Seasons change - so does our centre piece!

As autumn is upon us and winter just round the corner it is time to recreate a new sculpture for the paint easel. As children and teachers have gathered leaves, bark, dried flowers and seeds and drift wood there were many natural resources to create our work. The glue guns are always popular tools to create sculpture and I am always amazed at how children are able to have pieces stand up and stack on top of each other creating interesting shapes and features. The glue guns have now been set up in the sewing room so children can use them as they choose. Teachers have also ordered more guns and of course glue sticks, so more children can engage at once. I have to say having only two guns does mean children need to negotiate their turns and also to manage their impulsivity! In others words waiting their turn and allowing others to choose where and how they will stick things.
So next time you are in the garden or walking through the park have a look around for some resources you may think would be good for glue gunning and of course you are always invited to have a go yourself!

What's been cooking in the sandpit?

What industrious fun there has been the past couple of weeks with creating delicious?? concoctions in the sandpit. There has been chocolate and chocolate cake along with the complex making of wombat stew.
Whatever the brew there has been a group of cooks and all having a role to play. Each adding their own individual ideas and flair to the overall product. Some adding more water, others adding more sand and mud.

When it came to the wombat stew there were many bits and pieces added to make up for flies, feathers, bugs and slugs. All the time we read the story and chanting the song

Wombat stew
Wombat stew
Munchy crunchy for my lunchy
Wombat stew

Next time you are passing, feel free to come and taste what is on offer, or better still add your own personal touch to the brew! p.s. no wombats were hurt in this process. (In fact we couldn't find one!)

Kai time at Nayland Kindergarten

At Nayland Kindergarten we have what are called rolling morning and afternoon teas. This means that children can come if they are hungry and over a period of time. If the morning parents may have noticed the signs on the wall which mean have a green spot for go and a red spot for stop. This is to allow children to self manage this time. When the children see it is 9:30am they can put out the red kai mats, put sitting mat around the kai mat and then wash hands and say the karakia. The kai mats are then removed at 10:45am.

Karakia - Maori name for prayer. Our karakia is more a statement of thanks rather than a religious grace so we do not exclude any children from the process. It is written above the kai area for parents to see and some families have even adopted this for their own tables at home.

For our family whanau friends and food
we say ka pai and thank you
Kia taku whanau me nga hoa,
mo te kai,kia ora.

These are the tikanga (protocols) around the kai mats:
1. We must not stand or sit on the kai mats
2. W place our food on the mat not on our sitting mats
3. Sitting mats are for sitting, not lying down.

Children know at the end of kai they pick up their mats and place them back in the basket.
The same tikanga runs for morning, afternoon and lunch times.

In the morning session, children choose their morning tea from their lunch boxes. They place a poster on the mat and choose things that are similar in their lunch boxes. Children talk about everyday food being for morning tea. The poster also hangs on the wooden stand by the kai mats.

Children learn about waste free lunch boxes, and all rubbish brought in lunch boxes goes home in their lunch boxes.

Creative Designers
The sewing room continues to be an area of interest for children to design and create clothing and wearable art.







Children have used pattern books and books on WOW as well as their prior knowledge of clothing and costumes to use as provocations and inspiration for their projects.
The sewing machine has proven to be a piece of technology attractive and mastered by both boys and girls.










At Nayland Kindergarten the teachers believe it is important that children have available the real tools for them to construct their real work. For their visions and plans to be seen as real and valued. Here are some samples of the work that has been carried out. Impressive designers and Impressive products.

Billy Goats Gruff.

This week we have all been having lots of fun acting out the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. The first time the teachers had a play, much to the amusement of the children and then the children took turns playing different roles. Every morning we set up the bridge and the children would soon ask for the track to be played.Play acting gives children the opportunity to discover other ways of being creative and also the knowledge that stories can be told and retold in other ways apart from print.It also gives children a chance to practice confidence and courage as they try something that may be out of their confort zone.We will continue this for the next while and we all look forward to seeing what develops.

Healthy Heart Award

Friday 18th May

On Friday we had Mark Dunn from the NZ Heart Foundation here to present us with our Healthy Heart Award. Mark joined us at Kindergarten for our mat time where he shared a felt board story and book with the children, all about Harry, the fitness frog. These awards are given out to schools and EC centres that actively promote healthy food and physical exercise. So well done, Nayland Kindergarten!

