That's how we roll at Nayland Kindergarten.

This week when Lee came he focused on rolling. First children had to lie on a Swiss boll while an adult rolled them back and forward, while they had lift their upper body. Then they had a turn to sit on the Swiss ball and find their own balance.Outside Lee encouraged the children to practice long pencil rolls and forward rolls. I asked Lee how to teach children to do forward rolls and this is what he had to say "bend down, hands down, head down and roll". Rolling is good for your child's brains and something you can do easily and simply at home.Have fun.

Ulearn 2010

During the second week of the holidays the teachers had the privilege of being part of the Ulearn conference in Christchurch for more than 1500 teachers across the early childhood, primary and secondary sectors.
As well as listening to speakers and attending workshops run by educationalists from NZ, Australia, UK and Canada, the team lead by Lynne and Margie represented Nayland kindergarten and the early childhood sector with a workshop entitled 'Igniting the spark of creativity' focusing on ICT, Creativity, and Visual arts.
The attendees at the workshop were very impressed with our competent and capable 3 and 4 year olds.
There is an evening planned very soon to share the outcomes of the research project that Nayland kindergarten undertook.
The conference ended with a dinner with a carnival theme. A fun night of performance, food and dancing.
Google Ulearn 2010 and check it out.

Spring is here, it's time to plant.

What a great first week of term, the fantastic weather makes it even more pleasant to be outside. The warmer weather has been making our garden grow like crazy so we have been busy this week weeding and tidying up the garden. We also decided to plant sunflowers again with the children but this year we have experimented with a new kind of pot to plant the seeds in. We used newspaper to make our own pots which can then be planted straight into the ground. What a great way to use up old newspapers and makes the transplanting of the plants an easier process later.

Emma, Kaimahi Māori

Tuesday, 14th September

What a presence Emma held at our Kindergarten today when she arrived in her national dress! The tamariki quickly approached to ask her, "Why are you wearing that?" and to touch her piupiu. For many this would have been a first experience and I am sure a lasting one. Emma looked stunning! At mat time she explained the various parts of her dress to the children before sharing a story with the tamariki, all about feelings. Then she lead us all in the waiata we have been learning, 'E Toru nga Mea'. This was only the third time the tamariki had sung this but they were amazing, following Emma and echoing back each line. What a sense of pride the kaiako felt as they listened to the voices of the tamariki. Then we all joined in with 'E Poi' before Emma led us into karakia kai. What a journey we have all had with Emma over the past two terms. Kia ora, Emma! We hope to see you again next term but we realise we do have to share you with other Kindergartens.

They're tying the knot - And we are all invited!












Yes the planning is well underway. There has been a lot to do. We have had photos and dresses brought in by families to share. What a privilege it has been to share in everyone's special days and hear all the wonderful stories. Check out the hair styles and fashions!






We have even visited a bridal shop to get some ideas for the bride's dress. The girls had fun dressing up in the veils and discovering small peoples clothes. They then set to work designing their own creations. I am impressed at the detail of their sketches including lace overlays and veils.





So watch for your invitation and we will see you there. Dressed up of course!

The Kiwi Group go Horse Riding

Friday 10th September

The sun was shining brightly when this group of very excited children, parent helpers and both Sues headed up to the Whakatu RDA at the top of Brook Street for some horse riding. There have been lots of small group excursions over the term and this time it was the Kiwi group who were heading out for some fun. When we first got there we had a picnic morning tea and got to have a look at the horses waiting in the paddock, the children deciding which horse they might like to ride. Then it was time to be fitted for riding helmets before heading off for a ride. For most of these children it was a totally new experience and yet when we saw them sitting up there so straight and relaxed in the saddle they all looked like naturals. In groups of four, each child got to spend about 15 minutes going around the exercise area, firstly getting a feel for being in the saddle and then doing some special activities like placing rings over cones. Not a problem for these Nayland Kindergarten children! While some were waiting for their turn they were able to visit the Waimarama Organic Community Garden where we saw the composting and worm farm. Of course our children already know about worm farms but this one was a lot bigger. They also saw where the horses were kept and even got to help comb down the little pony, Dinkie. It was a great morning out in the fresh air and sunshine! Since then the children have done some amazing drawings about their horse riding which we plan to make into a book. So watch out for this publication!

Almost but not quite!
Find the teachers in the crowd! Were you there too?
If so post us a comment and tell us about your experience of the day.

More than 2500 people took part in the attempt to break the world record for the largest haka.

We didn't quite make it but it was such an awesome and powerful experience which brought our Nelson community together like never before. See in February for the next attempt.

Kia Kaha!

Haka: Attempting to break the world record.
No doubt you have read about the challenge and heard from the children that we have been learning and practicing the Haka so we can take part in the challenge.
WHEN: Saturday 11th Sept 1pm at Tahunanui Beach.
Come along and be a part of creating history as well as standing strong as part of the Nelson community. Here is the video for you to practice with.

