Where to from here for Katie?

Over the past few days the children have been drawing their ideas for Katieʻs future on the Mimio.
Elsa thought that Katie needed a cat, a cat called marshmallow.
Riley thought that Katie needed a dog.
Alex thought that a friend called John would be cool.
Stefanie thought that Katie needed a teddy bear.
Madison thought that she needed a friend to go swimming with.
Jessica thought that Katie needed a friend to dance to her music.
Mia thought that she needed a friend called Sarah to play the piano in her band.
Natalie thought she needed a friend to play on the swings with.
Jayden thought that an elephant called Jemma would be good.
Ben thought that Katie needed some friends to go walking with

Celebrating the Queenʻs birthday

Celebrating the Queenʻs birthday is an annual event at Botany Downs Kindergarten. We examine the protocols. We research where the Queen lives and watch the changing of the guards on YouTube. Of course, it is a pretty good reason to have a party too. We have to say a special thank to Archie and NanNan for making the cake, the children for getting into the occasion and the Queen for visiting with her Corgi Pippa. Such great support makes these occasions a success.

Katie meets the Queen

There is no greater occasion than for a rock chick to meet the Queen.

A dance fit for a Queen

Katieʻs tea party

There was a buzz as the children checked Katie out today. Within moments Natalie and Madison were sharing a tea party with her. There is nothing like a good cup of tea to help you through the day. I wonder what other adventures Katie will have.

The Game ... Day Two

Projects with wood continued

Well, Tuesday is a Steve day ... and that is exciting.
Today the project was to complete Katie, the wooden rustic sculpture. Step one was to check out Katie, revisit our thoughts from last week and check out just what else Katie might need. As quick as a flash the children identified that Katie needed two legs the same length, arms and hair. It was also time to revisit the tools that would be needed. Would it be an axe? Would it be a bow saw? It was time to put our thought into actions. We are supposed to be focused on the process and rather than the outcome but it is hard not to fall in love with Katie, the rock chick.
Jessica thought that she just had to have a guitar to complete the look.






Where are we going to go from here? Will it be with one of the projects from our original brainstorming or will it be with a new project. Lets hear your ideas.

A very special story

Jessica, we know that you are a very empathetic sensitive person. This morning you said that you knew that your friend Holly had been a wee bit sad at afternoon kindergarten and that you had made a game for her to play when she got to kindergarten. The idea is that each letter would be hidden around the kindergarten ... and Holly would be able to go on a Holly hunt to find all the letters. Well Jessica, I can tell you that it was a very successful game. Holly and her friends found the H on the kitchen door, the O on Franklinʻs tank, one L on the computer, another L on the slide and the Y on the window in the fence. HOLLY. It was such a great game that we are going to play it again tomorrow. Thanks Jessica.

Tina, the Librarian comes to visit

Rodney rat has a special visit

Bike-a-thon Fun

Thank you to everyone who supported our bike-a-thon today. Werenʻt we lucky with the weather!!
Thanks to our friend Steve for drawing the winners of the bike helmets.
Tomorrow Rodney Rat is coming to visit our rat Laura to see if they can make some babies.
At 11.30 tomorrow Tina, the Librarian from Highland Park Library will be talking to the morning children.

Only one sleep to go

The bikes are decorated. We hope the weather will be fine.
Bring your money for sausages and drinks.
See you at the bike-a-thon
Botany Downs School
11am
Sunday 24th May

Artists at work

Lauren, Daisy and Gerry discovered the new sketch boxes and set to drawing. They all looked very professional!

Bringing our wood project to life

Hi, my name is Katie. I am made of wood ... tree wood. I live at Botany Downs Kindergarten. I havenʻt got any hair or arms yet and I havenʻt got a mouth so I canʻt talk. I just go mm, mm mm, mm. Perhaps you could draw or cut my mouth. I havenʻt got any holes in my nose as well. I think I need a belly button too. Someone needs to cut some of my leg off because my legs are different sizes. I always fall over when I stand up. I need feet and hands or I wonʻt be able to pick up things. Jessica thinks I should live in the garden but Mia thought it would be too cold and that I should live in the playhouse. The children could take me to play in the sandpit. Oh no, Iʻve got no clothes! Perhaps the children could make me some clothes. Mia thinks paper clothes would be good. jessica wondered about tissue clothes. Jessica wondered if I would like to borrow some of her clothes. I am looking forward to my adventures at kindergarten.

