Great start to 2025!
Kia Ora, Welcome everyone to 2025! It has been a wonderful start to the year with lots happening at Lollipops Newton. We started off the year with working on our philosophy and asking the parents input as to what values are important to them. The learning through play week was the highlight of the month. Each day was a focus on a different thing- splash day, creative day, active day, dress up day, nature day. Each of these days, learning experiences were set up which gave the children an opportunity to enjoy! We had big pools for splash day and our tamariki dressed in their swimming gear, excited to dive into the water play. Outside, they experimented with floating and sinking objects, sparking curiosity and scientific thinking. Inside, we brought *The Pig in the Pond* to life, acting out the story with characters, making it even more interactive and fun. On dress up day, the children dressed up in different characters and carried out their roles to perfection. On nature day, our Tamariki dove into a sensory-rich experience with rosemary, dried leaves in stunning shades, vibrant flowers, olives, and seeds. They got creative by using these natural ingredients to make pretend food and drinks, crushing rosemary to release its delightful scent, and taking in the soothing aroma. Our little artists embraced nature as creating stunning crafts using materials like leaves, flowers, and other natural elements. From delicate butterflies to imaginative faces, the creativity on display was truly inspiring! On active day, inside, our tamariki had a fantastic time solving mystery games and playing with skittles. The challenge and excitement of knocking down pins brought so much joy. Outdoors, cricket became a new favourite! Although it was their first time trying, with persistence and determination, many tamariki managed to hit the ball—ka pai! Not only this we also celebrated Chinese New Year with all our tamariki where they did the lion dance and enjoyed eating dumplings at lunch time. Our tamariki were fully immersed in the festivities, creating beautiful Chinese lanterns, colourful fans, gold coin envelopes, clay snakes, and vibrant dragon masks. We also incorporated Chinese culture into our mat time with stories, songs, and counting in Chinese. Thank you to Ariel, mum of Jayden and Kaikai, for leading a special mat time session. Your contributions added value to the day, and our tamariki truly enjoyed learning from you. Connections to Te Whariki (ECE curriculum) learning outcomes: Children are provided with an environment where: • They are encouraged to learn with and alongside others • They learn strategies for active exploration, thinking and reasoning • They develop working theories for making sense of the natural, social, physical and material worlds