Exploring illumination

The children were very excited when we told them that we were going to make a dark room, they quickly helped us clear our little room so that we could get it underway. It sat empty for a day and all their ideas began to flow, "this could be dinosaur land", "it could be a dark forest", "it could be a spooky forest".  With the black polythene up it was magically dark and the painting began with ideas from the children.  They even painted the floor by painting their hands and doing hand stands. We found white stickers that glowed really well and they stuck them on their arms and legs so that they looked robotic, it was a great idea but a little tricky to get off. (a little cream and a quick pull)
It has become a place to explore light and dark, find out what glows and what shines and what do we have on our bodies that light up.  The room is often full of as many adults as children and when we put the music in there the party began.

My camera is not sure what to make of it all, but here are some photos to give you the idea.
They have drawn mountains, sun, shooting stars, the moon and much more.

 

 Look for then stickers on the arms and legs, it really does look amazing.

Trip to Nayland College Horticulture Unit.

Jeff Bryant (The Head of the Horticulture Department) at Nayland College invited us to visit.   Jeff had two student  helpers  called Toni and Jamie. They showed us around and helped us.   We got to plant a pea seed each.  First we had to fill our pot with compost and then plant the seed. Jeff asked if we needed worms for the kindergarten  worm farm, which we did. And so we all went to find them.  Their worm farm is much bigger than the one at kindy, and it is very smelly .  We had a look at the garden and even saw a zucchini that Mary’s son Mitch is growing.  When we got back to kindergarten we put the worms into our worm farm.  We really do hope that helps our worm farm as it has been looking a little bit sad with not much sign of life lately.    We also look forward to planting our pea seeds and then being able to eat fresh peas.  

The new horticulture unit is huge and we were all very impressed with the tool shed and the chicken house.  Hopefully we can go back and visit once there are chickens living in it. 

 Congratulations  Jeff Bryant and Nayland College on your  fantastic new facility and thanks for inviting us to come visit.  We hope we can work with you again soon.  Mary and the children from Nayland Kindergarten.

Fire and Rescue morning with Aunty Kathy.

Family Liaison Group Parent Night Term One.

How many ways can you cool off on a hot summers day?

These photos need no words, they say it all!

Check out our new website layout!

 The children, teachers and families are back and ready to embrace 2015.... 

CHECK OUT OUR LINK TO OUR NELSON TASMAN KINDERGARTEN ASSOCIATION WEBSITE!!

http://www.nelsontasmankindergartens.com/what-happens-here.html

We look forward to lots of feedback on our blog this year, do leave us a comment or a question.

Yahoo there have been 10,000 views on our blog

Time to celebrate 10,000 hits on our blog, it is great to be able to share our kindergarten programme with a wider audience.  It is exciting to see people all around the world viewing what is happening at our place.

Gerry and Hank return!

Children's' vision for and planning of their environment in action.

Sharing our story with Room 14 Nayland Primary

Some of the children wrote a story about a monster who chased their families and tried to eat them. They added detailed pictures to the story and our student teacher, Natalie, made this awesome storybook. We took the book to school to share. The school children gave some feedback to the girls saying they liked the pictures and the story was funny.

Life is an experiment!! How better to learn!

When you mix curiosity with metacognition, what do you get?

So what might happen when the yellow and blue dye walk up the paper??

What happened when we mixed the cornflour and boiling water mixture into two bowls and added yellow and blue?

What happened when we used the foot bellows pump, a hose, a funnel, some red bubbly water and lots of energetic children?

What travels faster?  Corrugated card on a slide or a sledge loaded with children being assisted down a slope?

Wondering is addictive and so is childhood.  Let the children play, that is how innovation happens. Thinking, planning, and experimenting drive learning.

You might wonder too who are the adults and who are the children in this place!

Gardening time again

We have harvested the few vegetables left in our garden and now it is time to plant again.   My helpers soon arrived to pick, clean and cut them ready for cooking.

The children know exactly where our garden waste goes... into the compost.

The children and teachers talked about what we could plant and with some very generous help from families and offers of plants and seeds our garden has come alive again.

