Olympics at Uxbridge

The 2021 Tokyo Olympic games have just taken place and we decided to have a mini version at Uxbridge.  Our Olympics consisted of three events, the sack race, the egg and spoon race and the equestrian hurdles. 

The sack race took lots of energy and balance to keep upright and jumping forward in our sacks. Not being able to run was tricky when we wanted to go fast and win the race. We also practiced lining up in a straight line and waiting for the signal to start so that our race was fair for all competitors. 

 For the equestrian hurdles the competitors entered the "ring" one at a time. Just like a proper equestrian show jumping competition they had to wait for the start bell to ring before they began their round. The aim of the event was to steer their pony around in a circle jumping all the hurdles without knocking them over. 

The third event was the egg and spoon race this event took concentration and coordination to keep the egg on the spoon. Our competitors had to decide whether to go fast and risk dropping their egg or whether to play it safe and go slow and steady.  Once again we practiced  lining up together and waiting for the signal to start the race

 

We also made our own Olympic rings with crayon and dye. We talked about how each ring represents a different part of the world Europe, Africa, America, Asia and Oceania. 

Te Taiao - The natural World!

 

Farewell Pumpkin!

Sadly our dear friend and pet Pumpkin passed away this week.  In a special ceremony we bid him farewell with a lovely karakia asking our guardians to watch over him.  Everyone had a turn at saying their farewells and dropping a flower onto the box before he was buried.  A memory plant was placed on top for us to always remember our friend.  Rest in peace Pumpkin, we will miss you xoxoxoxo

The Glow Show

The Glow show had been the talk of Kindy for while so when the day arrived the excitement was fizzing around the Centre all morning.  We arrived and found a comfy spot to enjoy the show, many of us wanting to be right up the front and others choosing bean bags or a movie chair to relax in. The show was dark but we were so captivated by the big bright and beautiful puppets that glowed their way around the stage. The music was fun and the children laughed along as the characters preformed their illuminating performance. Afterwards we got to meet the 5 very talented people who made the character's all come to life - they showed us how they worked and how they changed their voices. When we got back to Kindy we had a turn using some puppets ourselves - what a fun morning!!

The Spaceship from planet ZOOP!

 Wow there was a crash landing today in the Uxbridge sandpit! 

A broken spaceship that we needed to work together to fix to get it back to the planet ZOOP!

                                    "I can smell something coming from the tank" Cohen said!

"C O E N"Cohen said some of his letters out loud as he typed away at the keys.

Leyla didn't know that the markings on Cohen's paper was a very special alien language!

                                 Wait a minute... Slimy Gloop from Planet Zoop!

Put on that space helmet Michael, don't forget your seatbelt Ted!

"This is my seat I drive it." Rory was keen to led the spaceship.
"I need this ( keypads) down here to help us go!" Cohen

Sky was keen to check out all the action!

Chloe needed to power up the spaceship with this long tube!


Great fun and collaboration was had as all our minds worked together.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

With a focus on sustainable practice in our Kindy we have some new bins that the tamariki are becoming really familiar with. We have always had a focus on Recycling paper, card and hard plastic and glass but we are now recycling soft plastic too. We were amazed that most of our rubbish including chippy and muesli bar packets, soft yoghurt pouches, courier bags and cling film that were being sent to landfill can all be dropped off to a Soft recycling bin in the wider community.  Our bins are clearly labeled for the tamariki to take ownership of this, learning about how they can be tidy kiwis who Reduce, Reuse and Recycle as they sort the rubbish out after meal times and at the end of the day. We support the children to be kaitiaki of not only their Kindy but the planet we live on so it is great that they are building their knowledge on how we can do this!

A Bush Walk

This afternoon we went for a walk through the bush next to Uxbridge. 

Here we are looking at the fish in the fish pond. 

Haley had a scavenger hunt for us to do. Some of the things that we needed to find were a tree stump, mushrooms, moving water, two birds, a feather and some moss. 

We circled each item on the sheet as we found them

We love visiting our little local forest!