Climbing, jumping and sliding on the deck

During our rainy days last week, the children enjoyed playing on the climbing blocks, slide and jumping mats. I captured photos of Paige, Marley, Scarlett, Anika, Ahlyna, Seth, Jaz, Milan and Max and Cleo challenging themselves on the obstacles, and working along side each other. There was a lot of encouragement for using paitence, turn taking and 'your words' as all of the children were so eager to have a turn.

It's important that children still have the opportunity to 'burn off some energy' on these rainy inside days.

Ainslee

Messy play madness

Messy play is still a favourite here at KIDSPACE. Yesterday I made the cornflour and water gloop mixture, with purple dye. Within seconds of pouring it onto the table, Jack, Taneesha and Maia were sliding their hands through it. I sat down along side the children and explored the gloop with them. Ruby and Thadeus also joined the table at this time. 'Wow this stuff is cool", said Ruby. "This is the stuff that is hard and then goes soft and runny aye" said Jack. It was great to see the children initating interactions between themselves, particulary the 4 year olds, Jack and Ruby. They included Taneesha, Maia and Thadeus by talking to them about what they were doing, as well as being a role model. A favourite thing they like to do with the gloop is to grab a handful and then hold their hands up and let it drip from their hands on to the table. Jack started doing this, and everyone else followed. Ruby started a game by catching everyone elses gloop drips from their hands, and then everyone else joined in. Maia was really enjoying the feel of it, particulary smothering her hands with it and letting them soak in it. A fun time had by all, including myself!

Ainslee

'EB' the bunny

Over the last few weeks, Lepa has been bringing her bunny 'EB', into KIDSPACE. The children have had so much fun with EB so far. They look forward to Lepa bringing it in on Thursday's. EB is very friendly and loves the children. He enjoys running through the grass and bushes, and hiding under Squeezy's hutch. Cleo and Mana were captured in a photo, spending some time with EB on the hill. He stayed still as they gently patted his back and touched his soft fur.

The children like to find grass, carrots and apples to feed EB, and watch as he runs around. It is great to see the children taking care of his wellbeing, just like they do with Squeezy.

Ainslee

Tea party at Emily and Isabella's house

(Click to enlarge)

Ainslee

Socialising in the sandpit

Ainslee

A Road to Build

Last week the sandpit was a very busy curriculum area, with lots of busy workers.
On Friday, I happened to notice Jack, Donnagh, and Luke very involved in their work, and upon approaching, I was told they were building a road. I watched as they negotiated who would dig where, and who had charge of the tap, that was left running for their use. Jack then decided to add a river, instructing Donnagh and Luke to keep digging whilst he would fill his river with water.

The construction workers remained engaged in their road bulding for a very sustained period, even returning after lunch to continue.

Jack, Donnagh, and Luke are developing strategies and skills for initiating, maintaining, and enjoying a relationship with other children - including taking turns, problem solving, negotiating, taking another's point of view, supporting others, and understanding other people's attitudes and feelings - in a variety of contexts.

Shooting hoops

On Friday morning, while Paige and I were getting the bag of balls out of the shed, we found a plastic ring with a handle, that looked like a hoop when held up. Paige instantly associated it with a hoop for shooting balls, and took an interest. I suggested we find some cellotape and tape it to a wooden post to practice shooting balls in the hoop.

Paige was excited and starting collecting as many balls as she could. Once I had taped it up, I discovered it was actually a big bubble blower... but it still did the trick as a hoop. Paige began throwing the ball up to the hoop, and then got ready to catch it, whichever way it landed.

Within seconds, Rionagh joined in on the ball throwing. Then Libby, Jack, Donnagh and Cian. They were all throwing the ball at the hoop, and suprisingly not getting in each others way. The children knew which ball they had thrown and which ball to chase after. This experience provided the children with the opportunity to practice their ball skills, including, throwing, catching, hand eye co-ordination, balance, throwing over head etc. As well as the social/fun aspect, it was a fun spontaneous experience that the children were able to join in on together. It wasn't just restricted to 3 and 4 year old children; Rionagh showed that she was very confident and competent in throwing the ball too! Tino pai to mahi e tamariki.

I did have a 2 minute video to add with the post but I'm having trouble uploading it. Hopefully I can post it shortly.

