October Newsletter

Our Postman Pat!

WOW Beetle-mania!!!!

What an amazing day of discovery and exploration in the world of insects today! It all began with Stuart's discovery of a little black beetle in the sandpit - we watched it as it moved, rolled onto it's back and crawled. Where was it going? What does it eat? Where does it live? Can it fly?

Soon Stu and Jay gathered their courage and were able to pick it up gently, letting it move across their hands and putting it near the fence. There was lots of discussion as they watched as it scuttled away under the fence - running to the other side of the garden to see if they could see it outside the Village Kids fence.

The bug-buzz continued throughout the morning and the children found ants, Steel Blue Ladybirds and spiders! We put these in the bug catchers so we could take a closer look... fascinating! I wonder how long this interest in tiny creatures will last??

Stu, Jay and Amelia were actively exploring the natural world (Strand 5, Te Whaariki), developing ideas about other living creatures and how to care for them. They used their observation skills to look at name the different parts of the beetles body, and to identify that all the insects except the slug have legs! They learned that spiders can be found near webs, and that webs can be found under ledges in the playground!!

September Newsletter

We are now going to be placing our newsletters on the blog for you to share with others and if you unfortunately lose your paper copy, you will always be able to access the latest centre information!

Its birthday time!!!

We love to celebrate special occasions with our children and this week is no exception!
On Thursday Ngakau turned 1 and today (Friday) Manaia turned 2!
It was so cool that we were able to celebrate these special days with them.




Celebrations such as these allow the children to feel comfortable with the routines, customs and regular events. They develop an understanding of the routines, customs, and regular events of the early childhood setting and an understanding that these events can be different in other settings.
Te Whaariki, Strand 2: Belonging, Goal 3.

Playdough fun!

Today on the deck there has been alot of playdough fun! We made some new yellow playdough and the children enjoyed squashing it, rolling it and feeding it to the animals, especially the crocodile. Unfortunately there are no photos of this mornings fun however here are some photos of yesterdays fun with the playdough!






Playdough is a fantastic resource for the children to learn and develop many skills.
Playdough fosters the development of their mainpulative skills as they squash and roll the playdough using the small muscles in their hands. Children develop an awareness of social interactions and the 'rules' surrounding our interactions with others. Playdough aids in the development of their language skills as we use describing words and put words with their actions and using playdough enhances children's creativity by using their imagination to create a masterpiece.
For more information, copy and paste the following link:
http://www.grownups.co.nz/read/lifestyle/family/importance-playing-with-children

A Double Celebration

This morning we had a double celebration. At morning tea we celebrated Eddie's second birthday with a yummy chocolate cake. Eddie blew out his candle and we all sang happy birthday to Eddie. What a yummy cake it was Eddie, with it's pink icing and marshmallows.

It has also been such a glorious day that everyone has been playing outside in the sandpit and sprinkler. The water from the sprinkler had turned the dirt in to mud and the children were having a ball. Squishing their fingers and toes deep into the mud, experiencing new and different textures to excite and stimulate the sensory system.

A Monet Morning

The creativity was flowing this morning with children creating masterpieces with paint and getting their groove on, dancing to our favourite songs. We had paint set up on the deck before morning tea with different shaped stampers to create different patterns on our paper.

Another group of children were gathered around the stereo inside dancing and jumping to some favourite songs, including Fancy dance and Mrs bunny. Dancing to music allows the children to be able to express themselves in different ways, also creating awareness of their bodies movements and spacial boundaries when learning and moving around friends.

Our busy morning...

This morning we had a very busy morning. We made a volcano, did some painting on the deck, made some playdough biscuits and were busy in the kitchen mixing and baking.

The children got very excited when the 'lava' flowed over the side and down the mountain!

A couple of the children tried the lava and by looks on their faces, it didn't taste very nice. Volcanos are a fantastic way to introduce science concepts and to allow the children to learn using their senses; sight, smell, taste and touch.

The children enjoyed the painting experince on the deck. It was fantastic to observe the children sharing and taking turns as well as being part of the awesome language that is beginning to emerge!

We made heaps of fantastic creations at the playdough table; gingerbread men, worms and flower biscuits to name a few. Jay chose to share his with Gemma, yummy!

The children enjoyed mixing and baking in the kitchen, linking familiar rountines and situations they are part of in the home and the centre.

What a fun and busy morning we had today. I wonder what we will do tomorrow?

Washing Day!

This morning Amanda noticed that the dolls were dirty so she suggested to the children that it might be time to wash them and their clothes, if the children wanted to help. Well it was like a bee to honey! The children all joined in and helped wash their 'baby' and the clothes and even hang them on the line! Then they dried their babies.

It was great to see them being involved with this activity. These sorts of activities are important as they allow the children to role play situations in the home and make those important links between the home and the wider world.

Jokarvin plays hide and seek!

This morning, as we went about our usual daily routine, Jokarvin hid in the oven. "Right everyone, lets go outside!" I said. Amanda told me we couldn't go because not everyone had come out of the non-mobile area. She had noticed Jokarvin go in the oven. So we played along!

"Lets go out now!" we all said and pretended to leave the area.

"Where's Jokarvin?" we asked out loud.

Then we heard "Jovarkin hiding!" Amanda and I laughed, especially when we saw Jokarvin's eyes peeping through the little hole on the side of the oven.

We carried on playing the game, "Where is Jokarvin? I can't find him!!!" Then Jokarvin popped out of the oven!

Jokarvin is taking responsibility for his own learning by planning his own activities and finding his own resources and equipment. He is having fun with others and inviting us into is play, awesome!!!

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.