Steve week 4

We have been waiting all week for steve to come to kindergarten! Today Steve showed us some new tools that he was going to use today. He had a brace and bit, a scotch eyed auger, an axe, a bow saw and a Japanese pull saw. The question now was what could we use these tools for, Steve had noticed some tree trunks from a tree that had fallen down at Bronwynʻs house. He showed the children pictures of rustic sculptures he had made with other children, Then we had to put our thinking caps on and plan our next project,
Everyone drew a plan on paper and the most popular was a person so work began. We look forward to working on it next week. Steve asked us to think about what else we need to put on our person and what length his legs should be.
Archie finished work on his skis and because there was no snow at kindergarten he decided to water ski. great work Archie!

Rodney and Ralph come to visit

Random act of kindness

Maths and me

I spy with my little eye

The shopping game

Working with Steve on projects

Steveʻs arrival was awaited with eager anticipation. What would be the next project? As Steve came in the door he spied our poor old noticeboard. That started his mind ticking. What if he made a new frame for it and the children drew and added things that were really important to them ... a bit like a kowhaiwhai for Botany Downs Kindergarten. A BDK family history. Steve talked about creating symbols. Now thatʻs a hard concept. Steve showed how he could draw around Emilyʻs hand, cut the shape out with the jigsaw and create ʻSteveʻs Crestʻ. The designs would need to be not too big and not to small. The children busied themselves with creating their designs. Then it was time to cut them out. I wonder what our new frame will look like ....

The hail storm

Look what struck kindergarten today at pick up time! Not quite up to Papamoa standards where they were snowboarding on the beach ... but we thought it was pretty cool.

Happy Mothers Day from the BDK children

A number of children were keen to record personal messages to their mums for Mothers Day. Click on the movie below to open it in 'You Tube'. Select the full screen icon at the bottom to view the movie full screen.

Raffle winners

Thanks to all who supported our raffle
1st prize ... 1006 .... Tangi
2nd prize ... 808 .... Tania L
3rd prize ... 303 ..... Kevin

The wood project ... week two

Itʻs Tuesday ... and that means that It has been a Steve day.
With the bird house project well under way the plan was to use the ideas the children had shared last week or had put on the blog. What great ideas emerged.
At morning meeting the children looked at their progress last week on the TV. Earlier in the morning Ben had had the task of checking out suitable places to put the birdhouse. Steve then asked Ben to take photos of the four best places he thought the birds might like to live. The children then discussed the shape and size they wanted for the hole for the bird to get in. The children then drew the shapes they thought the bird might like and then all the children voted on their preferred shape. The circle won. It was then time to find the right tool to cut a circle and to put the plan into action. While all this was happening Marieke was hard at work drawing, cutting out and laminating her flag for the birhouse.
Next task ... the top. Did it need to open? Did the children want it to hinge or lift off? So many decisions! Hinges won the day and were duly added. What else do we need? Thatʻs right! Olivia suggested that the birds needed to have something to stand on while they decided to go in or out. Luckily Steve had a round piece of wood ... called dowel ... in his tool box. It was just right for the job. The only job left was to test out the best places for the bird house that Ben had chosen and photographed. They decided that the spot by the guinea pig grotto was not sunny enough. They experimented with placing it in the tree, but they couldnʻt open the lid. The spot on the side of the playhouse was just too noisy. The last spot was the fence and that was just right! You could open the lid, it was sunny and it wasnʻt too noisy. Together, the children and Steve attached the bird house to the fence ... and Mariekeʻs flag looked really grand. How lucky the birds are!
It is now time to think about the next project. What will that be? Put your ideas on the blog.