Our Community Garden

We took part in a special community project with Matariki Marae.  Our tamariki have been asked to help with the planting of the vegetables and we took a group of children to the whare garden.  Community gardens have been built just close to our fence line so we were watching the people preparing the soil and making raised plant beds for the vegetables.  We planted Kale, carrot, lettuce, coriander, beet root, parsley and spring onions. Tamariki dug  holes in the soil, then gently lowered the plant into it and covered carefully with dirt. We will continue to be involved in this project by watering the plants, harvesting and caring for them. This gives our tamariki a sense of belonging and ownership in the community. Tamariki having a sense of responsibility for the living world and knowledge of how to care and respect for it and feel part of the community they live in. They will gain knowledge about our world, how it works and where they fit into it. From this they will be developing a respect for the living world.  Watching something that you have planted grow is satisfying experience and we hope that we will be able to harvest, cook and eat our vegetables.

Samoan Language Week - Making Sapasui!!

As part of our explorations for Samoan Language week we made some sapasui (Samoan Chop Suey). There were lots of steps  to our recipe. First of all we had to squash and peel garlic cloves and then peel and chop some ginger. When this was done we used a food processor to whizz it up really finely. We sliced onion and cabbage. Our plastic safety knives helped keep us safe while doing this. It was great practice for our fine motor skills!  Then we used scissors to chop the soaked vermicelli into small pieces.  Then it was time to cook. We added the onions ginger and garlic and stirred them around until they were soft. Then we added the cabbage and some frozen mixed veges. Finally we added the vermicelli and some soy sauce. We had our Sapasui for lunch it was exciting to try something new that we had cooked. It was delicious!  This experience gave the children the opportunity to explore the cuisine of another culture. Using real tools such as the plastic knives, food processor and fry pan adds to children's sense of confidence and competence. There was also lots of social learning such as turn taking, and sharing as well as listening to and following instructions. 

Float or sink!!

Painting the walls!!

Sharing our Taonga Kete's

Developing a sense of belonging within an early childhood environment, is critical to a child's sense of security and directly impacts the rich learning experiences that they take part in.  In order to strengthen the development of the relationships between tamariki within Uxbridge, we have implemented a Taonga Kete.  This Kete is a very special bag that tamariki are invited to take home and put in a very special item.  The item could be a special photograph, a family heirloom,cultural artifact,a treasured book or story, or piece of jewellery.  This item will help us to learn about you and your Whanau and things that you hold special. 

Controlling my Body!!

We were having loads of fun rolling the balls down the pipes today.  To add a bit of a challenge and risk, we taped one of the pipes to the side of the swing frame.  We then positioned the ladder against the frame,  climbed up and dropped the ball down the pipe and watched it shoot out of the bottom.
There were a couple of components to this challenge.  You needed to engage your muscles, vestibular and proprioceptive systems to to climb and balance, while holding on to your ball.  This took a great deal of confidence and concentration.  You were all so proud of yourselves!  You all enjoyed it so much that you practiced some social skills, by jumping back in the line and waiting for a next turn.  Well done everybody!  Everyone really enjoyed the physical challenge and being active.  Developing your gross motor skills now, will really benefit you when it comes time to go to school.  You will have complete control of your body.

Making our birdseed honeycomb!!

Our tamariki have been great Kaitiaki not only of our environment at kindy but of our creatures and animals that live in it.  After making our bug hotel and ensuring our guests are welcome and have a great stay, we have been noticing the birds that fly over our playground and nest in the trees next door.  Today we made a honeycomb pine cone full of seeds for them.  We are going to hang it in our trees.  We will wait to see if they will come??

Pink Shirt day!!

A day to remember and talk about being kind and friendly to everyone!!

We designed our very own Pink shirts and were very creative using some lovely glitter paint and stickers.  

Blow painting!!

Tin foil river!!

After a morning of digging and exploring rivers in the sandpit, we were becoming frustrated with the water being absorbed into the sandpit, before it reached the end of our river.  We had numerous discussions about why that was happening and what we could do do stop it.  One of the friends in our group, asked why the water in swimming pools doesn't soak into the ground.  So we decided to apply the same theory to our river.  We needed something to separate the water from the sand.  Some of the suggestions were; paper, towels and concrete.  After much discussion we decided to use tin foil.  Then it was time to plan our river.  Everyone had a lot of great ideas about its width and length.  Then everyone helped digging and before long we had dug a river that spanned the entire length of the sandpit!  We each had our job, and thanks to all our friends the task of digging was done!  With our river dug, we were then able to lay the tin foil.  We had to solve the problem of the breeze lifting the tin foil, which was lay a small row of sand along the edge.  Once this was decided, we worked hard to ensure this was completed.  Upon completion, we were able to remove our dam and let the water flow into our river.  Success!!!! The water flowed all the way to the end of our river.  A huge part of our success was due to all the tamariki's  hard work and contribution.  Thanks to everyone for being such great team players, seeing what needed doing and getting on with it!

Cultural day!!

The Uxbridge cultural day was so much fun an educational event for all of us.This was a great time to learn about different traditions, food,art,dance ,stories , appreciate others, respect and celebrate the differences. As a part of cultural day celebrations the children have  took  part in different learning experiences.The children seem to enjoy learning about their peers cultures. They have the opportunity to taste foods from around the world and wear the costumes of the diverse culture of the Uxbridge children and dance and dress up to express this.We hope that the children will grow up with knowledge, understanding and respect for other cultures and understanding of the greater world around them.
Learning about different cultural aspects offers new experiences for children. Real life experiences produce authentic learning outcomes which our children will be able to draw on throughout their lives.This day gave all children an opportunity to  feel special as their uniqueness was celebrated throughout the day.This event also fostered  a sense of pride and belonging in our centre. 

Written by Anu

Rangoli Art

Rangoli Art

Weaving with Harakeke

Sharing Kai from our Culture

Decorating Flags

Making Lemonade Scones

Sharing stories 

Stick games

Shared Kai

Sharing stories from our culture