Little Kiwi's Matariki!

The tamariki have been enjoying the story of Little Kiwi's Matariki. We decided to make some of our very own Kiwi.  We looked at what shapes we needed to make a kiwi. 2 porowhita and 1 tapatoru . Some of the children used pre cut circles and triangles and those that wanted to drew and cut their very own to make their special kiwi. Which was super to practise those scissor skills! They picked their eyes and glued them to a starry night background they had used cookie cutters to paint earlier. Then the children told me what their kiwi's would say when they looked into the night sky and saw the beautiful Matariki cluster. 

"I can cut my own circles!" Chloe Said

" oh we need legs!" Rory pointed out. As he cut two legs for his Kiwi.

" I want to make one for my Mummy and Daddy" Eliza said as she enjoyed creating many Kiwi

" I know how to do it." Taylor said confidently as she put her shapes together to make a kiwi .

Fishing up Te ika a Maui!

The story of Maui fishing up the North Island of New Zealand (Te Ika a Maui), is a favourite amongst our Tamariki.  To further explore and expand on the ideas in this cultural myth, we created our own waka.  Tamariki recalled aspects of the story as they rowed out into the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean.  Once we landed on the right spot, tamariki lowered their fishing rods into the water.  Maui using his own blood (as his brothers wouldn't share the bait) was recalled.  It took a while, but eventually we were able to catch Te Ika a Maui, before struggling to bring it on board.  The tamariki fought the good fight, all while recalling and sharing their favourite aspects of the story.

The stars of Matariki

 Haere I tea ta tu, ka puta mai ngā whetū Matariki! whispered little Kiwi, ‘The light comes, and Matariki’

We cut, pasted and collaged our stars.  Each star has been uniquely decorated with traditional Maori colours and a special spot chosen on the wall for our star to shine!

Our Korowai Cloaks!

In celebration of Matariki (Maori New Year) we have made our own Korowai cloaks.  We learnt that these are cloaks are worn on special occasions just like our last day at Kindy.  They are made out of special feathers.  We also added koru's to represent each member of our whānau and the stars of Matariki to help guide us.

Te Kakano - Te Ika-a-Māui

We had a wonderful morning sharing in  the knowledge and stories of Aotearoa with our friends from the Marae and Library. We were joined by many other tamariki in our wider community and as host's of the land (tanaga whenua) we stood up the front and welcomed our visitors with a Pōwhiri.

We learnt a new waiata about Te Ika-a-Māui (The fish of Māui) and received a beautiful Taonga (teasure/gift) to wear around our neck. 

We had some morning tea and headed to the Library for a fun story time, again learning about how Māui fished up the North Island of Aotearoa. 

As we have Matariki upon us it is a special time to share in fun, kai and stories with our community. 

Matariki Macarena

Pizza and Pyjama Day

 While we were looking through our portfolios we came across some stories about past pyjama days at Uxbridge. Lots of our friends thought that it might be a great idea if we had another one and when Stevie's Mum Laura mentioned that she had a pizza maker that she thought that we might enjoy using and that she would be would be happy to bring in to Uxbridge putting together pyjamas and pizza was the perfect plan. The weather on our  pyjama and pizza day was wet and windy which only made cuddling up in our pyjamas and eating delicious pizza that we had made ourselves seem even more fun. 

A big thanks to Laura for being such a great pizza chef on the day, for lending her pizza cooker and making our pizza base dough. 

 

Mat time in our PJs was so much fun!

Downstairs was set up for relaxation!

Our yummy pizzas

The pizza making table 

Stevie is trying her pizza 

                                                

Bodhi loved his pizza

Riya is having fun adding toppings to her pizza

Leyla and Taylor in their P.Js 

Michael is concentrating on getting his sauce just right.