Biking Adventures

What a huge fish!

There was huge excitement last Wednesday when the grandfather of one of our Kindergarten children brought in a true to scale model of a striped marlin. For many of us it was one of those real "wow" moments as he carried it in and set it up on the especially made trestles. It was huge! The children listened attentively as he shared lots of interesting information about the marlin (e.g. the significance of the colours, what they eat, what they use their sword for, the importance of the different fins, the tail etc) and then invited questions from the children. They also had the opportunity to go up and look more closely at the fish and to touch it. Before they went off for lunch our guest asked the children if they would like him to bring in another fish for them to see. "Yes," they replied. "What sort of fish would you like to see?" he asked. "A shark!" was the unanimous reply. "One with really big sharp teeth?" he asked. "Yes!" they all called out excitedly. So that is the plan and I can't wait to see the children's reactions when that big mako shark comes in for a visit!

The next day several children joined me at the art table when I invited them to come and draw a picture of the marlin. I had a photo there as a discussion focus and I was impressed with the recall the children had of some of the facts that had been shared with them the previous day. My laptop also provided more pictures and information about the striped marlin and a very cool YouTube clip of marlin fishing off the Californian coast which got the children very excited and invited even more discussion. And the drawings that the children created were fantastic. Ka rawe, tamariki! Thank you , Wally!

A lunch to remember

We had been talking about making healthy choices for our lunch boxes with the children throughout the week, (just as we always do) but the highlight was bringing their empty lunch box on Friday, with the anticipation of choosing food that families had kindly donated.  We had gone on an excursion to the local supermarket as well to buy a few extra supplies and to find other foods of interest.

We had a fabulous morning with children and families exploring our options.

Thanks to our amazing children, families and whanau for making this happen.

Rippa Rugby - Bring It ON!!

A child's view of autumn

A child's voice - "It was beautiful when I took a picture".
Our outdoor playground is a maze of colours as our autumn leaves fall, what an inviting place to play and discover.
Looking through the lens of the camera activates children's eyes to the beauty and detail around them.

Children see what we fail to see sometimes. 

Places and spaces that were not visible before are now more visible and detailed.

Wheels & Breakfast

Many thanks to all those who helped out with our Wheels and Breakfast morning last week of term. Whether you came along on the walk/ride with us or stayed back and helped prepare the wonderful breakfast, your efforts were much appreciated.

Over the term bike riding has been a huge focal point for many of the children with several smaller biking excursions taking place. On the last Wednesday of term all the children were invited to bring their bikes or scooters for a ride along the railway reserve. And for those that did not have either there was the option of walking and some fun games out on the Broadgreen playing fields. Then once we all met up on the field, bikers and walkers, it was back to Kindergarten for a scrummy, healthy breakfast of toast and fresh fruit, also joined by our school friends from Room 12. As part of the process of renewing our Healthy Heart award, we  regularly talk to children about "everyday foods", "occasional" or "treat foods", and the importance of having breakfast. Sharing breakfast was another great opportunity for children to experience healthy food choices in action.

At Nayland we believe in children being physically active, with lots of opportunity for new challenges. Bike riding has certainly provided lots of active exploration, new challenges and learning for many children. And to make it more accessible to more of our children we have purchased three new bike helmets and two new running bikes are on order, thanks to the generous anonymous donation from someone in our local community. Let's get biking again next term!

Beach Excursion Day

Kindergarten Long Lunch

Thousands of people across New Zealand sharing lunch - celebrating children, kindergarten and community…

The Kindergarten Long Lunch was on Sunday, 4 March 2012, International Children’s Day in New Zealand.A fantastic event and a wonderful way to celebrate children, our communities, and raise awareness of the benefits of high-quality early childhood education provided by hundreds of kindergartens throughout the country. Sharing sandwiches at kindergarten, a picnic in the park or by the beach, a street party big or small - kindergarten communities celebrating in different ways.

Because this date was going to be busy in Nelson due to Relay for life and Kiwikids Tryathlon already being organised it was decided that Nelson/Tasman Kindergartens would celebrate in different ways.
On Friday we walked down to Broadgreen Rose Gardens to meet Stoke and Birchwood kindergartens for a picnic morning tea and to listen to Kath Bee. Nayland kindergarten wore red, Stoke was yellow and Birchwood was blue, which made it very easy to spot just where children belonged. It was a busy morning at kindergarten with two fifth birthdays to celebrate as well , but we managed to fit it all in.
Thanks for the parents who came with us.