During the morning it rained to settle the plants in and to tempt the children out.  I love the vibrant colours and the wonderful energy of the children and plants connecting in our garden.

Visiting Summerset Retirement Village

What an amazing morning with a group of twenty children working with some of the elderly members of our community drawing and sharing stories, sharing kai and then performing with some amazing singing and dancing. Thanks to our wonderful parents who came with us on the bus for the morning.
                        “To care for those who once cared for us is one of the highest honors.”
― Tia Walker

Favourite  songs were shared - Wash your face with orange juice, Mrs Bunny and The Magic Playdough were just a few of our repertoire this morning. Kai pai tō mahi tamariki mā. Great work children.

Conservation walk

Heading out the gate and off for a conservation walk went the children from Nayland Kindergarten.  What could they find.... something made of wood, metal, something green, brown, big or small and what else would they notice that we hadn't expected?  Indeed they did find things of interest, and we listened to many different sounds and we noticed many different patterns outside the kindergarten environment.   It is also a great opportunity to practice looking after each other and to explore the environment around us.

Get set go...

Emily from Sports Tasman came to play some games at kindergarten, gathering a group of interested children she played "Creep up...".  It is a good reminder of games to play and to find out who is interested and who knows the game already.

Off to the Air Nelson.

 At kindergarten we love the opportunity to explore new places in our local community.  It was with much excitement we took up the opportunity offered from Lionel (Juandre’s and Liam’s Dad) to visit Air Nelson, and get close to the aeroplanes.
Lionel met us at Air Nelson, and after explaining how to keep ourselves safe, we were ready to head into the hanger.  Inside were two aeroplanes which were having maintenance work done on them - the men working on them were attached by a harness, just in case they slipped.  We were able to go inside one of the aeroplanes, it had a huge silver fern painted on it’s tail.  Inside the aeroplane we checked out the cockpit and see where the pilot’s sits and all the instruments he uses to fly the aeroplane.  The tour finished with a walk through the main maintenance hanger, where there was a lot of activity and noise.  Kaiako Lynette.

A visit to the Suter Gallery

11th    June 2014  .  We headed out into our community to visit The Suter Art Gallery.  On arrival we were greeted by Esther who showed us around the gallery and talked to us about the artwork on display.  We began by looking for repeating patterns in the paintings, then using our bodies to make the patterns.  Then turning on some music, Esther encouraged us to use our bodies to make repeating patterns in time to the music.  Next we looked closely at the paintings, finding shapes which we made our bodies into….we became trees, birds, mountains and rivers.  After that it was time to get creative, we each chose a favourite painting,  and then set to work creating our own interpretation of the original artwork using pastels.  What a beautiful collection of pictures were created to display on our wall back at Kindergarten.   Kaiako Lynette.

Afternoon kindergarten - end of term excursion to Play Dayz.

As an end of term excursion for the afternoon children we planned a trip to Play Days (Action Indoor Sports Centre). For several children in this group this was their very first ever bus trip so that was exciting all in itself. Play days provides bouncy castles, play equipment, ride ons and toys.  The children were all delighted to discover all the wonderful things available to them.  I think the parents enjoyed time to play but also the fact that while their children were in a safe fenced area they could nip off and buy a coffee and bring it back to enjoy while watching the children play.  Thanks to the parents who were able to join us on this afternoon out.

The morning children head to the gym.

This term we planned a visit to Nelson Intermediate Gym  for our end of term excursion.  We set off on  the bus and stopped at the Botanics for morning tea and to celebrate  a 5th  Birthday.  From here we set off for the Gym.  This was a new experience for many of the children but a chance to revisit an old favourite for many and of course an opportunity to showcase the amazing physical skills of many of the children.  Sessions at the gym never fail to provide new challenges and opportunities to test limits, and naturally then  discover new skills and abilities.
What a wonderful morning we all had.  Thanks to all the parents who helped support us on the day and specials thanks to Kyle and Linda for supporting this excursion. The morning passed quickly , and soon we were back on the bus, hot, sweaty , tired and  ready for a two  week break.