The Rain Came down....

The Rain Came down......

As we all know Auckland has seen its fair share of rain.  This did not stop us from getting outside to explore.  Intrigued by the torrents of rain coming off the corners of the umbrellas and the spouting  this inspired a group of children to work together and problem solve as to how to capture this rain.  The children were on a mission to find some containers to use for their idea!.  They started to experiment as the  ice-cream containers started to fill. It was a race to see which container was going to fill the fastest.  Children were giggling and squealing as some of the containers were over flowing.  One of our 4 year olds' thought an egg timer would be a good idea.  There as a lot of discussion over this as some children's perception was that they didn't need to time the water because they could see it in front of their eyes. 

Excited by their discovery the children wanted to measure the amount of water using the beakers.  There was a lot of mathematical concepts being explored by transferring the water, counting, measuring and a lot of in depth conversations, problem solving, negotiating, with their peers.  

The children were very active running from one container to the other, communicating with each other as to what was happening.  We are so lucky to have such an incredible space outdoors that the children's curiosity and wonders can be fulfilled at any time.  Thanks to their curiosity and creativity they discovered that even the most ordinary activities can be a source of education and discovery and a lot of fun!. 

Lonely Miaow pays a visit!

After our big drive last month collecting items for Lonely Miaow, today we were exceptionally lucky thanks to Anya and Keelan to have visit from one of the Lonely Miaow volunteers Anne and her two gorgeous 7 week old kittens named Tuppence and Turtle.  They were only teeny weeny and ever so cute and friendly!  We got to enjoy some lovely kitten cuddles and pats and hear all about what Anne does to help the rescue kittens.  We are so lucky to have such fantastic people in our community making a difference!  

Chalk Painting!

Art can be creative in different ways!  Who doesn't love a bit of hammering??  Today we made our own chalk paint outside, challenging those fine motor muscles and hand eye coordination skills as we got to work.  The aim was to crush the chalk pieces into a powder, this took a bit of work but we got our hammer on!

When we finished hammering and crushing the chalk,  we put it into bowls and had to add some water and get mixing! We talked about adding just a few drops or little bit of water at a time so we didn't end up with just runny coloured water.  With the right consistency we then got creative on the pavement outside....

The seven fish of Matariki

Today, we explored the traditional pūrākau The seven fish of Matariki.  Matariki is a star cluster made up of seven stars. According to Māori legend, these stars were all originally fish caught in a net by the giant Tataraimaka. Tāne, the God of forests and birds, heard the fish crying out for help, so he threw the net into the sky, where they became stars. After reading our story, we engaged in a collaborative project inspired by the story, creating a storyboard using mixed media art. Our tamariki used permanent markers to create detailed pictures of Ika (fish). It is exciting to see the uniqueness of each masterpiece come to life as they add brightly coloured dye. Our tamariki showed their excellent scissor skills and creativity by using art tools and materials to create the moana (Sea), rangi (sky) and whetu (stars). What a great collaborative mahi (work), everyone.

Chocolate cup cakes and Hot chocolate

Here at Uxbridge, we love to do baking. It is lots of fun, and there is delicious food to eat at the end. Our friend Rylee suggested that we could make some chocolate cupcakes. After washing our hands, we sat around the table with our friends, and everybody got to take turns doing different parts of the process. There is a lot of learning involved in the process. This includes math and science learning as we pour, weigh and measure, make predictions about what might happen, and observe chemical reactions and changes of state. Technology learning as we use equipment and follow a process to produce a product. Lots of social learning as we encourage sharing and turn-taking, following instructions, and communicating with others. Baking also gives us a chance to learn about handling food safely (for example, always washing our hands) and talking about the different ingredients we use. We ate them at lunchtime. Delicious! Our friend Santiago’s family brought us the ingredients for making hot chocolate too. Nothing beats hot cocoa on a cold winter’s day.