Maori legends storyteller

On Friday 2 October at 10am Jase Hema will be visiting KIDSPACE. Jase will be sharing his passion for maori legends and waiata with the children.

More ideas with kebabs

Noah's mum Gemma's blog comment after our 'Fruit Kebabs' post on the whanau blog was...

"Another idea... doing cooked ham steaks, cheese and cherry tomatoes! Yum!"

So we did and what a hit these where with the children. Kian reaches for more cheese and Taylah, Tyra, Eneri, Elijah, Laker and Charlie all dig in, and Noah co-ordinates his kebab with his cup.

Thanks for this suggestion Gemma.

Jessie

Happy Birthday Rie

Eye and Ear Testing

BIG rig

Today was EIT student Kaylie's last day at KIDSPACE. Following her child-driven theme on transport, she organised for her Dad and his truck to visit us at KIDSPACE.

The truck parked in the driveway and we had turns to climb in the cab and listen to the horn blast.

Noah turns the steering wheel with Kaylie, Netana on board, Eneri about to jump down from the cab as Isaac awaits his turn, Theo taking in the view from high in the cab, Sarah and Taylah enjoy the soft seats, Joaquin and Charlie discuss the trucks buttons and controls and Chardanae stands on the back of the truck.

Jessie

Charity Ball and Auction

Relay for Life Charity Ball, 3rd October - tickets only $30! John Cocking (Bertie) will be doing the auction and dancers from Fancy Feet Social Dance Studio will be doing a dancing demonstration (come and see James in action!). See Irene for tickets to support this worthy cause and have a great night out.

Students

This is Kaylie's last week with us. As part of her assignments she has organised a trip to the Fire Station with the older children and for a big truck to come to KIDSPACE for the younger children (this all ties in with the children's current interests). We thank Kaylie for her input in our programme over the last three weeks.
We also welcome Jackie who has joined us this week. Jackie will be here on teaching practice for five weeks. Already she has a group of followers as you can see in the photo of the children knocking the dirt out of the matting.

KIDSPACE at Sunset Picnic Tea

Due to the work being done on the grass (see post below), we need to postpone the picnic tea. We'll have a 'grass warming' party instead a bit later on.

Grass - still a way to go

At the weekend James and Bill worked on sorting out the drainage under the lawn. It turns out the the drains we had put in last year were blocked with wool, shells and plastic monkeys! We now have filters to try and stop this happening again. Also we have put in several new drains to try and divert the run off from the hill so that it doesn't end up in a muddy puddle just out from the deck. All Safe who supplied the soft fall rubber matting are sending us (free) some super duper export grade playground grass seed which will be sown this coming weekend.
We have decided to lift all the matting and resow with new seed. The children can play on this as soon as it has been relaid because the seed germinates below the matting. Unfortunately James is chairing a jury all this week and we are involved with the charity ball on 3rd October (got your tickets yet?) so we won't be able to have a good go at the matting until the weekend of 10th October. In the meantime we are beginning to lift the mats and knock out the dirt and plugs of grass. The children are enjoying helping with this although the novelty will wear off long before we get it all done! We would really appreciate any help with this big task, either on the 9/10 October or anytime before that. Daylight saving begins this weekend so perhaps you might have an hour to spare one evening to come and clean a few mats? All the mats need to be lifted and cleaned then all the clean mats water blasted. Does anyone have a water blaster we could borrow as our one has packed up?
Because of all this disruption to the play area and the pressure of getting the seed down before it get too hot, we are going to have to postpone the KIDSPACE at Sunset picnic tea on 16th. We'll have a 'grass warming' instead a bit later on. Irene

"The Ants Went Marching..."

Click on the arrow below to view movie (Monica)

STOP, DROP and COVER your MOP

Yesterday we had a practise earthquake drill. "STOP, DROP and COVER your MOP", Sarah F shouted as we all crouched down and covered the back of our head/neck with our hands.
Netana, Donnagh, Rory and Maia demonstrate great stopping (where they are) dropping (to the ground) and covering their mop (head). This will protect our bodies from falling objects in a real earthquake. We have regular earthquake drills and the children follow this instruction fast and without concern. Next we meet inside to call the roll and check that everyone is present.
"Children develop a capacity to pay attention, maintain concentration, and be involved", Well-Being, Te Whaariki.To read more about Te Whariki Early Childhood Curriculum click here
http://www.teamup.co.nz/~/media/TeamUp/Files/ReferenceDownloads/PDF/ECBkletP_18_19TeWhariki.pdf
Jessie

Story with Kelly

"It's a rhyme story, mum is reading a story to Noah, Paige and me, Noah was standing on the couch, Paige was doing a puzzle and laughing", said Tyra.
"Jake and Jills and Humpty Dumpty I liked the most, we where making patterns, helping Noah and Paige then mum came a read a story", said Tyra.
'Opportunities are arranged for families and whaanau to meet each other and the children in the early childhood education setting', Belonging, Te Whaariki.
Jessie

Garden vegetables

 

Storyteller

Jase the storyteller is coming to visit KIDSPACE on Friday 2 October @ 10am. Jase tells Maori legends and sings songs and plays instruments. There is a lot of interaction and child involvement.

