Poi Girls

Caitlin and Holly were doing the best dancing with the pois today, complete with dressups and everything. It was a glorious sight to behold. Jemma and Natasha joined in afterwards and asked me to put the video on the blog. You know you're in the 21st centrury when you get a request like that from 4 year olds!! I also got an inkling that the girls had seen Nisha and Kaide's dancing with Pois in another post on our blog.
The concentration on their faces is just priceless and the different poi styles is so interesting to observe!

Where there's smoke there's fire

The children had been discussing the layout of their house as they hammered on the hammering frame. They had attached lino pieces to the top to create a roof, then Gryffyn put a piece on and called it the chimney. From there we discussed what a chimney would look like. "A chimney is round," they said. So, it was off to find something round for a chimney. As it was attached sticks were gathered to create a fire below. From there it seemed logical to create a real fire to test the efficiency of the chimney. A bowl was sourced and filled with sticks and pine cones. Matthew lit the fire, but we soon discovered that we needed something else ... paper to sustain the flame. that was back ... and scrunched as quick as a flash. What a difference some paper made. In no time the fire was heating the air ... and the smoke was going up the chimney. What a great chimney. the children warmed their hands and discussed fires. It was from there that a plan was hatched to toast some marshmallows next week. Now there's a great idea! We would be able to use some of the many sticks the children gathered as fuel for the fire. We had to wonder who went home smelling of smoke that day.

The tomato seeds

There are so many surprises in this world ... and this was one of them. Laurens's Mum cut the top off the tomato. In the morning the tomato seeds in the tomato had sprouted. Now that is something we have never seen before. It was so intriguing we just had to share it with our skype buddies in room 9 Botany Downs School.

A visit to Auckland War Memorial Museum

What a fabulous morning we had at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Our main purpose was to visit the Maori section of the Museum. However, because the museum were daunted with a group of 45 children and 26 adults we split into two groups with one group starting in the Maori section and the other group starting in Weird and Wonderful. After an hour we swapped over. On arriving back at kindergarten we asked the children what they liked best at the Museum. This is one way we can discover what captured their attention and discover how they are building their working theories.

Cody said, I liked seeing the Maori things. I liked Weird and Wonderful too. They've got a rat too. It was just sleeping. I saw a lizard too.
Kaea said, I liked seeing the waka. the sticks inside it were really cool. I liked the carvings on it too. I tell you the yuckiest one I've ever seen ... those big beetles. They were eating yucky food. I saw cockroaches too. I liked the polar bear. It was just a statue. if it was a real polar bear it would knock out that glass.
Gryffyn said, I liked the carvings on the canoe.
Elias said, I liked the spiders because they were in the drawers. A tarantula. They eat birds.
Nathan said, I liked seeing the waka. That was brown. It was SO long. I had fun going on the bus because it went so fast. I could see all the cars and houses. I liked going with Matthew's Mum.
Josh said, I liked the Maori bit because it had Maori carvings. I saw some canoes. It was a little bit too big. I saw a flag pole, a small one. I liked the Weird and Wonderful because it had all sorts of books. I liked the little hole where you could do the cuckoo.
Jacob said, I liked all of the funny things - all of the bugs. There were lots of different kinds of bones. I liked the statue animals.
Jaedyn said, I liked the carvings. they were cool. They are kind of like korus. They are like morena carvings. i liked looking at the lollies. I liked the big boat with a statue on it. There were some sticks in it. there was a big, big statue on it. There was a big, big, big house next to it. It was kind of like the Marae.
Reid said, I liked the monsters, the brown monsters that's got teeth and claws. I liked the dinosaur bones because they're good. They broke off. I don't like the carvings. They are very bad.
Luke said, I liked the carvings cause I did. I liked the dinosaur bones. I liked the spider what I found. It was dead. It couldn't move.
Ben said, I liked the spiders because they were so scary. I was afraid of them. I liked the funny monkey. It was a statue. His nose was long and funny. I liked the statue grizzly bear too. I liked the statue polar bear too. I liked the fishies.
Grace said, I liked the rocking horses cause they were beautiful. I liked the Maoris cause they were beautiful. I liked the butterflies too cause they were beautiful.
Daisy said, I liked the waka - all of it. I liked the colours. I liked the dinosaurs because I have a dinosaur book. I liked the carvings too.
Lily said, I liked the rocking horses on the roof because they were a horse and they were hanging on the roof.
Charlotte W said, I liked the horsies and the whare. I spotted it. You've got to take your shoes off. I loved the carvings because I really spotted them, lots of them. I liked the roof in the whare. It was red and white .... but I liked the walls too.
Elise said, I liked the boat. it was really big ... REALLY big. I saw a giant elephant. It was a statue. I liked the tree with some stuff in it and the messy old bedroom.
Max said, I liked the meeting house because you can go inside. You've got to take your shoes off. It was cool because its got paua shells. I saw carvings - people carvings and we took photos of us standing next to the carvings. I liked the ark because its got carvings.
Cohen said, I liked the rats, the baby ones. I liked the hooks because I catch fish. I liked the bones.
Lauren said, I liked the Weird and Wonderful cause it had lots of animals. I liked the dead bunny cause I like bunnies. I've got a bunny at home. I liked the meeting house and I liked the carvings cause their tongues are out. I liked the dead elephant too cause I like elephants.
Matthew said, I liked the cockroaches because they're smelly. I just like beetles. I liked the rats. they were so cute. I liked the polar bear because it was so cute.
Charlotte K said, I liked the fish cause I've been there before. And I liked the sharks and stingrays. I don't like the creatures. They're yuk. But I like Weird and Wonderful and the polar bear.
Keira said, I liked the scary cockroaches because once me and my dad went there. I liked the things that you hold in your hand (meal worms). I liked the bus too.
Rachel said, I liked the pictures with the funny hair sticking up. I liked the pretend boat cause it had sparkles.
Rocky said, I like the carvings because I went to them. I liked going there and all the way home.
Miriama said, I liked the lollies there. They weren't real. I liked then cause they were colourful - and that's it.
Arthur said, Animals. I liked the animals. The bear. the spider.
Aimee said, I liked the rocking horse because they were still. I liked the house - the one with the carvings on because its got Maori things.
Karissa said, I liked the animals - the elephant - cause I know what elephants eat - coconuts.
Holly said, I liked the carvings cause they had shapes. I liked the houses, the Maori houses. They were really cool. I liked the boats cause they were hanging out of the roof.
Jemma said, I liked the polar bear. I almost went sliding. I liked the carvings cause they were poking their tongues out.
Jasmin said, I like the bones cause they're pretty. I liked the big spiders. I liked the big ship.
Sean said, I liked the waka cause it was big. I liked the dinosaur bones.
Olivia said, I liked the dinosaur bones. I kinda only liked the dinosaur bones cause they were so soft cause if they had been inside the dinosaur they would have been really, really soft.
Mitchell said, I liked the bones cause they had dinosaurs on them. I liked the birds cause they were so cute and even they had babies. they were statues of them. They stand still every day. I liked the waka cause it was so cool cause it had carvings and steps inside it. I liked the polar bear cause it was so cool but it was just a statue. Then I saw the Maori house and went inside it. there were carvings, lots of old carvings.