The Artists

Setting up a space for art to happen and for children to be curious about, is a provocation, as is looking over the kindergarten fence.  I had taken out a large piece of cardboard, some pencils and paper and put it just inside the front fenceline. I asked the children that gathered, to notice what was across the road and they quickly spied the beautiful tree changing colour and loosing its leaves.  This then led to discussions about why trees loose their leaves and autumn time. I wrote down some of their comments, such as, "The leaves die and the wind blows them off", "It is autumn time you know and the leaves turn brown".
It was time to draw what we could see over the fence and this is what happened.  The results were stunning, and their concept of the tree and leaves reminded me of the importance of allowing children to draw their world as they see it.  There is alot of research that says that colouring in can have negative effects on children's creativity and how they view themselves as artists. 

 The group moved inside at the end of the tree drawing and I added another provocation, "How to draw a face" into their drawing group.  The girls took up the challenge with both courage and excitement, they celebrated each others efforts and with ease they followed the steps to draw the face.  It walked them through drawing lines to line up the different parts of their face.  Another provocation was added with skin coloured pastels and they talked about which colour they thought they needed to use.  Eye colour and hair were talked about without any prompting.
"I think it is time to have an art exhibition" I stated.  The girls were very excited, and as it was the end of the day I promised that their work would be up on display the next day for others to see their artwork too.

An important part of being an artist is having other people view it, just as they do all around the world. We want children to strengthen their dispositions to be artists, to reflect on their own work, and to celebrate and collaborate in ways that honour each person's work.
There are a number of works up on display, so check out the environment and feel free to leave feedback for anyone of the artists at Nayland Kindergarten.

Taking responsibility for our play areas

Over the last couple of weeks the teachers have been talking to the children about everyone taking responsibility for the kindergarten toys and equipment and their own personal belongings.  If items are dropped onto the ground and not put away once they have finished with them, then they disappear into the shed for the rest of the week.  During the morning their is one reminder over the microphone, that equipment will be removed for the week if it is not picked up, and children have certainly responded to the challenges.
One child told us at mat time, that it looked like a'garage sale', and I had to agree, there were as many clothes as toys.  It took 15minutes to give all the clothing back and the children's faces were priceless as they recognised their own personal belongings being held up.  We are making progress together, reminding each other and helping each other puts things away.  Teamwork! 

Our emergency drills

Every week we practice one of the emergency drills with the children, either fire or earthquake drill.
So what do we do if there is an earthquake?
If you hear a teacher call out "earthquake drop" you fall to ground and curl up in a turtle/hedgehog position and place your hands across the base of your brain, to protect it from getting hurt.  You do not move until you hear a teacher tell you it is safe to go back to play, or tell you what to do next.  It is important that whether children are inside our outside that they drop down right where they are playing.  This is the kiwi group doing a magnificient job of the earthquake drill during small group time, then they showed the bigger group at mat time how it is done.
With the fire drill, a teacher blows the whistle 3 times and children immediately move off to the black matting beside the slide, sitting down quickly they wait to hear their name called and for a teacher to tell them what to do next or that it is all safe to return to their play.  The teachers have assigned job responsibilities to clear the building, check that all children are out, close the doors and met with the fire brigade at the entrance, as well as take roll call to ensure that everyone is out. 
There are a number of fire and earthquake signs up in the building.

Inquiring minds

From the moment children are born, they are natural scientists wanting to explore the world.  They try to make sense of their world by investigating and trial and error.  Children learn through their senses, so it is really important for them to have as many hands on experiences as possible.
The afternoon group are a curious bunch ready to try out any new experiences, such as the carrot top growing experiment, which a child brought along to share with the group.  We have set up a trial group to see if they grow and this is an opportunity to grow other seeds to.
An afternoon of fun was about exploring the properties of the wobbly mirror, which changes your body shape from long to short, or wide to upside down, and when it was put on the ground we wondered what we might see in our reflection.  With the parachute over top to create an enclosure, we gazed into its depths and used our imaginations to find dinosaurs and scarey monsters (the boys helped out with this).
The teachers often reflect on where does science happen here?, and everytime we do , we realise that it happens everywhere at kindergarten not just in the science area.

Goodbye to the Nelson South children

The Nelson South children have now moved off to temporary premises while their kindergarten is being fixed, which will not be completed until term 3.  They certainly showed us just how resilient kids are, they arrived at Nayland and got on with business, finding places to play, making new friends and building relationships with the teachers.  We were sad to see them go but we wish them all and we were really pleased that we could help out in some way.  We hope to visit them this term in their new classroom at Nelson Intermediate, close by the gym, for morning tea and a play at their place.

Water water anytime.

