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.