Friday, July 15, 2011

PLAYBALL FUN!

We are so lucky! Some of our children go to 'Playball' with Coach Clarke and this week he came to Kindergarten to do it with everyone! Clarke came to both morning and afternoon sessions with some of the other coaches and everyone had SO MUCH FUN! We did lots of ball and body games and everyone had a turn.




Hopefully Clarke and his team will come again another day.

Margaret ❀

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

PIRATE DAY!

We have had a lot of Pirates at Greenhithe Kindergarten this year and have even had to update our Pirate dress ups to add to the fun. Everyone has made Pirate treasure maps, Pirate flags and Pirate hats. So, the next thing to do was have a Pirate Feast.
What fun everyone had. Everyone brought along some yummy party food and after we had eaten, Max found a treasure map in the tyre swing. That was the beginning of a very exciting treasure hunt all over the Kindergarten, which ended when Crystal dug up a treasure chest. Hidden inside was a special bag with wishing stones in it, and everyone got to take one home at the end of the party. 
Maybe we will have another Pirate Feast another day.
Margaret ❀


MORE VOLCANO ACTION

We have a fabulous model volcano at our Kindergarten that even shows the inside of a real volcano and we can make lava to come out of it too. So, we all watched while I read the lava recipe and made it work. It didn't fly up in the air like the ones we had seen on You Tube do but it was still rather exciting.
Margaret ❀


Sunday, June 19, 2011

VOLCANOES

We have had a lot of interest in volcanoes this week with the ash clouds from the Chilean volcano grounding planes in New Zealand being a current topical event in the news.
We have looked at eruptions on You Tube, discussed how we have had many volcanoes erupt in New Zealand, with many of us having climbed to the top of our most recent volcanic creation in Auckland, Rangitoto Island.  And we have made volcanoes in the sand pit, complete with vinegar and baking soda lava.
The children spent a long time creating their volcano, watched the lava flow and then reduced the mountain to level ground again within seconds.

Margaret ❀

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

TREE TRIMMING

It's that time again - time to trim some of our trees back into shape to allow light back in and/or reshape to keep them looking good and to maintain their size. We need to do this every two to three years and this year when Peter and his helper Jason came to Kindergarten the children really enjoyed watching the process.  Peter kindly shared what he was doing with the children, showing them his tools and explaining as he worked. By the time they left we had tidy trees in our car park and in the playground (including our orchard) and a lovely pile of mulch to put onto the garden.
 Margaret ❀


Friday, May 6, 2011

TERM ONE 2011

What a busy term we had! When I look back over everything we did I am amazed that we managed to cram so much into 12 weeks.

The children made the most of the beautiful Summer we had with lots of water play and we even created a water slide with our slide by using the hose on it and putting a water trough at the bottom - too much fun! Other days we used the sprinkler to cool off.

Our children demonstrated immense empathy for the people affected by the earthquakes in Christchurch. One of Chris' colleagues works in an Early Childhood Centre in Christchurch and we raised funds to help them replace some of their damaged equipment. We held a Red and Black Day and the children raised $318.00!!! We will be keeping in touch with the centre to show our support during their recovery.



The vegetable garden we redeveloped last year has been very productive and so has our small orchard. The children really enjoyed using the produce from our trees and veges to create yummy food to eat. We made potato wedges, vegetable quiches, feijoa cakes, apple shortcake and enjoyed the fruit and vegetables straight off the plants. This is such a good way for  children to experience where food comes from.


We raised and released many monarch caterpillars as we followed the life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly.


The children became very interested in sharks and so we visited Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World to see the sharks in real life. What fun we all had as we enjoyed seeing the sea creatures and penguins.  To finish we enjoyed an educational puppet show before going to Bastion Point to enjoy a picnic in the sun. We then returned, by bus, to Kindergarten.



Another area of interest for our children has been the role of the fire fighter. We discussed with them the ways they could keep safe in a fire, how everyone needs an escape plan and learned the smoke alarm song.  Then, we had a visit from a team of fire fighters from Albany Fire Station and their fire engine.  Max was able to dress as a fire fighter and all the children had a turn at squirting the hose.



We finished our busy term by having a party on the last day - we love any excuse to have a party at Greenhithe Kindergarten!  I wonder what learning adventures we will go on next term?

Margaret ❀