The art of weaving

Harakeke is the word for flax in te reo Māori. It was used by the traditional Māori people for weaving. We talked about some of the reasons weaving was used by Māori. For example, mats for sitting, ropes for fishing, kete for cooking, and were also used in their Korowai and clothing. Have a look at our tamariki giving weaving a go. It is tricky to go under and over. They were so focused as they threaded the harakeke through the frame. Ka Pai!

They were also involved in a collaborative project, weaving colourful ribbons through a kite frame which we made for Matariki last year. Beautiful mahi!

Koru Art!

Koru is the common pattern found in Kowhaiwhai.  It represents the pitau, the unfurled shoot of a fern.  The koru symbolises new beginnings, birth and the unfolding of life.

Today we made a beautiful display of koru's using collage pieces and glue and marble painting.

Tanabata 2023

Happy Tanabata!

This is a special Japanese Star festival that recognizes the same star cluster that we celebrate for Matariki.

Following Japanese traditions, we made bright coloured lanterns and made a wish to send up to the stars. These are called Tanzaku and are hung on a bamboo tree. We loved sharing our wishes with one another.

Here were some of our wishes.....

I wish to play with Mum, Dad, Tyler and Bella - Owen

I wish to go to Hippo's with my family - Rylee

I wish I could see Elsa - Aaria

I wish I was a mermaid - Chloe P

I wish to go to Australia to see my Aunty Leah - Chloe A

I wish for a tiger - Riya

Matariki - Planting a new crop - Broad beans.

Matariki is a time for the planting of new crops and whilst pulling out the gardening box today, we found some broadbean seeds, perfect for this time of year.  Over at the garden, there was not so much room alongside our already planted vege's so Santi came up with a clever solution as he spotted some empty ground close by.  "We can plant here" he said as he started to dig.  First we had to turn over the soil and prepare the new garden, so a few friends joined in to help.

We then dug some holes with our fingers, carefully put our seeds inside, covered them back up with soil and gave them a little water.

With our left over seeds (Beans and carrots) we decided to pot them into small containers with some potting mix.  Once they sprout we will then transfer them to the garden.

Keelan was keen to communicate she has lots of veges in her garden, and so suggested that she could bring one in to contribute to our kai basket for our Matariki feast! 

We will now keep nuturing, watching and waiting to see what happens next.  Santi is convinced his is going to grow all the way to the sky!

A sense of belonging was enriched by this experience as we develop skills for caring for our centre.

Contribution goals were developed by collaborating with each other in this active experience of preparing and planting the next seasons crops.  Children were actively involved in exploration, by doing, asking questions, interacting with others, devising theories about how their beans and carrots would grow.

 Thankyou all for helping, I wonder what will happen next?

Zoe's magic stars!

A magic star?  What is that?  Watch and see!  Zoe sits the children at mat-time and tells them all about her special stars that she does with Mum and Grandma at home.  Zoe says she makes star patterns in her bath tub with them.  The children all watched and listened with amazement as Zoe placed the little newspaper folding into the water, pointy side up.  To their delight and right before their eyes it transformed, opening up into a star just like magic!  Wow! Cool! were just a couple of responses.  Matthew wondered if it was a Matariki star?    Zoe's mum kindly made lots of these stars for us to share and have fun with, so we each got to take a turn, it was pretty cool!  Zoe, thanks for sharing your families special stars with us today!  

Exploring stars on the light box

Using the lightbox the tamariki were further able to explore stars, colour, shapes and patterns in another way, encouraging their exploration and discovery.  They were fascinated with the glow and making different colours, we are getting really good now too at remembering some of our star names.