Gallery

Various Trips to Dolamore Park

Photos of the most recent various trips to Dolamore Park with Room 2 children.

Term 2 School Holiday Antics - Winter Sports Day

Our 'Winter Sports Day' was definitely wintry.  Lots of rain made our outdoor environment wet and muddy.  But even so, some hardy Southland tamariki got out and made their own game of touch rugby.  Being keen sports men they can play in gumboots.

Adam G, Adam S, Charlie H, Charlie B and Thomas all joined in with enthusiasm, chasing the ball around.  

Adam G was very happy to wear his rugby boots at preschool, taking extra care when he was walking on the concrete, so as to not fall over.  They did help him run fast on the grass areas. 
 

A fun time was had by all, taking turns to run with the ball and remembering to tag each other, not tackle, developing their speed and agility in slippery conditions. 

Tu meke tamariki.

Term 2 School Holiday Antics - Matariki Celebrations

Matariki begins to rise in the last few days of May, and this symbolises the coming of the Maori New Year. Some iwi, or tribes, start celebrations when Matariki is first seen, however it is the first new moon after Matariki that officially signals the Maori New Year. Some people celebrate the New Year on the day the new moon rises, and others celebrate on the day after the new moon. Celebrations can last up to 3 days.

Term 2 School Holiday Antics - Bubbles and Balloons Day

Today was our 'Balloons and Bubbles day'.  We had many balloons inside the preschool and several stations with bubbles out in our outside environment.  The tamariki all had a lot of fun with the balloons before heading outside to try out the wands we made with pipe cleaners and hot dog sticks.  

We found a container of fly swats too.  These were used with some bubble mix outside, making foamy fun.Ajay had fun leading the way with the rope on sticks, making huge bubbles. 
The tamariki had to figure out which way the breeze was going, to create the bubbles.

Lots of fun was had by all, chasing bubbles.

Term 2 School Holiday Antics - Bike Day

Bike Day' at Akoranga was busy day.  It was great to see all the tamariki that brought bikes from home with helmets.  Those tamariki that did not manage to bring a bike were able to ride a friend's bike or use our Akoranga bikes and trikes.

Lexi enjoyed riding around with her pink bike.  Layton had fun on our balance bike, that was previously kindly donated from a family going on to school.

Locke was zooming around on blue and white with his spiderman helmet.  Rhyley asked his friend Josh for a turn on his balance bike, with Charlie H. on an Akoranga trike and Ava on her balance bike.

Karlee and Celia joined in the fun with their balance bikes too.

Josh was kindly sharing his balance bike but also had some fun on it too.  Locke and Blake were busy deciding which way to go before Kade joined them. 

And Maci H. had fun on her balance bike around our playground.

There were many tamariki communicating to each other to get around safely and in joint adventures.  So much great fun was had this day.  Awesome work tamariki.

Term 2 School Holiday Antics - Book Character Day

On Friday we had some interesting and fun characters at preschool. 
At our group mat time, I (Anna) read some of  the books the tamariki had brought to Akoranga for the day.  When I read the 'Hungry Caterpillar' book, our very 'Hungry Caterpillar' (Rose) ate all the food and went into her chrysalis to re-emerge as a butterfly.

We were also visited by 'Tintin' (Peter) and 'Cookie Monster' (myself) who dropped cookies everywhere all day.

Thank you to all the whanau and tamariki for joining in this fun day, sharing their favourite books with us at Akoranga Preschool.  It is wonderful to see such a wide interest in books that are enjoyed by the tamariki and whanau.

Term 2 School Holiday Antics - Rolling Day

'Rolling Day' was a wonderful adventure.  When we all arrived there were pulley systems with buckets, that Peter had set up, across the main room.  The tamariki quickly figured out they could fill the buckets and move it across or up and down.  There were a couple of pipe systems for balls to come down too.

Dexter was helping Ava fill the bucket.  And Jax explored how the bucket would go up and down when he pulled on the rope.  

Locke was enjoying getting the balls from the bottom and climbing upstairs with them to drop back down the pipe run again with Karlee, Lexi and Layton.

Dexter found the pulley system too high to reach when it was over near the senior wall, so he problem solved with getting a chair to help him reach.  Sadie made the most of the buckets being in the middle of the room where she could reach two ropes and the buckets.

Thea and Locke spent an extended time at this pipe run.  Locke was catching the balls and Thea would collect them from him, to then take back to the top.

Lexi and Evie worked together with the bucket and pulley to lift some wooden blocks.

Term 2 School Holiday Antics - PJ Day

Tamariki and Kaiako enjoyed the day at Akoranga in their pajamas.  We did all our usual things, playing outside, painting and making music.  But wearing something a little different made it all the more fun.Jet and Ava enjoyed our race track in their pajamas. 
While Jax and Braylen made some music.
Karlee continued with the balls in the tunnel from 'Rolling Day'. 
Luke and Connor did some work at the computers.We had to look twice with Cayson and Braylen enjoying the same pajamas.  They noticed too and jumped around giggling, great minds do think alike.

Kade got to meet Hedgy the hedgehog in his onesie.  

Thank you to all the whanau (families), tamariki (children) and kaiako (teachers) that wore pajamas.

Food Science

Here are some food science experiments for you to do with your children

Credit to knowmeeatme.com

Creating our Healthy Food Display

What a busy few days we have had in Room 2 creating fruit and vegetables to go on display in the office. This experience was offered to anyone interested in helping.  The reason behind this display is to bring attention to the next stage of our Healthy Food Self Review. 
Kade and Rhyley helped to paint blue on the paper as we needed blueberries like Pete the Cat. Both boys used this opportunity to explore their bodies as another canvas. Ava helped to stuff newspaper into the lemons. She carefully ripped the newspaper and then scrunched this up before adding each piece into the hole created. Ava was very focused during this task.
Thank you for your help Kade, Rhyley , and Ava. 
Jack and Kade wanted to try stapling the paper together. This skill required hand eye coordination when putting the paper into the correct place and then strength to release the staple. Thanks for helping Jack and Kade.
Manaia and Jett helped to stuff the blueberries. Jett used his skill to rip the paper. Manaia ripped the newspaper into small pieces and then added it to each whole. This was a bit tricky but Manaia was focused and completed the blueberries. Thanks for your help Manaia and Jett. The next stage was to create our scarecrow. Kade, Celia, Seth, Bella, Jack, and Ajay were all involved with helping. The final stage was display all the fruit , veggies, and our scarecrow. Kade and Jack were again involved in carefully carrying our creations. How helpful these boys have been through this project.  I do hope you enjoyed showing your whanau.