Wharenui at Nayland Kindergarten

At Nayland we celebrate Maori as Tangata Whenua and strive for children and teachers to be able to walk in both worlds with knowledge and embracement of language, cultural values and customs. Part of thid journey has been the children building a wharenui (meeting house) on the front deck. The children have been learning about the tikanga (customary rules) about the use and components of the whare(house).
After the wharenui was built we held a small blessing ceremony with a karakia (prayer) and waiata (song). Children spoke of what they contributed to the wharenui and how they felt about having one.


Children worked hard at constructing the building and then painted the outside. Over a couple of days we prepared the tukutuku panels by using red and white paint on black paper and used the lattice card to replicate the carvings. A tekoteko was prepared for the top of the house replicating the ancestral carving.


Children have embraced the meeting house ensuring the rules such as no shoes, no food, no drink and no fighting/ guns allowed. Check out the diagram by the wharenui and ask the children to explain the parts.

Bokashi Juice for the Garden.

Bokashi is another form of composting we do at our kindergarten as it allows the faster breakdown of food especially citrus. The juice from the compost collects in the bottom bucket to which we add water and pour onto our garden providing rich nutrients for our vegetables and flowers.

Sarah Langi from the Nelson City Council will be coming again in the next few weeks to update teachers and parents on our sustainability programmes so watch the notice board for more details.

Children have continued to prepare meals from the garden and also families have been sharing in the extra produce. Watch the gardens over the next couple of weeks as we prepare the mound with grasses and more planting of vegetables, herbs and flowers.

Lee comes to play.

We have invited Lee Corlett just to come and play in the playground with us. We have been having a brilliant time too, learning many new things and taking time to practice the skills he has been teaching us. This week the children spent time jumping off the boxes into the octonut Lee added another challenge, they had to catch a ball while jumping. The next stage was to bat the ball into a hoolahoop while jumping off the boxes. Soon it was obvious the children were ready for another challenge and so we moved over to the catch a frame that I have borrowed. We had been using this to practice catching skills and Lee added another challenge of having to throw the bean bags and land them into different coloured hoolahoops( all for different amount of points) . I so appreciated having Lee to give me some different ways of using our equipment and I know the children benefit from having his input as well.We will put a note on the noticeboard when Lee is next coming to play, so if you have time come along and hang out with us.Thanks Lee for giving some of your time to us.

Trash Band

Monday 30th August

The trash band has been a great asset to the outdoor environment and the exploration of it by many children has been very evident. Here we see some of our afternoon children having a jam session. The little drummer was quite stunning as was the accompanying cymbal player! They were very in rhythm together and the enjoyment very evident on their faces. Thanks to Nayland Primary School for passing this on for our children to enjoy.

Creativity at the wheel

Every time the spinning wheel comes out the children start lining up for their turn, it never looses its appeal as every painting is a mystery.  When it is spinning it looks quite different to the finished product and I think that is half of the fascination - "What will my painting look like this time?".

Drawing the circle and making it big enough takes some practice and cutting it out provides lots of challenges.  The adults have to sit on their hands and use their words to allow the children to problem solve both these skills.  Each circle is unique to each child  and they are very proud of their finished product.  Choosing a range of colours in either paint or dye and a range of tools with brushes or squirty bottles, so that the effect on their paper is quite different.Some children complete many pictures each day and others return to it day after day.

The wheel is an old drill and battery which we recharge every day, good old NZ ingenuity.

The 3 pictures on the right belong to one boy who completed 5 pictures in one morning.  He managed the whole process by himself and as you can see each one is original.
Boys, technology and creativity all in one, toss in a little problem solving and noise and what do you get "Boys loving art too".

A visit to the Life Education Trust Caravan

You will have all spotted the big caravan in the Broadgreen Intermediate carpark by now and the morning session was lucky to have a visit inside to meet Harold.

Check out Harold's website for some resources and the fit and healthy messages he happily gives out to children and families.

 We met Harold the friendly giraffe and Virginia who takes Harold on tour all around the South Island.  Harold couldn't come out of his house because he was too tall and he might bump the roof, so Virginia told us to look out for him eating leaves off the trees outside during the day.

 We learnt about what our body needs to be healthy and fit and the things we would need to take away if we went for a holiday to grannys.  We found out that our bodies need food, sunlight, water, exercise and oxygen to stay fit and healthy.  The children helped Virginia complete the puzzle body with all the bits that we would need.
Harold knows all about being fit and healthy so he has shared lots of his songs and special resources on his website.

We met Harold and he sang us a song and we sang him twinkle twinkle little star and then blew out all the lights on the roof of his caravan.

Thanks for letting us visit Harold, we look forward to bringing some more children over next year.