Round singing

The children have been singing their hearts out over the past couple of weeks as we prepared to make our Waiata DVD. Today we were singing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star in Maori when we wondered how if the children could sing Twinkle, Twinkle as a round (in English). We have done this before, and it is quite a hard concept for children to get. However, this group of children got it straight away. What clever children we have!

Team Logan

It was photo shoot day for team Logan. Team Logan was formed after the sudden death from asthma of our vibrant, very special Logan. Team Logan plan to walk / run the Auckland marathon in October. Many of the members, including Logan's Mum have never undertaken anything like this before. Their aim is to raise funds for asthma awareness. To make a donation see the link you the right of this blog. Individual and company sponsorship is really appreciated. We have been blown away by this dedicated group and so proud to belong to the community that makes up Botany Downs Kindergarten.

I water it every day, about a cup, I think

Helen worked with the children planting pea seeds. Gryffyn was really impressed with the continued growth of his pea after he took it home. He said he watered it every day, "about a cup, I think". We really love it when you bring a page like this for your portfolio. We love to know what is going on at home.

Treasures are in the eye of the beholder

Now here's a game ...

Counting the takings

The next step of the DVD project was to count the takings from the shop. The children really liked the coins better than the notes ... and there were plenty of coins to count and tabulate. The next job will be for the children to decide what they would like to spend the money on. We might have to wait until the money from the further orders comes in.
we also plan to go to Botany Downs school to take a copy of our DVD to Miss Cotman's class, Room 9.

The shop

The day and the time had arrived ... and it was hard to contain the excitement. The shop keepers assembled for a training session and an official photo, then the shop was checked. The signage was in place, the DVD's and song sheets were ready, the carry bags were in place ... all that was needed was customers. The customers didn't take long to arrive and start queuing for service. What a great job the shop keepers did. Not only did they keep up with sales but they took more orders as well.

The unicorns

Unicorns continue to hold a fascination with the children. Last week they wrote unicorn stories and now they take every opportunity to act out those stories. There is a rumour going round that they even dream about unicorns!

Tina, the librarian visits

A group of children wrote this flyer for parents

Now that's news!

Last week Gryffyn was featured on the front page of the Eastern Courier as he demonstrated how our sound traffic lights worked. How exciting is that!
Check it out ...
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/eastern-courier/3762777/Sound-adv> ice-on-noise#share

The secret place

Today out of the corner of my eye I spied movement under the playdough table. Upon further investigation I found that there was a tea party in progress under the table complete with the most delicious looking playdough cakes. There is nothing like the excitement of feeling that you are doing something secret.

Making up our own games

It is always a delight to see children making up their own games and this game today was now exception. The group chuckled with delight as they took leadership roles and listened to the ever changing rules. Great organisational skills.

I wonder who is under the blanket?

