Where's Wally??

Where's Wally, Where's Wally, he's hiding in the playground and we don't know where he is!

We have a new challenge at Uxbridge.  A game called Where’s Wally!

The object of the game is to find Wally, well eleven Wally's to be exact.  What happens is that we hide eleven laminated pictures of Wally (Who is wearing his distinctive red-striped jersey and blue jeans) around the playground outside.  Written on each jersey is a number 0-10.  The children search for Wally and when someone finds a Wally, they take Wally to the lower deck and stick Wally on the Velcro dot on the wall.

So many friends have been joining in with a game of Where's Wally.  It can be quite a fast paced game and is great for teaching number recognition and sequential placement it is also a great team sport and gives the children an objective as they run around outside. 

The Uxbridge Bowling Alley!

The wooden rounds were outside this week and one of our friends began stacking them 2 by 2. This was quickly followed by aiming practice and much to their pleasure it caught many of the children’s attention as they began to line up for a turn.

Stacking, lining up the rounds, counting them, aiming and cheering others on, so much learning was happening, especially practicing their hand-eye coordination by rolling a ball at the targets. Fun was had by all, this will be one to revisit.

Spring Flowers

Spring has sprung and it is the time for planting flowers. Today we planted yellow and orange wall flowers and pink dianthus in our flower garden. They are growing alongside the borage and calendula and nasturtiums that we had planted earlier.   We are hoping that they will give us a beautiful display come summer. 

 

The Little Yellow Digger At Uxbridge

There was great excitement today at Uxbridge when the courier arrived with an extra big box!

We opened up and inside was a brand new yellow digger for our sandpit. 

It was quickly assembled in the sandpit and everyone was keen to have a try. 

 

Bucket Filling

Look at how full our bucket is getting with so many kind , thoughtful and helpful acts the tamariki have been displaying. 

We are really starting to understand what it takes to fill someone's bucket and the teachers have enjoyed hearing how this bucket filing concept is rubbing off at home too. 

I wonder what the special surprise will be
when we reach the top!!

Te Maori Bread Man and Fry Bread

We really enjoy the story of Te Maori Bread Man and decided that it was a great one to revist for Maori Language Week. 

We told the story at mat time with some of our friends adding the different characters of our native creatures that all wanted to eat Te Maori Bread Man. 

"Oma Oma as fast as you can, you can't catch me I'm Te Maori Bread Man" 

As we all enjoyed the story so much we decided to make our own Maori bread to try. First of all we had to make what is known as the "sponge" we mixed milk, water, yeast, sugar and a little bit of flour together and then we had to wait until  it started to froth. It took quite a while and we kept eagerly checking

Finally the sponge was ready and it was time to make the dough. We added salt flour and oil into a bowl and then stirred in the sponge being careful not to over mix. Then we had to do even more waiting for the dough to double in size. 

The dough was really sticky. We each got a little bit to rub on our hands so we could see how it felt. 

Then it was time to gently roll it out. Once it was rolled it was cut into squares and then fried. 

Finally it was lunch time and time to try our bread it was delicious!

 

The Obstacle Course

Balance, co-ordination, control of our bodies, risk taking, problem solving and social skills are all part of  the learning that happens on an obstacle course. All this and lots of fun and confidence gained.

 

Māori Language Week

Kia Ora

What a busy week we have had for Māori Language week. We are already very familiar with Te Reo and use this each day here at Kindy but this week we really stepped it up and used it even more then we already do. The tamariki are really familiar with so many phrases and can easily identify their body parts and colours in Te Reo. We have also been practicing how we can respond in Te Reo when asked a questions . 

We  have enjoyed making beautiful Toanga out of clay and using many Māori resources around the Centre. 

The tamariki have loved all the Te Reo books and beautiful waiata. We have sued Rakau and Poi and enjoyed hearing many Myths and Legends across the week - we even acted some of these out at Mat time. 

Be sure to keep an eye out around the Centre for your child's beautiful Korowai cloak art and picture of their Whānau.

We finished off the week Making yummy Fry bread!