Tahunanui Community Centre Preschool

On Monday 8th November we took a group of 10 excited afternoon children to visit the Tahunanui Community Centre Preschool in Muritai Street. We have a number of children who attend this preschool or used to attend prior to starting at Nayland Kindergarten as well as some children at the preschool who will start attending Nayland Kindergarten next year. I saw this is an opportunity to foster links between these two EC settings. We were warmly welcomed when we arrived and I was surprised at just how readily the children started to explore the place, both indoors and out. There were so many new experiences and equipment on offer and the children did not waste a minute. My plan was for the children to have kai time there but they were far too busy for that! However we did join in with their mat time before we got back into our cars and returned to Nayland. What fun we had all had!

I think if I was to come up with one highlight for the children it would have to be the abundance of pets at the preschool.....frogs, fish, birds and the most favourite of all, (although not for me personally!), the two rats that belonged to one of the teachers and were there that day. It was exciting to watch the delight and sometimes, the uncertainty, on the children’s faces as they had hands on experience with these animals. The range of bikes, ride-ons and cars were also very popular for many and provided new challenges and risks as the children zoomed around the bike track.

This excursion was an example of children experiencing an environment where connections with the wider community are affirmed and extended. It is about children coping with change to the usual routines and how they respond to such change. I noticed that all the children, with the knowledge of having their friends alongside for support, showed courage and took risks as they explored all that was available to them. They were fully engaged and having fun. They were showing just how confident and competent they are and how ready they are to engage in active exploration, even in an environment not necessarily familiar. They were open to new learning experiences and approached these with wonderment and excitement. I found this just so exciting myself!

Visit to Nelson South kIndergarten.

Last week we took a group of children to visit Nelson South Kindergarten.We have some connections here already as this is where I taught before I came to Nayland and also a group of Nelson South Kindergarten children came to us after the fire earlier in the year.The children from Nayland were amazing. They quickly got on with the job of exploring a new environment and made full use of just about everything.
We couldn't have done this trip without the support of the Nelson South team and also the parents who came with us. Thanks so much to you all.

Sarah Langi comes to visit.

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This week Sarah Langi (Nelson Environment Centre) came to catch up with us at kindergarten. The children were keen to show her our worm farm and we were delighted to hear her say "This is very healthy indeed". I was excited because sometimes I had not really known what I was doing at all. We then emptied the bottom layer of the farm and collected the worm wees or liquid gold as people in the know call it. We diluted this down and then used it as fertiliser on our own Mt Wharepapa iti ( where we have recently planted grasses on the mound behind the slide).
At mat time Sarah brought her own worm farm to teach us more about caring for ours. We certainly learned some fascinating facts about worms, for instance they have no eyes, and baby worms grow in a cocoon which caused a bit of confusion for some children.
Sarah then handed out trays of worms for all the children to look at . The looks of fascination on the childrens faces was brilliant to watch. If you want to know more about worm farming ,feel free to come and ask and also ask your child to show you ours.

A magic place

We often talk about Nelson as a beautiful place to live and a recent newspaper survey has shown that Stoke is a very popular place to live too.  You no sooner walk out your door and you can be cycling the hills, walking the beach or exploring the arts and cafes.
We sometimes forget to look even closer still at the beautiful things around us, and that is just what we did at kindergarten this week.  Check out our beautiful flowers and trees, have you noticed them inside the kindergarten grounds?


The children are always very keen to help us look after the gardens, to water and plant.  They now have a magical playground, which is very natural and beautiful to play in everyday.  The plants are now attracting birds back into the playground and different smells happen as the children explore the many special places.

Rolling down the tunnel and off into the flaxes, travelling down the yellow slide and passing under the flax leaves.  Pushing through the plant forest beside the tunnel and out onto the stone pit, creates lots of different smells and textures brushing over your skin.

Climbing Mt Wharepapa Iti and looking into the distance to see Mt Wharepapa (Mt Arthur stands regally over the Nelson Area).  We are thinking about writing a legend about how our little mountain arrived here and the children are now showing an interest after planting their grasses on the mountain.

When summertime comes we are blessed with a natural shade canopy to protect us all from the sun.  The trees growing in our playground have been here for generations before us, especially the pear tree which is now 50+ years old.








We no longer climb the pear tree as we want it to stand strong for a long time to come.
The children are allowed to nestle in the natural alcove that the branches form at the bottom of the tree.

Sarah from Nelson City Council visited today to checkout our worm farm and bokashi and she thinks our environment should be an "Enviro School" right now.

Take the time to enjoy the natural playground, and remember adults have permission to play in it too.

Reduce Reuse Recycle

At kindergarten our committment to sustainable practices can be seen as we compost our food and garden waste, feed our garden with the goodness produced by our worm farm and the bokashi bins. We reuse some of our un named paintings by over painting them and using them as backgrounds for screenprinting and drawing. We encourage no waste lunch boxes and are experts in using all kinds of recycled materials for construction and other play.
Our recent excursion to the recycling centre was an opportunity to get a bigger picture of what happens to the rubbish we generate in our homes each day.
It was also an opportunity for children to connect with the wider world of work as we met Noahs Dad and Uncle who work at the recycling centre. We saw the shop where items are sorted for resale and reuse and then the shed which is filled with plastic, glass, card paper and tins to be sorted and sent off to plants around NZ to be remade into other products such as buckets, rulers,egg cartons and roading material. We saw the hopper where items destined for the landfill are crushed in preparation. Coming back to kindergarten with items from the reuse shop we were full of ideas for possible uses. Will there be a robot or a pirate ship at kindergarten soon ? We will see.

