need to fall in love with it. I hope this sort of experience will help children do just that. By making discoveries about what happens to our rubbish my hope is that children will naturally take responsibility for what they do with their own rubbish in order to be part of keeping our world a beautiful place.

Visitors of the animal kind.

Wednesday was a busy day not only did we have the awesome drama group from Nayland College but Tia arranged for a friend to visit us with some animals. The children were very interested to meet a miniature horse , a small terrier dog and a huge Great Dane, what a contrast. Children excitedly waited for their turn to brush the horse or walk the small dog. A few of the children gathered round the Great Dane and I think they were completely in awe of it's size. The looks on their faces when it put its front legs on the owners shoulders was priceless.
This visit gave the children a wonderful opportunity to learn about being safe around animals and also some of the aspects of care involved in having a pet. Thanks for coming guys and also thanks Tia for arranging it.