Ainslee

Face painting fun

Ruby, Hoah, Emily, Ataahua, Donnagh, Jack, Lexi, Rionagh

One morning, I asked the children 'who would like their face painted?'. "Meeeeeeeeeeee", was the response I got from a number of children. As I collected the paints and brushes, the children crowded around the wooden seating in the middle of the playground. I painted Ruby and Emily's first as they had shown an interest right at the beginning. The whole dynamics of the atmosphere outside, and the children's play changed. As the children transformed into lions, cats, tigers, and butterflies, their imagaination ran wild. The children were roaming around like the animal their face was painted as (most of the children were tigers as they liked what other children had been painted as). The children had the choice of many different colours, so we had yellow noses, purple whiskers, green eyes etc. The children had a great sense of fun, and it provided them with more opportunities to interact with each other and play 'made up' games together.

Ainslee

Moon Fish and Matariki

In support of Ainslee's activity in which the children made Matariki star mobiles for the Maori New Year, I thought it would be a fun activity for the children to make a "moon fish". A fish character from our visit to the "Songs of the Sea" to join the stars.

Using collage pieces of tin foil and orange crepe paper, the children created our "moon fish". The children really enjoyed this fun activity in which they demonstrated their creative skills, perseverance, fine motor skills together with working along side their peers. The children were also able to revisit their previous learning from their visit to the "Songs of the Sea" through which we were able to discuss the story on the creation of the moon fish.

Ann.

Carpentry construction

Joshua must be following in his dads footprints, as a builder! This morning, I saw Joshua take a real interest in the carpentry area. This hasn't been the first time though. This seems to be an on-going interest of Joshua's, along with construction. Joshua expressed to me that he wanted to make an aeroplane. Joshua had already put two bits of wood togother (as wings of the aeroplane) but needed some assistance with hammering the nail in. He couldn't balance the wood, the nail and get the hammer steady, all at the same time. So I held the wood for Josh as he held the nail and hammered it. The nail went through the first piece and a little bit into the piece below it. Joshua was already on his way to creating his aeroplane. He told me that he had other pieces he needed to find as well. Joshua is really good at extending his own learning on things of real interest to him, and that is when I see him really focused on projects etc,

Kai pai to kaihanga e Joshua - Good building Joshua

Ainslee

Early literacy skills

To encourage the development of early literacy skills we have placemats that the children use to put their lunch box on at lunch time. Each child personalises their placemat and then their name is written top left with a photo alongside. This is then laminated. When the children get their lunchbox they then identify which is their placemat and sit down. Yesterday, while I was making a placemat with Charlie, Donnagh asked if he could make a new one. He drew a picture then wrote his own name at the top. Donnagh proudly showed me his mahi and identified each letter in his name. Through active exploration Donnagh is developing a concept of letter sound, sense and shape which are pre-requisites for reading and writing.

Rie

Harakeke weaving

While I was outside with the children one morning, Paige was standing near the garden and pointed to the flax bush and asked what it was. I said to Paige that it is a harakeke plant, and it is using for weaving in the Maaori culture. To use an example, I went inside and showed her the weaved harakeke kete. We went back outside to look at the harakeke and I suggested that we cut some off and do some weaving. I explained the tikanga around harakeke and during that time Isabella came over and showed and interest as well. I said that normally we should say a karakia before cutting the harakeke but I didn't know of any, so I told the girls that I would find one for next time. I found this one:

Hutia te rito o te harakeke, Kei whea te kōmako e kō?

Kī mai ki ahau; He aha te mea nui o te Ao? Māku e kī atu, he tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata

If the heart of harakeke was removed, where will the bellbird sing? If I was asked, what was the most important thing in the world; I would be compelled to reply, It is people, it is people, it is people!

The other tikanga is cutting it down towards the roots and returning any left over harakeke back to the harakeke plant and Papatuanuku (Earth Mother).

After we cut some harakeke we explored what we could do with it. I showed the girls how to weave a flower (something I learnt through my teacher studies). Paige and Isabella were interested in the process of making one, which includes threading it under over under. This involves concentration, and practice. Paige enjoyed handling the harakeke and practicing moving the strips under over under. Isabella was watching me make mine before she started on hers. Although this is a hard thing to achieve first off, the great thing was that the girls took an interest and learnt some new things about harakeke.

Ainslee

More 'hut' play

Some of the KIDSPACE girls including Zoe, Emily, Paige, Isabella and Ataahua, really enjoy playing in huts, and using blankets and pillows etc, in their play. Over two days during this week, we made a hut with blankets outside. The children collected pegs for me to peg the blankets to the side of the fence and create a roof for it. As soon as it was made, Zoe and Isabella went to find blankets, pillows and the dolls matress' for the hut. When Isabella got back, she said she was making a bed for Paige, as Paige was going to be their baby. The girls had a really fun filled morning playing in the hut, reading stories, role-playing and inviting other children in. This play continued after lunch, when the girls initiated going outside to play in their 'house'.

