Wednesday morning mat time with your teachers

Mōrena whanāu!

Kina Kina ( The Kaimoana Song) with Kerryn

The wheels on the bus with Charity

Mrs Polly has a dolly, with Kelly 

Incy Wincy Spider with Zoe

Rainy Tuesday Ideas for play

Kia ora Whanau

We hope you all enjoyed your Easter weekend in your family bubble

It looks to be a bit of a wet week so Kerryn and Zoe have shared a couple of ideas below that may help beat the indoor blues 

We have had a number of children exploring  role play ( Phoebe, Ruby , Noah , Ivaan, Sidney, Indi, Ava) and  exploring tunnels or enclosed spaces and fabric play  had  been becoming quite  popular with some of our younger ones ( Isla, Ivy ,Hazel, Archer). Below Kerryn has a couple of simple indoor ideas that could lead to opportunities for pretend play or exploring  physical spatial concepts such in , out, under, over etc (just like our going on a bear hunt story)

Cardboard boxes can be found at your local supermarket on your next shop and open up endless opportunities for creative play.  You can use some safe Christmas lights or similar to thread through top of box  or maybe you have some battery operated tea candles you could adhese to inside  ( this will need adult supervision should you choose to do this) Fabric forts are simple to set up anywhere in the home and often will amuse little ones for long periods. Add in books and it becomes a quiet reading space also

 

Tuesday Morning Mat time with your teachers 14/4/20

Good Morning Train with Kerryn 

5 Little Ducks with Zoe

5 little monkeys jumping on the bed with Charity

Going on a Bear Hunt and Hammer, Hammer Hammer with Kerryn

                                          

                                                Wind the bobbin up, with Kelly

Happy Friday and Easter Wishes

Kia ora to our wonderful families/whanau

Thank you for your ongoing support during this huge change for us all,we have been enjoying finding ways to stay connected in our little learning community and hope your children have been enjoying it also

We hope you continue to stay safe and well over the Easter holiday period, enjoy your children, enjoy chocolate and whatever traditions and celebrations are important to your family.
 From Tuesday (long weekend ) next week , we will be continuing our daily mat times at 9.30am  and every Tuesday and Friday your teachers will be sharing inspiring play ideas to help continue supporting those little busy bees at home. Please continue to share your photos and stories, we are loving seeing what you are all up to. If you haven’t already, please join Next Generation Childcare’s Facebook page , this is a great place to get more shared play ideas and see what other families and teachers  may be up to in their bubble

Here is a link to a video montage we have put together for a bit of feel good vibes looking back at our 2020 so far  with your beautiful pēpi (babies)

https://youtu.be/x30vZMhmX44

Kā kite ano
See you soon

Thursday 9th April | Get Creative Easter Hunt

Kia ora whānau and tamariki,

Easter is right around the corner and we aware that for some families going out and buying eggs might not be an option, so here's a way to get your little helpers involved and have them personalise their very own easter egg hunt!

Below I have attached a colour-in basket and eggs that possibly the night before- your children can spend some quiet/ down time coloring in. The next morning they can be cut out for their very own easter egg hunt. An idea may be to stick their basket to the wall at their height and have a second picture of the eggs they coloured available for them to look at while they go in search. Have them return each time to stick the egg in the basket.

This isn't an independent activity either, parents don't feel as though this is something your children need to do on their own, activities like this can help expand on what our national curriculum Te Whariki calls, Contribution, in that, "Working together for the common good develops a spirit of sharing, togetherness and reciprocity," (2017) it as well encourages children to learn to contribute their own strengths and ideas as well as to work along side others. You may also find this as an opportunity for strengthening and encouraging your child communications, verbal or not. Let them follow through with their ideas of where eggs could be even if they're not correct, just valuing their want to communicate ideas can help them with their own verbal competence and lead them toward become effective and strong communicators, (Te Whariki, 2017).

Click for basket template :)

Click here for eggs template :)

                                                         

Having your own Easter Egg hunt? Upload pictures to your blog or send as your pictures to westglade12@gmail.com . We are hoping to do a Flashback Friday each week to share what our families have been up to.

Thank you and stay safe,

Zoe

Thursday morning mat-time with your teachers

 Good Morning Train with Zoe

Story Time: Anzac Biscuit Man with Zoe

Easter Bunny Song with Kerryn

5 little ducks with Charity

Wednesday 8th April I Sensory play ideas to try at home

Kia ora whanau,

Messy play or Sensory play is one of our Westglade children's favorite learning experience and thought that they would also enjoy this at home (I would recommend this to be an outdoor learning experience).  Sensory play has many benefits to a child's learning.  Not only is it a very relaxing and soothing activity, it also helps children gain confidence in controlling their bodies and learn about different textures and its properties (for example: does it run? Can it be poured? Does it hold its shape?).  It also helps them work on their fine motor and hand-eye coordination skills.  

Communication is also one of its key benefits. Exposure to these learning experiences will help children find and explore various ways to express themselves and be creative. Which are all beneficial learning leading up to their move to primary in the future.  

Gloop Recipe

Can be explored using hands

And as an extension of this sensory play experience, I would suggest using tools around the house or in the kitchen like a whisk, a sieve or a potato masher.  Giving your child tools to extend their exploration and experimentation. 

Or if you choose to do this learning experience inside (especially for our little babies), you can pour the gloop into a zip lock bag (less mess). You can also use different colours (like red and yellow).

Since Easter is just around the corner, I thought that you would also enjoy this Easter themed learning experience with your child or children: 

Salt Dough Easter Ornaments

  https://laughingkidslearn.com/salt-dough-easter-ornaments-kids-can-make-and-paint/

We would also love to see what you have all been up to at this time, so please do share your videos or photos with us either through email or through blogger.  If you also have a chance to try out the above ideas, we would love to see them as well.

Take care and be safe whanau!

Arohanui,

Charity