August
This month has been a chilly month with frosty mornings and heavy rain. We have been making the most of the sunshine when it is out in the afternoon. When we are outside we love to play with the tyres (thanks to Indy’s parents Sam and Khan). The children and staff have made a cross-fit inspired obstacle course with them as this idea was raised by one of our dads in the centre (Warren). On the rainy days we have enjoyed spending time inside playing with our new kitchen equipment – thank you to everyone who donated containers and boxes . Keep them coming 🙂
we are also hosting a Tupperware party at the end of the month. This is fundraising for our Play to Learn kitchen, as we want to extend our kitchen equipment as we have noticed more children interested in baking. This month a number of our group activities have been focused around baking. we have baked some bread, used the cookie cutters, baked gingerbread men and have also made “heman the german friendship cake” as well as many other baking activities. Herman is a cake that takes ten days to make – this activity engaged the children as it involved kitchen chemistry and repetition.
Trand4mers have been learning about looking after themselves and others. we first focused on “self help skills’ and then moved onto “helping others”. Our teachers attended professisional development on Early Literacy – we learnt about the foundations skills that children require before starting school. Since this course it has influenced some ideas for our Trans4mers.
We have also been focusing on making the art area more accessible for the children to use independently.
We have a number of children turning 5 next month. Staff and children have been making the most of their time left before they head of to school on a new learning journey. We would also like to welcome our new friends to the kiwi room, we look forward to getting to know you and you whanau.
We have also had some new friends in the Kea room, we would like to welcome them also to Play to Learn. The children have taken a keen interest in gross motor play- such as climbing, swinging etc. we have brought some of the outdoor playground equipment indoors. We have also been really interested in baking lately and have helped prepare some of our own morning and afternoon snacks.