"Children experience an envrionment where their play is valued as meaningful learning and the importance of spontaneous play is recognised" - Children take responsibility for their own learning' (Exploration - Te Whariki).

Ainslee

Taking the stored electricity out

Mohanan

Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles

Libby made a wee discovery when she had filled up a little tea cup with the water from the water trough which also had dishwashing detergent in it. She found a VERY long straw from the art room and popped it into the little cup then proceeded to blow. Libby blew and blew and out came all these spectacular bubbles all stuck to each other.

I had been watching what Libby was doing then she came up to me and said, "Hey, Tamara watch me do this". I replied, "Wow look at all those bubbles stuck together, oh now look they are all overflowing the sides of the cup". Libby was being an active explorer in her learning, making her own discoveries and science concept such as, cause and effect and sharing her findings with me. I could see that Libby was really enjoying exploring bubbles and their capabilities.

Tamara

Passionate about Wheels

Since Cian has been attending KIDSPACE, I have noticed his strong interest and passion for anything with wheels, whether it be trains, trucks, or motorbikes.

Last week I brought in some books with large pictures of big rigs, and a motorbike magazine that I knew he would like. Immediately they were spotted by Cian, and every day since, he has spent lengthy periods studying them with me.

Through this experience, Cian is learning matematical concepts such as size, shape counting the wheels, and building on communication skills by using rich language. Cian is developing an understanding that symbols can be "read" by others and that thoughts, experiences and ideas can be represented through words, pictures, print, numbers, sounds, shapes, models, and photographs, as well as the ability to identify and uses information from a range of sources, including using books for reference.

Monica.

Making a boat

Over the last few days, Jack has been quite interested in attaching, wrapping and threading, mainly outside. Whether it's skipping ropes, blankets, string or rope. Today he found this long pink tape. I'm not sure whether he asked someone to tie the bucket onto it earlier, but when I observed Jack's play this afternoon the bucket was attached to one end.

Jack began by threading the loose end through the small hole in the green climbing box, then out the big arch. He pulled it over to the little tree and wrapped it around a few times. I was standing close, observing Jack's play as well as helping some children across the planks. 'Look Ainslee, look', Jack yelled out to me. 'Cool Jack', I said, 'what are you making?'. 'Making a boat Ainslee', Jack replied.

He continued on, revisiting where he had looped the tape through to see how much he had left. Jack even tried to wrap himself in the tape, and onto the tree, but he changed his mind when he started to run out of spare tape. He kept tugging on it, close to the green box. As he did this, it pulled the tied bucket further up the green box. It could only go so far, because the hole wasn't big enough to let the bucket through. Jack kept tugging for a while, trying to figure out why it wouldn't work. He looked at me, as if I might be able to make it go through. 'The bucket is too big to fit in the hole Jack', I said. Jack looked at it again and agreed. He then went back to the tree and continued to wrap what tape he had left around anything he could see.

Children develop the ability to make decision, choose their own materials and set their own problems (Exploration, Te Whariki).

Children develop a perception of themselves as 'explorers' - competent, confident learners who ask questions and make discoveries'.

Ainslee

Simple games

Something so simple as a chalk hopscotch game, drawn on the concrete, held Libby and Donnagh's interest for quite a sustained period of time this morning. Libby took on the role of teacher and demonstrated how to play to Donnagh. It was great to observe Libby and Donnagh having fun sharing this experience while developing physical skills such as balancing, co-ordination, turning, hopping and jumping. This experience also provided opportunities for Libby and Donnagh to practice mathematical concepts such as counting forwards, backwards, and working in an ordered sequence to complete the game.

Rie

Noah's Aunty Nina's pet lamb

Tamara

Exploring Colours with the Light Box

After lunch today the children played some games naming shapes and colours in Te Reo Maori. Jess and Jessie organised the Light Box and some coloured squares and circles for the children to experiment with. They had multi coloured ink inside, kind of like marbling inks. As they are squashed and moved about the inks divide and form patterns. The children enjoyed exploring the movement of the liquids inside each shape and trialled layering the colours over top of each other. They followed up with some painting. Libby made a rainbow. Vicky (Massey Student)