This game is a favourite with our children. It goes like this ... the children dance to the music. When the music stops the children lie on the floor and cover their eyes. The blanket is then place over one child. The others open their eyes and try to guess who is missing. In this game I was impressed with the great questions being asked ... 'Is it a girl or a boy?' 'What does their name start with?' 'What colour is their hair?' 'Who are their friends?'

Thank you for this story and photo from home

Our taniwha stories

Over the last term we have been working on our te reo skills and building our knowledge of tikanga Maori as can be seen in many of the previous blogs. The children have grasped concepts so quickly. Below are some of the stories the children wrote, illustrated, laminated and bound for our library. They also shared their stories with the other children by viewing them on the big screen.

Kaea's taniwha story

One day Kaea saw a smiley face. At first he thought it belonged to a shark or a dragon, but it was a taniwha. The taniwha plays video games with his friends, like me ... Ben 10 ones. He eats chicken He jumps up and tries to get them. He cooks them. He puts them on some hot fire. He says, "Yummy." he sleeps on a brick for five minutes. He dreams about playing with his friends. His friends are taniwhas too.

A little bit about the author Kaea;
Kaea is four. His favourite colour is yellow. He likes to eat jam and marmite and cheese sandwiches. He's going to be an army man when he grows up.

Max's taniwha story

The taniwha lives in a stream and it flies to God and then he flies back down. He's green. He's bigger than my Dad and he's a giant one. He breathes fire out of his nose. He's got sixteen legs and a tail. He watches TV all day. He watches taniwhas flying on TV. he likes to eat spaghetti like me. he flies under the water. he sees crabs and water snakes and he sees stingrays. he eats them all up and says, "thank you for my dinner." he sleeps in the water, under the water. He dreams the same dreams as me - about a taniwha and me.

A little bit about the author Max:
Max is four. He likes to watch Young Einsteins on TV. He likes to eat spaghetti. His favourite colour is green. He wants to be a real Powerman when he grows up.

Josh's taniwha story

The taniwha is green.. He lives in my bedroom in the wardrobe so he doesn't scare me. He wears my shoes, I think. He runs away with my shoes to different houses so he can get more shoes. I think he puts them up in the sky because he doesn't want me to have them. He likes to eat grass on my front lawn. He eats all of it, then he has to make more grass in a place where grass doesn't grow.

A little bit about the author Josh
Josh is four. He likes to play in the sandpit at kindergarten. His favourite colour is green because he likes it so much. He likes to watch Mickey Mouse on TV and he likes to eat apple. he wants to be a policeman when he grows up.

Gryffyn's taniwha story

One day Gryffyn saw a red taniwha that lived in the river. He thought, "that's cool!" The taniwha swims and wags its tail and eats fish. The taniwha has no friends cause he lives on his own. All he thinks about is swimming.

A little bit about the author Gryffyn
Gryffyn is nearly five. He is going to go to Cockle Bay School. He likes to watch Animal Planet on TV. He likes to eat fish and chips. He would like to be a zoo keeper when he grows up.

Cody's taniwha story

The taniwha lives at the beach and he swims to another island. he eats fish, big fish. He eats them raw. He goes in the water to look for his friends, then they play video games - soccer ones. He sleeps in the water. He has an adventure going to the park. he plays. The children see him and he says, "do you want to ride on me?" The children say, "cool," and go for a ride on him. They weren't scared cause they just wasn't.

A little bit about the author Cody. Cody is four. He likes to play on the scooters at kindergarten. He likes to eat pizza. His favourite colour is blue. When he grows up he wants to be a motorbike fixer.

Brianna's taniwha story

Once upon a time my taniwha flied to a giant. The giant rided on him to the clouds. They bounced on the clouds cause they liked to. They fly up there every day, then they fly back home. The taniwha lives in the water and the giant lives in the clouds. they go to sleep at night time. The giant fell off the cloud into the water. He jumped on the taniwha and the taniwha flew up and put him back on the clouds.

A little bit about the author, Brianna. Brianna is four. Her favourite colours are pink and purple. She likes to eat butter chicken. Brianna is going to go to Botany Downs School and she wants to be be a horse rider when she grows up.

What's in the box?

There is always great excitement when a courier arrives. What could be in the box?
"Maybe it's a rocket", said Max. "Maybe it's something for us to play with", said Jacob. In fact, it was some more equipment for our perceptual motor programme. We can now link our scooter boards for group play ... and so many other things too. This is a pretty cool way to build literacy skills. There is a link to Gill Connell and her perceptual motor programme on our website.

Poppy discovers the zoomslide

It is alway a pleasure to photograph children jumping on the zoom slide. It takes confidence and co-ordination to launch yourself into mid air ... but it is all worth it!

Practicing our waiata for our own DVD

Our the past few days the children have been working on their waiata in anticipation of recording their first DVD. Well rehearsals are over, the filming is in the can and the editing is completed. Next week the shop will be built and the shop signage prepared. Once done the children will open the shop to sell their DVD to family and friends. We can't wait.

Doing the turtle walk

The children love nothing better than taking Franklin for a walk. as they watched him walk along they began to replicate his walk.