Joel Nicholls - inspiring local author comes to visit!

When Joel Nicholls, the author of The Sounds of New Zealand, arrived at our kindy, the children were so excited to finally meet the person who wrote the book we had walked all the way to Poppies Bookshop to buy.

Joel read his story with lots of fun voices and animal sounds. The tamariki joined in, calling out the noises they recognised — chirps, hoots, rustles, and squawks filled the room. Everyone was smiling, listening, and laughing together.

After the story, Joel signed our book. The children watched proudly as their special copy became even more special with his signature. It’s now a treasured part of our kindy library.

Moments like these help nurture a lifelong love of reading, storytelling, and connection to the natural world. We’re so grateful to Joel for sharing his time and talent with us.

A visit to Poppies Bookshop

We’re thrilled to share that Joel Nicholls, the talented author behind The Sounds of New Zealand, will soon be visiting our kindy to read his newly published book. His work celebrates the unique voices of Aotearoa’s wildlife, and we can’t wait for our tamariki to experience those sounds brought to life by the author himself.

To get ready for his visit, we took a lovely walk down to Poppies Bookshop in Uxbridge. The children were buzzing with excitement as we browsed the shelves and found Joel’s beautiful new book. Bringing it back to kindy felt extra special knowing that soon it will hold his signature — a keepsake for our community and a reminder of this memorable experience.

Joel’s visit is a wonderful opportunity for our tamariki to connect with a real author, ask questions, and deepen their love of stories and the natural world. We’re counting down the days until we can welcome him into our space.

3D Tetris!

 Tetris 3D, is a new game, that teaches us how to place pieces into the top of the frame, in such a way that it fills the frame without any gaps.  This is possible.   It just takes some forward thinking and trial and error  however in this game, if you make a mistake, you must start the game over.

The game consists of bright plastic pieces of different shapes and sizes that must be carefully fitted together to create a solid wall within a framework. 

While there were children who simply enjoyed posting the pieces into the game, some of the children observed the strategies of others, paid close attention to how each piece connected with the others and demonstrated strong problem-solving skills thoughtful planning, prediction, and an ability to evaluate solutions before taking action. Blake, Sophie, Ruby, Josh, Hailey, Nico L and Grace worked collaboratively alongside each other they shared ideas and understood the goal of building the Tetrix wall to the top.

Through this experience, we explored a range of mathematical concepts: - Geometry by recognising and matching different shapes and how they fit together - Problem solving and logical thinking as we predicted which pieces would connect successfully.  Position and Orientation, and Spatial awareness, as we manipulated and rotated 3D shapes as we considered how pieces could be turned and placed.  Pattern recognition and visual discrimination when identifying the next piece needed.  Trial, testing and reasoning as we used the table to check solutions before committing to a placement.  Some of the children demonstrated early mathematical thinking by planning ahead, testing hypothese and using spatial reasoning to solve complex construction challenges.  We counted how many spaces we had left on the frame and compared that to the number of pieces we had left to still try and use.

Wassily Kandinsky inspired Geometry Art

 As the children explore geometry through art, they engage in rich mathematical learning by noticing, creating and discussing shapes, patterns, lines, and spatial relationships. The children develop an understanding of concepts such as symmetry, size, position, and pattern while expressing their creativity. They develop mathematical language to describe their ideas, compare shapes, and explain their thinking, strengthening their understanding of geometry in meaningful and hands-on ways. 

A special visit from Andy from Howick Library

Today we were lucky to welcome Andy from Howick Library to Kindy for a fun-filled session of stories, songs, and movement!

Andy brought along his ukulele and beautiful singing voice, engaging our tamariki in a wonderful morning of music, action songs, dancing, and storytelling. The children eagerly joined in, singing, moving, and laughing together as they participated in the interactive experience.

Visits like these help foster a love of books, language, music, and community connections. Our tamariki thoroughly enjoyed Andy's visit, and we would like to say a big thank you to him for sharing such a joyful and memorable experience, we can't wait to welcome Andy back again soon! 😀

 

'Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa'- Samoan Language Week

This week our tamariki had a wonderful time celebrating 'Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa'- Samoan Language Week through a variety of meaningful and creative experiences. Throughout the week, the children learned about traditional Samoan art and design by creating their own siapo-inspired patterns and mini tapa artworks. They carefully explored the different shapes, symbols, and repeating patterns that are often seen in Samoan cultural designs, expressing their creativity while developing an appreciation for another culture. The children also enjoyed making beautiful flower leis, learning new songs and words, and sharing stories about everything Samoa.

To conclude our celebrations, the children worked together to prepare a delicious sapasui feast. This special experience provided an opportunity to learn about traditional Samoan food while encouraging cooperation, conversation, and a sense of community. The children took great pride in helping to prepare the meal and thoroughly enjoyed sharing it together with their friends.

Samoan Language Week provided a meaningful opportunity for our tamariki to learn about and celebrate the language, culture, and traditions of Samoa. Through art, food, and shared experiences, the children developed a greater understanding of cultural diversity and the importance of respecting and celebrating one of the many cultures that make up our community.

Pink Shirt Day

On Friday, we came together to celebrate Pink Shirt Day, spending the day learning about kindness, friendship, and the importance of making everyone feel safe, valued, and included.     

The day was filled with lots of exciting pink-themed experiences for our tamariki to explore and enjoy. We engaged in creative and sensory play through activities such as pink playdough, messy pink gloop, and painting our own pink t-shirts. These experiences sparked creativity, curiosity, and lots of joyful conversations and laughter throughout the day.

As we played and created together, we also spent time talking about the important message behind Pink Shirt Day. We explored what it means to be a good friend, showing kindness, helping others, and including everyone in our play. Together, we shared the message to “be kind always”, recognising that our words and actions can make a big difference to those around us.     

                                                             

Mothers day morning tea

What a beautiful performance the children did at our Mother's day morning tea. We enjoyed showing our Mums our favourite things to do at Kindy, making bracelets, painting nails, colouring, playdough, building and presenting them with our special gift and card we made. We had a delicious morning tea together too with yummy cakes, sandwiches, pikelets, sausage rolls, cheese and crackers and lots of more yummy treats to enjoy. 

What a special morning!  Our Mums are the best! xoxo

 I love my Mummy, I love my Mummy, I love my Mummy yes I do!!!