Teddy Bears Picnic Christmas Party

There is no better time to have a teddy bearsʻ picnic than Christmas time. Teddies just love Christmas! They ran. hopped, jumped and skipped ... just like teddies should. The morning children made fruit kebabs and waffles. What a fun day! Merry Christmas to all our families and friends.

Mangere Mountain Mountaineers

Today we had the awesome experience of climbing Mangere Mountain with our friends from Mangere Bridge Kindergarten (another COI). It was quite a climb! What great views. We could see the Manukau Harbour, Ambury Park Farm and Auckland City. When we were at the top of the mountain we could see the cows checking out our bags way below. Luckily they didnʻt eat our lunch! They did leave quite a bit of pooh on the ground. We had to really watch where we were walking! Next year Mangere Bridge Kindergarten are going to come over and climb our mountain, Pigeon Mountain, with us. Thanks for the great day.

The wonders of Christchurch

Bronwyn and Kerry have just been to the New Zealand Research in Education conference in Christchurch to present our research. They took an extra day so they could visit kindergartens in Christchurch ... and in particular, exploring the notion of sustainability in kindergarten. We are already very committed to recyclying, but feel that we could do more. We have come away with some great ideas for next term. We will start the term by going wrapper free in lunch boxes. A very BIG thank you to
Lincoln, Edmond Smith Street, Lyttleton, Mt Pleasant, and Hargest Crescent for their hospitality.
Bronwyn and Kerry were also priveledged to spend a morning at Bush Street Kindergarten at Rangiora. Bush Street is a fellow COI, and they shared their character story telling. Thank you.
Thanks also to New Beginnings, a round one Centre of Innovation for their hospitality.
An even bigger thanks to Jos and Rose (ESMʻs) taking the time to transport us around Christchurch (and Helen too).
What a great week.

Movie Night

Movie night is one of the best social events on our kindergarten calendar. Popcorn and pyjamas are the order of the night. How cool is that!

Our kindergarten swap with Highland Park Kindergarten

One of the most exciting things we do each term is swap kindergartens. It is just SO much fun! What a fun way to learn about the same and different. Even though Highland Park kindergarten is close, we just had to travel by bus ... that is part of the thrill. The bus picked up the teachers and children from Highland Park kindergarten and delivered them to our door ... then we hopped on the bus and went on the short trip to their kindergarten. The favourite moments? One would have to be the mud pit. Another would have to be the mice (even though we have pet rats at Botany Downs Kindergarten). We made pumpkin soup ... because thatʻs what their children do every day. Jessie cut her finger (just a little bit) and for a moment we thought we were going to have finger and pumpkin soup. So much to do and so little time. Thank you Highland Park Kindergarten. We hope you enjoyed your morning at Botany Downs Kindergarten.