Rainy Days

22nd February

What do we do when it is raining but the children want to get outside and play? We put on our raincoats, get out the umbrellas and off we go to the playground. And if the children don't have an umbrella? We have now purchased 15 Kindy raincoats so that we can get outside no matter what the weather. So it looked like we had lots of little orange gnomes out in the playground that morning!

Who needs a hose to turn the slide into a water slide when it has been raining? The
children soon discovered how fast they could come down when they pulled their coats down so that they were sitting on them or if they laid on their tummies. What fun we all had!

Did you know

What a surprise we got when we started to dig up our carrots which had grown enormous green tops over the summer holidays.
First carrot out of the ground was white, then another white carrot, then a yellow one. What was going on here. Did we plant parsnips by mistake?
As we dug we were pleased to see one or two orange ones among our harvest. There was even a reddish one with and orange centre.
There were theories offered by children and adults. The garden was too shady. We had multi coloured seed.
I was curious so had to investigate. I discovered that 'Carrots originated in Middle Asia, with some historians believing that they were known as far back as Ancient Egypt over 5,000 years ago. It is not clear if they were actually cultivated at this time, however by the 10th century in Afghanistan, they were being grown in the colours purple or yellow.
These weren’t the only colours around, however. In addition to purple and white, carrots were grown in red, yellow and even black.
It has been said that in the 16th century some Dutch farmers succeeded in growing the first orange carrots in honour of the House of Orange.
This may or may not be true but it makes a good story.
Looking in the Kings seed catalouge I see that you can by seed for these carrots of many colours.
Why grow only orange carrots, I say.
The children agreed that whatever the colour, carrots fresh out of the garden make good munching and crunching.

The wonder of nature

A big thanks to Margaret and Jake for bringing in the baby canary so that the children could have the unique experience of seeing a 15 day old chick in action.  Jake's family raise many different birds at home and Margaret had discovered this chick cold and not very responsive that morning.
The good news was that when she took it home from kindergarten and put it back into the nest, the adult birds took over its care again.

Chips for morning tea

Returning to kindergarten it is time to assess the state of our gardens which have had to cope without regular watering over the break. A rainy December and new bark on Mt Wharepapaiti has meant the grasses planted have thrived over summer and are looking good.
Digging out the potato barrel revealed a kilogram or two of potatoes. I had some willing helpers to dig them out of the dirt and Ratisha cleaned them with a scrubbing brush and water. Thanks Ratisha.
Leaving them damp in a plastic bag over the weekend wasn't such a good idea we discovered. Pooowheee!!!!! Where did that smell come from?
Another round of scrubbing and cleaning was in order. Again Ratisha was a great helper.
What should we do with them now. After some discussion about the different ways to eat potatoes it was decided we were going to make CHIPS.
There is never a shortage of helpers when it comes time to prepare food. You can't cut up potatoes with a blunt knife so out came our sharpest knives and the chopping boards. Taking turns, the children soon had the potatoes chopped, spread on a tray and in the oven.
Only two sticking plasters were needed when fingers got in the way!
By the time the chippies came out of the oven most of the children were all sitting down for morning tea.
Ratisha was able to share them out to those keen to try the result of our hard work and good growing and cooking skills.
Can't wait to plant some more in the coming season.

"Sharing our pets"

This week both Devin and Stuart brought their pets into kindergarten for us to all enjoy. Devin was very excited to see his Mum and Dad come through the gate with the kittens. Almost immediately a group of children came running to see what was inside the box. Funnily enough right behind them came Stuart's Mum with his pet canary.

Dan and Shantelle soon had the children organised sitting down and quietly waiting for the kittens to approach them so that could have a hold. Everybody commented on the softness of their fur and the roughness of their tongues when the kittens tried to lick them . These three cute kittens are looking for forever homes, so if your after a new family member you might like to chat to Devin's family.

Stuart's yellow canary sat up on top of the art easel all morning and kept Tania entertained while we went out side to have a session with Lee. As we came back we heard him singing a most beautiful song which was pretty cool.
Thank You Devin and Stuart and your whanau for bringing in your pets to meet us.

Summer Fun.

