Ice Sculptures come to Kindergarten.

Following on from the children s' interest in early morning frosts and cold weather we arranged for a tonne of ice to be delivered to kindergarten. Sadly I was sick and so missed out ( but I know someone else will write all about it) The photos looked amazing. I was delighted to be a kindergarten a week later when Southern Distributors kindly donated us some ice sculptures to explore and marvel over. Right from the moment the truck arrived out side the front fence the children were intrigued . The two friendly men carried in the large sculptures and the children quickly followed.We all oohed and ahhed as they placed a yacht, two swans and a clam shell in the water trough. Children were fascinated by the sculptures and their interest was held right throughout the next two days. The children had opportunity to explore with a 'hands on approach " the scientific concepts of water ice , freezing and melting. On the second day the children also began to add "props" to their play, as penguins, whales, and dolphins began ot frolic in the water and climb on the ice bergs. I always find it brilliant to observe children exploring and making sense of the new by incorporating things they are already familiar with. What a great opportunity for us all experience first hand the properties of ice. And once again I find myself delighting in the community we live in that makes these type of experiences available for children. Thank You Southern Distributors.

Screen Printing

Friday 18th June

This morning lots of children got creative with screen printing. For some this was a revisiting of a process they were already familiar with but had not had any practice at for some time. So some working through of each step was necessary. For others it was a totally new art medium to work with. We also had some parents joining in. One parent had asked her son if he would like to do a print but he showed no interest. When I asked her if she would like to do one herself she jumped at the opportunity! So we had adults and children learning together, children often taking on the role of teacher as the more experienced ones were able to support those new to the process. A wonderfully busy morning with children engaged throughout.

What happens to our rubbish?
A little while ago a group of children and I buried some food scraps, tin foil, plastic and yogurt pottles in the garden. The question we asked is "What will happen to our rubbish". Some children theorised that the worms would eat it all so we decided to wait and see what we would happen. Today ( six or so weeks later) was the day to dig in the garden and make some more discoveries. We found the yogurt pottles tin foil and plastic covered in dirt and with a few worms inside but no other changes. The food scraps had turned into beautiful rich soil and the children decided the worms had done a great job. The conclusion the children came to "the worms can eat the food but not the rubbish" . In order for children to be able to care for the world and take responsibility for it they first need to fall in love with it. I hope this sort of experience will help children do just that. By making discoveries about what happens to our rubbish my hope is that children will naturally take responsibility for what they do with their own rubbish in order to be part of keeping our world a beautiful place.

Visitors of the animal kind.

Wednesday was a busy day not only did we have the awesome drama group from Nayland College but Tia arranged for a friend to visit us with some animals. The children were very interested to meet a miniature horse , a small terrier dog and a huge Great Dane, what a contrast. Children excitedly waited for their turn to brush the horse or walk the small dog. A few of the children gathered round the Great Dane and I think they were completely in awe of it's size. The looks on their faces when it put its front legs on the owners shoulders was priceless.
This visit gave the children a wonderful opportunity to learn about being safe around animals and also some of the aspects of care involved in having a pet. Thanks for coming guys and also thanks Tia for arranging it.

Stories and Waiata

Tuesday 8th June

Emma Breaker, Kaimahi Māori for the Nelson Kindergarten Association, has become a fairly regular visitor to Nayland in her role of supporting us on our bicultural journey. Today she shared a magnetic story with the children about Mako, the shark, looking for a friend. Then she taught us a waiata (song) about the sea creatures and we were impressed with how readily the children took on this new knowledge and shared in with the singing and actions. Ka rawe, tamariki!

Wow WoW WOW is all I can say!

Everyday we celebrate the wonderful community we live in and today was reminder of how lucky we are to be in such a rich, sharing community of schools.  A group of Nayland College students came across with their teacher Monica to perform a play that they had written themselves. 

The morning children were a fantastic audience, trying to help find the lost cat and the cast involved the children by getting them to call out, cheer, clap and laugh.  The characters were dynamic and very professional and the children were entranced.  The play was absolutely on the mark for our 4 year audience and they certainly understood all the  jokes and storyline.
Great job Nayland College you were stunning.  It was also fun seeing a number of children that had previously been citizens of Nayland Kindergarten in the play.  Wow think about the possibilities for our children.

Matariki - Maori New Year

It is the intention of our programme for children to be able to walk in both the world of Māori and Pakeha. By this we ensure children are exposed to hearing Te reo Māori in the kindergarten, we practice tikanga Māori ( Māori protocols such as no sitting on tables, saying karakia at kai time) and noting important celebrations.

This year we are celebrating Matariki with Nayland Primary where we have been invited to join in their art competition, laying and eating of a hangi and participating on the night walk and having a look through the observatory telescope.

What is Matariki?

Matarki marks the Maori new year. The word translates as "little eyes" or "eyes of god"
Towards the end of May the seven stars of Matariki sink below the horizon and disappears from the New Zealand sky. If you watch closely in June you might be lucky to witness shortly before dawn you will see Matariki return. The seven stars rise above the horizon exactly where the sun will appear about half an hour later.

There are a number of legends that tell the story of the seven stars in the sky pertaining to different Iwi (tribes). The brightness of the stars are said to predict whether we will have a good harvest for the year or not. Children at kindergarten have read about Tane and the stars and will be exploring the story about the seven fishes.
The stars are significant to many cultures all over the world.

Come and celebrate Matariki with the Nayland Community - Thursday 17th June with us.

Football.

Last week were lucky enough to have one of our dad's give up some time to take a football coaching session over at the intermediate school hall. We took 20 children over and everyone had a busy and enjoyable time. It was a great opportunity to take the time to practice balls skills in a completely different environment (as well of course as listening skills).We spent time doing warm ups, different football drills , and even fun games of tags (all football related of course). It was a fantastic time and I was impressed with how well the children listened and joined in. Elephant ears proved to be an addition ( ask your children what thye look like).It was exciting to watch the junior footballers in our midst show off their already gained knowledge and skills to their friends too. Thanks Ian for taking the time to share your skills and passion with us, we really appreciated it and look forward to more. Again what an amazing community we have , people who give up their time to share skills with the children and also having resources like the Broadgreen School Hall for our use. We are fortunate indeed.

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.