Fruit kebabs

For Tuesday's morning tea we made our own fruit kebabs. Selecting pineapple, grapes, orange segments or banana pieces, we feed the fruit onto a bamboo stick then feed ourselves!
Fruit on sticks is a great way to make fruit fun, be it fresh, dried or canned.
Click onto links- Healthy Lunch box Food and Heart Foundation for more ideas.
"Plenty of time is given for children to practise their developing self-help and self-care skills when eating", Well-Being, Te Whaariki.
Jessie

Starfish

"In the sea, in the water, they where singing, the 'starfish song", said Corbin.

Corbin proudly found these starfish at the beach and showed them to his KIDSPACE friends, telling them the story of where he found them.

Jessie

Grass - third time lucky!

Last spring we put in new ready rolled grass to try and fix the bare patches and boggy corner. In the autumn it was lifted and relaid because it had sunk so instead of the one boggy corner we had a lake straight out from the deck. Unfortunately the grass has not grown and is looking a very sorry sight - far worse than when we started. The plan now is to lift the matting nearest the edge of the grass and get the levels right, put a machine over the grass to break it up, add some sand for drainage and re-sow with seed. James will be starting on it this Friday afternoon then working with Bill Hart on Saturday to get it all done - so, if you have an hour to spare or a wheelbarrow to loan this would be gratefully received.

This will mean keeping the children off it for several weeks to give it a chance to get established, then in the autumn we will lift all the matting and re-sow the grass under the matting. While the area is roped off we plan to take the children on more regular trips out of the centre and make more use of the front garden.

KAI Time

If you would like to se some examples of healthy eating for children click here

Newspaper people

This afternoon Jessie helped to make newspaper clothes. We chose hats,

t- shirts and skirts. Max wanted to be a pirate and asked for a hook! Chardanae and Tyra where witches. Sophie and Sarah where happy in a skirt.

"Children are asked for their ideas and allowed to make some significant decisions about the programme", Belonging, Te Whaariki.

Jessie

To find out more about Te Whariki: Early Childhood Curriculum and how you can support your child's learning at home click here

We Welcome Rionagh

It was Rionaghs first day yesterday (Donnaghs little sister), she settled in really well.

Lots of the big children made them self known to her.

She explored the sandpit, water play and enjoyed playing with all

the toys. Here are a few snap shots of her day.

Natural cement

I made some natural cement for the children to explore

it's made from (1-part flour) (1-part sand) and a little bit of water so it makes a paste, once it dries it goes hard. I transfered it into a container, Oliver was a little unsure of it at first because

it looks a funny colour, he looked inside the container then poked the cement with his

fingers. This provides a fun sensory experience for the children, the children can also make their own gardens or little roads with the cement. As it was a new texture they just checked it out first, next time they may come up with other ideas of how it could be used as they become more familiar with this natural cement.

It's so important for children to have experiences where they can actively explore, experiment, try things out as these are very valuable ways for them to learn

Tamara

MMMMM "Real Food"

Kia Ora Whanau,
Thought you might like an update on my wee whanau. Flynn has had his first taste of solids and is LOVING IT! He is 5mths and trying so hard to roll, but his jolly shoulder keeps getting in to way! He visits the pigs daily and finds them fascinating. I left the gate to our house open, and the rams came in and ate anything and everything they could! Flynn thought they were extremly interesting. Once they started eating Daddy's roses we had to chase them out, so Flynn got his first Mustering Job!!
Flynn's had a ride on the farm bike a couple of times and doesnt seem bothered, although my heart has never beat so fast in my life!
Motherhood is just so wonderful, and I know many of you will read this and say, "Just wait 'til his older, and then see if you think it's wonderful....I don't care!! I will live in my little bubble for as long as I can!!!
Take care KIDSPACE Whanau, hope to see you all sometime soon,
Meegies & Flynn a.k.a. Bug-a-lugs

Spring Clean 2009

This Saturday was our Spring Clean. A BIG tena koe to all of our parent and staff helpers!, Suzie and Shane, Louise, Jessie, Tamara, Irene and James, Brad, Helen, Monica, Sarah F, Rie and Cody, Kerry, Gina and JP.

We got a lot of odd, sorting, fixing and new jobs complete. KIDSPACE is looking great.

Thank you to all again.

Our front garden

On Friday we played, explored, climbed, sang, read, ran and collected all from the front garden.

This is a great space and it was wonderful to play on soft grown grass.