We trust you have managed to have a restful break and taken some time to enjoy a break with the ones who are important to you.Each of the teachers came back feeling refreshed and excited about a new year ahead. And from the many conversations we have had with you and your children we get the feeling that you are too.Many of the children have been so excited to get back into kindergarten and without missing a beat that have taken up where they left off last December. One of the pleasures of summer in Nelson is the many ways we get to enjoy the water. And kindergarten is no exception.During an afternoon session this week two of the boys decided to have a bit of a water fight, the laughter and fun was contagious and soon we invited them to bring the water onto the slide.I am sure any body walking past kindergarten was thoroughly entertained by the laughter and fun they could easily see happening.Before long as you can well imagine a group of excited and eager children arrived to have a go too.Lynne came up with the idea of trying out the new clear tunnel ( it was certainly a hit). I think the children enjoyed being able to watch each other go through it.At the end of this we had several very wet soggy and happy children.While the warm weather continues you can be sure that plenty of water play opportunities will arise so make sure you send your child with a few changes of clothes.

Welcome back and welcome to Arkmid's family

2012 at Nayland Kindergarten has begun, yes we are back! 

Arkmid our very special kindergarten camel, who flew back with Lynne from the UAE last year, would like to welcome you all back and we look forward to catching up with you all and hearing about your holidays.

Arkmid has some exciting news to tell you all, his family Jamal and Jamelia flew out from Dubai for the holidays and they have decided to stay and enjoy Nelson and Nayland Kindergarten.  They have been very busy catching up with old and new friends over the Christmas and New Year and exploring Nelson to find out what exciting things there are to do here.





















Arkmid loves to go home with children and families to have adventures, and there are lots of exciting stories in his profile book about going on holiday in the Marlborough sounds, having an operation to fix his wobbley neck and getting up to mischief with his kindergarten friends.

So watch out for further stories about their adventures and we look forward to sharing their stories with you.
See you all back next week.

Hard to believe another year of life, love, learning and laughter at Nayland Kindergarten has come to an end.For me it has been a fantastic year, one of challenge, inspiration, new learning and much laughter.
Thank you to you all, children , parents, families and my fellow teachers for a wonderful year, I have loved it all, and thank you for your friendship and support. I wish you all a safe and restful holiday break .
Just recently I read a great quote from a website "kidshealth.org" which said" Children on average laugh 200 times a day. Adults laugh 15 - 18 times a day.Having a child gives you the chance to make up a pretty big humour deficit" .
Food for thought indeed.Take time to relax and enjoy your family. Remember to Laugh often.
I wish you all a safe and happy Christmas and look forward to seeing you in the New Year.
Nga mihi nui kia koutou (Warm greetings to you all)
Kaiako Mary.
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Metacognition in action

Be as amazed as I was today as Levi constructed a geometrically balanced sky tower.
Levi has been starting his day in the block corner for 3 terms now, and each an every day he brings new thinking and new designs to which he applies his growing knowledge and skills base.
Levi and I had been discussing why his recent buildings were toppling over, and how he could make his foundations more stable. (As there has been alot of talk about earthquakes ). He responded quickly with a fresh idea to strengthen his base by multiplying his blocks, and this soon led to new thinking about the height he could possibly build to. He started with a 1 block base, then 2, then 3 then 4, testing its strength and shake ability each step of the way.
The proof is in the pudding, as they say - Check this out.

 Levi's first goal was to make it higher than me  - all of my 1.55 metres.  
It soon surpassed me and he needed another chair to reach higher.
He measured everyone against it as they  passed by.









Levi then dismantled the top part of his tower and remodelled it with much larger blocks.  The care, precision and design were without fault.  He ensured it was strong by testing each level with a shake test, and the larger blocks were placed across ways to balance the structure.


Levi allowed me the privilege of putting the block on the top, with the help of the two chairs stacked on top of each other.

Levi and I have looked at many of the tallest buildings in the world, but this time Levi, the Burj Kahlifa comes to mind.

I wonder if you will be a structural engineer one day or maybe an architect or builder?

Simply the best

Just a little Christmas cheer for our wonderful story gran Jenny. She is the ultimate story gran turning her hand not just to reading books, but to dancing, face painting, artwork, dramatic play and mat time mahem. 

There are not enough thank you's in the world Jenny to tell you how much we really appreciate everything you do for the children at Nayland Kindergarten.