A morning in a magic place

We were off to visit a family's farm for the morning, 10 morning children and 7 adults were off on a farm adventure with their backpacks on their backs and morning tea for the adults and the animals.
A short drive out past Brightwater, around a few windy roads and a step drive and we had arrived to a magic place.
The animals were there to greet us, the sheep, lambs, calf, cow, pigs, dogs, chooks, and birds were awaiting our arrival.

It was so peaceful, the sun was shining and we made a decision
that this could have been a week long excursion.  We were in heaven sitting up there looking down the valley.

Morning tea over we set off into the forest, heading up to the top of the hill after the very energetic children, who were excited by their new surroundings.  Reaching the top we had to call out and tell them to stop, as they were ready to go on much further.  "Where are we?" I asked.  "In the North Island" was their reply.  Not letting on of course, some of us felt like we had tramped that far too.


We thought walking up hill was hard work, well we were in for a treat as the boys decided to take the quick way down.

This is one of those moments when you wished you had worn the right shoes, all those pin needles start to move at speed and so do you.  Lots of fun and it didn't take us long.  The children had not run out of energy or steam they were ready to go again. Now it was time to check out the treehouse, what a great place to play and it would be fun to sleep up here too. Wow, you can even slide out of it, slow and slippery but lots of fun.  A climbing wall was attached and ladders to go up to the hut ontop.

How did time pass so quickly, it was time to go home and time to say goodbye to the animals and the wonderful family that had invited us. 
Thanks to N's family for the wonderful morning and thanks to all our helpers, I know that you didn't want to leave either.

Bunny Day.

Vaydim came into kindergarten clutching something small in his arms and calling "It's Bunny Day". He had a small baby rabbit tucked into his arms. Of course very soon a larger group had arrived to have a look and have the chance to pet him.
It soon turned out it was indeed Bunny day because Ruth and her Mum arrived with two more bunnies in tow. They set up a special enclosure and children took turns climbing inside to pat and feed them. Outside our student teachers Jess and Meghan were face painting and yes , your guessed correctly, very soon a whole clutch of bunnies were hopping around the playground.After kindergarten that day Jake and his Mum went to pick up his new pet bunny,so next day he brought it in to share with us.
What an awesome opportunity for children who might not have any pets at home.Thanks to these children and their families for sharing their pets with us.

A trip to Nelson Airport to see the helicopters

Bede and his family had invited a small group of afternoon children to visit the helicopter hangar at the Nelson Airport.  With great excitement we set off to with lots of parents as helpers.
What an amazing opportunity and Bede's Dad had lots of new and exciting adventures for us.

There was time to explore the helicopter inside and out, ask loads of questions and find out what it might be like to be a helicopter pilot.
We tried out the winch and harness to pull us up into the rescue helicopter safely in the case of an emergency.  Then the children decided that I should have a go too, and I have to say that I was pretty keen to give it a go.


Bede and Mum were helping Dad strap everyone in safely, waiting for the thumbs up to start the lifting, checking in that all was well below.
Bede's Dad took him for a ride in the blue helicopter and we watched on, as the helicopter hovered above the ground in front of us and then turned to land again further away.  I smiled as one child said, that isn't fair because my Mum doesn't have her licence to fly helicopters.  It wasn't possible for the children to fly that day, but there may now be lots of children asking for helicopter trips after this. 

 

  There was a smaller helicopter alongside the rescue helicopter and the boys wanted their photo taken standing in front of it.  Boys dream about being a pilot one day.

 We also discovered that there was a NZ Flying Doctor aeroplane operating out of Nelson.We watched as the pilot backed the plane out with his little tractor, getting the aeroplane ready for its next flight.

Thank you to Bede and his family, we had a fantastic time at the helicopter hangar, and thank you so much for making it possible for us to find out the rescue helicopter and see you and Bede fly in one together.  I am sure that it made many children's dreams a reality and adults too.

What's happening here.

I just love the purposeful buzz that happens during the morning as you look around the mat and see children engaged in small clusters busily working away at their chosen task.
The blocks were well in use today.
Some clusters were focused on the problems presented by the building activity in itself.
As they built they were involved in design, pattern, size, balance and stability. Problem solving and selecting the right materials for the job. There was negotiation of roles, and ideas, listening and responding appropriately.

For others the building was a prop for dramatic imaginary story telling with dinosaurs, animals and insects.

Another exploration was around size, height, balance, comparison,with all of the careful thoughtfulness and anticipation that goes into building a tower. Would this be the block that makes the tower tumble? Observers were drawn in to offer advice and make comparisons. It was great to see the children respectful of each others ideas and guiding their own and contributing to the group learning.

A trip to the theatre.

Tanya Batts, story teller extraordinaire was visiting Nelson as a participant in the Nelson Arts Festival. We are familiar with her story of the magic playdough at kindergarten, a mat time favourite with the children. A visit to the theatre royal was arranged for our kindergarten morning session to hear Tanya's story telling.
She held a theatre full of 4 years olds spell bound for an hour as she told the story of the little duck, the gingerbread man, then Grandmothers bed.

In the evening Tanya held a workshop at kindergarten for teachers from our association and others about story telling. We will be using her material during sessions as the weeks go by.

Why tell stories?
Tanya would say " to make sense of the world, and a develop a sense of self.
To engage and empathise with other perspectives, build and strengthen relationships and encourage problem solving skills.
Story telling develops language and narrative, and exercises an alternate way of knowing.(From The story sack. Tanya Batt)