Here is Laker, Sarah, Corbin, Noah, Elijah, Maia, Eneri, Isaac and Charlie.

"Young children have a widening range of opportunities for independence, choice and autonomy", Well-Being, Te Whaariki.

Jessie

"A cuddle is something if you give it away..."

"A cuddle is something if you give it away, give it away, give it away, a cuddle is something if you give it away and it comes right back to you.."

Then we sing about a kiss (blowing kisses, kissing on cheeks or back of hands).

We also sing about a 'smile' making sure all teeth are shown so smiles are genuine.

Look at all of the participation, singing and actions going on!

"Children are able to express spontaneous affection to one or more of the people with whom they spend a lot of time", Belonging, Te Whaariki.

Jessie, filmed by Sarah B

Look a cockroach

Earlier this week we found two cockroaches on the carpentry table when we took off the cover. Isaac named them Pork and Dock and soon a group of spectators formed. Teacher Sarah got our large magnet marble cubes and Dock crawled into these cubes, while we all looked, squealed and did out best not to bang on the cubes as Dock crawled from one cube to the other.

We discussed what cockroaches eat, Charlie said grass and Te Kira suggested bugs. When Dock decided to crawl out and away we let him and talked about not squashing insects. Corbin liked Dork's hairy legs and Laker and Elijah laughed when Dock went backwards in a cube.

"Children develop respect and developing sense of responsibility for the well-being of both the living and the non-living environment", Exploration, Te Whaariki.

We hope to see Dock and Pork, who crawled away around the carpentry table again, soon.

Jessie

These shoes are made for walking, that's just what they do!

Look who I spotted walking around outside in pink high heals, Sophie you really did master walking in such big shoes, clump, clump, clump they went as you walked on the concrete. You had such great balance you walked quite far in these shoes too. It's always fun trying out something new, I could see you enjoyed walking in high heels.
Tamara

Impromtu dress-up party

Tamara

Clean Up Afternoon this Saturday 1-4pm

It's clean up afternoon at KIDSPACE this Saturday 1-4pm followed by drinks and nibbles (and petanque for anyone who still has some energy!). You can turn up on the day and choose a job or you can commit yourself to a particular job by putting your name next to a task on the orange list near the sign in table. We understand that weekends can be very busy for families and appreciate any time that you can give. No-one is expected to come for the whole 3 hours. Sorry, for safety reasons, no children.

Well it's that time of year again...sunhat weather is now upon us!

Please could all children bring a named sunhat to KIDSPACE everyday.

Hula Hoop

The hula hoops had been lying on the ground for most of the morning without anyone really taking an interest in them. I picked one up any started (well attempted) to hula with it...it appeared that I am not overly competent at that one!!! The children were so quick to join in. We had little hula hoopers everywhere!

This is a great activity to show the importance of adult involvement. Children are more likely to become engaged in activities if we join in with them, so bare this in mind when you are at home with your children. They are more likely to become engaged and learn more if you join in alongside them! This was also a great activity to extend their gross-motor skills and get them up and active.

'Give it a go...it's very entertaining!!'

Sarah.B

ROCKET SHIP

Yesterday afternoon I decided to go and lie down in the sun on the big crash pad. Sarah and Joaquin were extremely quick to come and join me. It's amazing how quickly children will join in an activity when an adult initiates something different. The crash pad very quickly became our rocket ship.

Sarah was the driver and Joaquin the navigator... There were big monsters around us so we had to be extra careful! Sarah and Joaquin would jump off the ship and quickly run to collect items for our rocket ship...without being caught!!

We all had a great time on our rocket ship, we laughed and talked and our rocket ship adventure unfolded around us without any pre-planning. Children learn through their play and through their interactions with others, so lying down on the mat was a great way to initiate some imaginary play!
Sarah.B

Welcome Kaylie Moore

Kia ora my name is Kaylie Moore and I am a third year student studying the Early Childhood Diploma at the EIT. I will be at KIDSPACE as part of a Teaching Placement from the 7th to the 25th September.

When I'm not studying, I enjoy spending time with family and friends, cooking and reading.

I am looking forward to spending the next three weeks at your centre and building new relationships... Don't be shy to say hello.

Kaylie/Jessie

Hair R Us

Relieving teacher, Shona, got the hair dressing kit out in the morning. The girls initially set it up but the boys hovered and soon had a go.

Shona asked if she could get her hair done as it was looking a bit messy and did the boys think they could do something to fix it up?

Max, Laker and Issac replied 'you need to flatten this bit' and 'I've got the clips on' and 'I've got the hair dryer going'.

All children where very focussed and even made hair dryer sound effects. They also used combs, a mirror and a make up brush.

"All children have rights of access to activities, regardless of gender, ability, ethnicity and background", Contribution, Te Whaariki.

Jessie