We Went to the Zoo!!

Yesterday we went to the Hawke's Bay Farmyard Zoo. The whole centre went and we had some great parent helpers. There were so many farmyard animals to look at. We had chickens and lambs running around our feet and some little piglets had escaped through their fence and were running around with us too.

A couple of children were a bit shy around the animals to begin with, but with the parents and teachers support by the end of the trip the children were happy to meet and pat the animals. We had the chance to feed some lambs which was so much fun, even for the parents and teachers. We also got to feed the other animals with our corn feed, and one parent was almost bitten by the ostrich, ouch!

It was a great day even though the wind was blowing. The farmyard zoo is a great community activity on offer for children of all ages. The children had a great experience where they were able to develop a shared understanding of respect and care for farmyard animals such as calves, sheep, chickens, turkeys, pigs, ostrich's.........

Check out your child's profile for some neat photos of the children and the animals that we saw at the zoo. Also thank you to all those parents that helped on the day, it was much appreciated.

Green Day Friday 17th September

Our new Visitors

Running around the Lemon Tree

Jokarvin was shouting at the children "come, come". Eddie, Paetyn and Amelia all followed. They began chasing each other around the lemon tree; laughing and teasing each other as they ran around and around and around. It was neat to see the children enjoying one of the simple things in life, like running around a tree.

Another Lemon Recipe

This morning to use up the lemons off our tree we made some lemon ice cubes. We used the lemon squeezer to juice the lemons and catch the pips. The children twisted the lemons to get all their juice and poured the juice into a jug. Next we tipped the juice into our ice trays and placed them in the freezer. The ice cubes will be perfect to use in our water cups on warm days as a cool refreshing drink.

The Moreporks get Creative

We had loads of fun with art today. There was lots of drawing and sticking and talking happening; the place was a hive of activity. We were using stickers that had all sorts of animals on them so there was lots of chatting about the animals, naming them and making their sounds.
Group experiences are an awesome opportunity for experimentation, discussion and sharing ideas. We now have all the awesome art works displayed on our wall so make sure you check them out.

Our Soup Picnic

Making the Soup

After the bread rolls and the garlic and lemon butter were ready it was time to get on with the soup. We had kumura, potato, spinach, carrots, onion and pumpkin to get ready. The children helped to peel, grate and slice. Then the veges were put in a big pot and cooked on the oven.

Bread Rolls

To go with our soup, we decided we would make some yummy bread rolls. The children gathered around the table and helped to pour the water and yeast into the bowl. We gladwrapped the top and watched through the film as the yeast began to foam. Then we added the dry ingredients in and gave it a stir. We covered the bowl with a tea towel and sat it by the fire to rise. Once it had risen we all had a turn at kneading the dough and then the rolls went into the oven to bake.









The bread rolls were served with plain butter or lemon and garlic butter. Everyone thought the lemon and garlic butter went well with the soup. The bread rolls were so tasty nearly all the children had seconds. We almost didn't have enough. They were such a hit we will have to make them again soon.

Lemon and Garlic Butter

We googled lemons and discovered loads of delicious recipes. One of them was for garlic and lemon butter. As we were planning to make bread rolls for our soup day we thought this would go perfectly.

Our first job was to grate some lemon zest, then grate some garlic and then mix it with the butter. We had some fantastic helpers; the Morepork children are becoming experts at grating and mixing, and the garlic and lemon butter smelled amazing.

Our Lemon Tree

We have a lemon tree in our garden that is full of yummy looking lemons. We are going to make it our mission to find as many uses for the lemon as we can. Please feel free to share any favourite family recipes with us. Watch this space...

The Morepork Sports Day

Today was our very first Moreporks Sports Day. We set about getting all the equipment ready for the children, then it was time for action. The children and whanau were ready to go so Gemma did a trail demo for everyone. With teachers and whanau placed around the course the children set off round the circuit. After a few times around the course the children all managed to find their favourite station and stayed put taking turn after turn.
After lots of running around it was time for a rest and a drink. The children all recieved medals and certificates for their efforts, and the adults had a hot drink, a muffin and a well deserved rest.
The morning was a huge success thanks to all the help from the families who came to help: The children did an awesome job and we now plan to make this an annual event.

Enjoying our Roast Lunch

After all the preparation and cooking it was time to eat our yummy lunch: we all sat down to share lunch together as a group. We served our chicken and veges with gravy and cheese sauce, it was delicious: the younger children tried mashed vegetables which looked pretty yum. The children tried a bit of everything, with some of them coming back for seconds.

Thanks for all your help every one, and i'm sure we are all looking forward to our soup day, and we hope to have lots of visitors next time.

Preparing our Roast Lunch

Thursday was our roast day. The children started the morning by helping to prepare the vegetables. We had carrots, kumura, potato, pumpkin, parsnip, silverbeet, onion and broccoli. We had lots of wonderful helpers. Well done everybody.

Village Kids Artist's

Last Wednesday we decided to get painting and the children created an amazing masterpiece. It was great to see all of the children working together to create this fantastic piece of art.

Make sure you come in and check out our masterpiece.

Little Red Riding Banana by Richard Tulloch. Story: "Munchy Honey Cakes".