It's a Small, Small World :)

Kia Ora. Talofa Lava. Ni Hao. G'Day. Ciao. Namaste. Selamat Datang...Yummy delicious Singapore Fried Rice. We have been learning about the different cultures of the world and this has included the cooking and tasting some foods of the world. Here are some photos of our Singapore Experience. Enjoy and we look forward to learning more about Samoa & the Cook Islands next. Parents, Caregivers and friends we would love for you to share a little about your culture with us too. This can be in the form of foods, music, dance, stories etc. We also making the world a smaller place here through global maps and skype too :). Join us at Concord Kindergarten as we explore the World.

The Bubble Makers

This morning we discover treasure in the sandpit.......a new bubble machine. The pictures tell the story as we put it into action and the fun begins. Watch, run, chase, stretch, reach for, catch the bubbles...........pop! pop! pop! pop! See them float away higher, higher and higher up into the sky until they disappear. Time to make more bubble mix - detergent, sugar and water - mix well and leave for 3 days then it will be ready for more bubble fun!!! Our learning continues from our 'Pirate Fun' outside in the big yellow box as we find buried treasure (just like real pirates). Bubbles provide opportunities for extending physical skills - motor development, hand eye co-ordination, a sense of fun and excitement and co-operation as children chase the bubbles together. We learn how to make our own bubble mix. And guess what else pirates do - they 'visit' to different places, just as we are doing through skype and learning about other cultures.

KIWIANA

We have started to look at the various cultures in our kindergarten community. To follow alongside this theme much of the focus is on 'kiwiana' and New Zealand culture this week. Today in the art area the children completed various screen prints which incorporated aspects of 'kiwiana'. Prints of objects many of us are familiar with as New Zealander's such as gumboots, The Buzzy Bee, koru patterns, jandals and sheep to name a few. The children really enjoyed the screen printing process and there was also rich discussion surrounding the objects they were printing. I talked with the children about how we associate many of these objects with our culture here in New Zealand. We will continue to explore the kiwi culture for the remainder of this week, it will be interesting to see where this leads, watch this space!

We continued on learning about Emergency Services in our kindergarten Programme this week. Today we had Senior Constable Paul Howard come along to tell us and interact with us about the role of the Police. It was just wonderful learning all about the police officer's work, his tools and watch the lights and sirens go too. Thank you so much . Watch this space :)

PS We look forward to Amby's (Ambulance) visit this Friday

Our friends the birds and more skyping!

Check out these photos for our ongoing encounters with nature and birds in our area. After initially making feeders from dripping and bird seed we have (following a parents suggestion) extended their diet with a mixture of brown sugar and water. This is so popular we are refilling their bowl twice a day. Our "City Birds' book is a constant source of interest as children use it to identify the birds they have seen.........lots of waxeyes and silvereyes and a cheeky little fantail who loves to flit teasingly just above the childrens heads. Somewhere at the back of kindergarten we have heard a bellbird but as yet he has managed to keep hidden........we will keep looking. We certainly have some enthusiastic 'birdwatchers.' Our 'skyping' continues this week with an 'online' video chat to Kate and Mia (3 years old) - from Helen's family, who live near Melbourne.