Water is a magnetic for children and adults and despite the weather it never loses it appeal.  So I sat alongside the children wondering how we could continue these wonderful opportunities to explore the properties of water during the winter months.  I think it is called a pair of wellies, a coat and some warm clothing and a great big puddle.  Remembering that a winter in Nelson has cold mornings and warm sunny days.
The look on children's faces when they take their shoes and socks off and immerse their feet in the water is undescribable, and to be honest as an adult it feels great.  It came as no surprise during my week as the outside teacher last week to see the boys recreating their water game on the slide.   It takes courage and lots of teamwork to get it happening, but the fun factor is the ultimate.  Before long they had stripped down to their undies and we had checked out the safety in the area, then away they went, flying down the wet slide into a large puddle of water and out the other side.  By the end of the game there was not just boys but a few girls who couldn't resist either.

A trip to WOW!

While the other small group was off at Guytons, a larger group set off walking, to the Wearable Art Museum with Lynne, Margie, Mary and Elaine.  It was a glorious morning with lots of parents and helpers along for the morning and lots of excited children.  The children from Nelson South came along too with Mary alongside, although I don't think that they needed any support at all.  They had a fabulous time.
There is always so much to see at WOW, but sadly we can not take photos, so we have one of their books with all the amazing costumes in and a DVD of the shows, which are spectacular.  There was lots of chatter on they way along the railway reserve, of course watching out for any trains or trolls under the bridge.  Watch that sewing room and construction room to see childrens ideas evolve, who knows these children may be entering their masterpieces in the WOW shows in years to come.
I think we really need to visit again just to absorb a little more, as the experience is overwhelming at first, but inspirational and the creativity blows your mind and your senses.  Take the opportunity and visit with your children.

Teachers are learners here to

Working with children to explore creativity is the best job in the world.  It is very empowering for teachers trying out new art mediums alongside children for the very first time.  It is often the children that are the teachers and the teachers that are the learners, so together we build a community of artists.
Art is always a magnet drawing other children into trying out something new, and at times they are lining up for the next turn.  So my challenge is to always keep it small and manageable, not branch out into something that resembles a railway station.  I had a success with the printmaking as they children were keen to have a turn and wrote their names on the list to ensure they had a turn the next day.

Working with Clay

Working with natural resources such as clay is very satisfying.
Early exploration has involved discovering the way clay responds to kneading, rolling, shaping and patterning. We used fingers, palms, fists and tools to pattern the surface.
We have provided shells, cones, sticks to use with the clay.
Children have made sailboats, pots, butterfly, caterpillars, beds, monkeys and beads.
Another technique that has been explored is using a slab of clay as a canvas to draw pictures on. We have used some wonderful metallic paints to paint beads and we will add colour to the drawings and other creations now they are dry.
There have been opportunities for story telling, exploring language for shape texture pattern, sharing ideas and knowledge.

Recycling.

This week Sarah Langi from Small Planet came to talk with us about recycling. Sarah talked about what happens to the rubbish in land fill and how it just sits there and takes hundreds of years to break down. If we want to be people who care for our environment we need to think of some other ways of disposing of rubbish was her main message.
We had collected lots of rubbish from lunches, a collection of food scraps and other things and Sarah asked the children to decide where to put each item. The children had to decide whether it was paper and card, plastic, tin or compost or worm farm. We were very proud of the way they answered quickly and with such knowledgeable answers.
And I learnt a new thing this week......did you know that Kathmandu fleeces are made from recycled plastic bottles so drink up!

New Paints

Thursday 6th May

This afternoon the children enjoyed working with the new metallic paints. I set up small pieces of paper, paint trays and cotton buds on a table outside with the help of two of the children who were very keen to try out the "beautiful colours". Many of the children throughout the afternoon came to explore the resources and lots of wonderful paintings were created, all with a style of their own.

Hula Hoop Huts

Wednesday 5th May


This morning we got busy building hula hoop huts, one of the activities used in Lee's sessions to promote children's spatial awareness. Using six hoops a hut is built and the children then have to crawl through it very carefully so that it does not fall down. They have to think carefully about where their head is, their arms, their bottom and their feet. I had lots of children keen to join in when they saw the fun that the others were having. Another challenge was to see how many children we could fit inside one hut without it falling down. We managed three which led me to introducing the story of "The Three Little Pigs", with the three huts representing the pigs' houses that they built. So what started as a physical development activity turned into wonderful dramatic play for a large group of children, and we were still playing when the tidy-up time music came on. Oh dear, we will just have to play it again next week!