Gardner Road Kindergarten

Talofa lava!
This week we have been celebrating Samoan Language Week. The 2026 theme is:
"E afua mai i mauga tetele manuia o le nu'u" – "From the high mountains are the blessings of the village."
The children have enjoyed learning Samoan greetings and songs, as well as exploring traditional tapa patterns through colouring and painting with dye. It has been a wonderful opportunity to learn about and celebrate Samoan culture.
The weather has been mostly wet this week, which has meant plenty of indoor play and lots of children wishing, "Rain, rain, go away!" When we have managed to get outside, the sandpit has been a hive of activity, along with gardening, shop role play, and picnic adventures with friends.
Inside, the children have been busy building and creating with magnetic tiles and trains, while the activity table has been filled with hands-on craft experiences that have encouraged creativity and fine motor development.
Manuia le fa'ai'uga o le vaiaso! - (Have a wonderful weekend) 🥰

What a wonderful week of curiosity, creativity, and discovery at Kindergarten!
The children explored chalk dust art using glue and colour, created magical butterfly symmetry paintings, and worked on fine motor skills through name tracing and threading autumn leaves. Foam play and recycled treasure bags added hands-on sensory fun, along with crown-making to celebrate the King’s Birthday weekend.
A highlight of the week was our exciting visit from Science in a Van, filling the room with laughter, wonder, and hands-on science experiences.
With the sunshine shining, outdoor play was full of adventure — from sandpit creations and obstacle courses to tea parties and pirate role play!
A week full of learning through play, exploration, and joy.
Wishing safe travels to all our families who may be heading away.
Ngā manaakitanga.

Another busy and creative week at Kindergarten! 🎨🍂
The children explored balloon painting, collage creations, and beautiful autumn leaf watercolours (check out our lovely display in Kindergarten!).
Music was full of fun and laughter as we sang, played drums and shakers, danced with the rainbow ring, and enjoyed favourites like Swing Left, Swing Right and Ten in the Bed.
Outdoors has been just as busy, with sandpit construction, cars and ramps, gardening and planting new seedlings, Crazy Catch, loose parts play, and lots of digging, climbing, and nature exploration.
Most importantly, it’s been wonderful to see so many lovely moments of friendship, cooperation, and ako happening throughout the week. 💛

This week’s video gives a lovely glimpse into our Group 2 and Big Peoples programmes — important stepping stones in preparing children for school through teamwork, communication, creativity, early literacy, and problem-solving skills.

We also celebrated Sign Language Week by learning signs for colours and songs during music time, practised our skipping skills, and enjoyed lots of active play outside with football on the string and Crazy Catch.

A big focus this week has been preparing for Mother’s Day, with the children pouring so much love into their handmade cards, portraits, and special creations. Through these thoughtful experiences, children are learning gratitude, empathy, and the joy of showing appreciation for the special people in their lives.

Wishing all our wonderful mums, grandmothers, and special people a very happy Mother’s Day this weekend 💕

✨ Week 2 Fun at Kindergarten! ✨

From busy builders in the sandpit to roaring dinosaur adventures 🌋🦕, it’s been a week full of imagination and creativity!

Our space focus this term has sparked lots of curiosity, wonder, and creative artwork. 🚀✨

So much learning, laughter, and fun packed into one week! 💛

Welcome back to Term 2, and a warm welcome to all our new families and children who have started with us this week.
It was certainly a mixed start to the week with wet weather and even some hail—much to the children’s delight—followed by a few beautiful days before the rain returned today.
We’ve kicked off the term exploring space, with our science area filled with space resources and our solar system proudly hanging above the mat area. The children have been busy building rockets using boxes, tubes, and plenty of tape—5, 4, 3, 2, 1… blast off!
There have been so many wonderful creations across the kindergarten, from block and train track constructions indoors to imaginative builds in the sandpit outside.
Music time has been full of fun as we explore new songs, rhythms, and beats while creating calm and meaningful connections. The children especially enjoyed using the stretchy lycra—transforming themselves into rocket ships and blasting off through the universe—alongside favourite classics like Ring a Ring o’ Rosy.
It has been a busy and enjoyable first week and look forward to an exciting term ahead.
Ngā mihi nui 🌿

A short but special final week to wrap up a fantastic term! We’ve loved seeing our new tamariki settle so well, with beautiful ako from our older children supporting and guiding them — so heartwarming to see friendships grow.
A big highlight was a visit from the Easter Bunny 🐰 The children followed bunny footprints, enjoyed an Easter egg hunt, and created baskets, bunny ears, cards, and foil eggs.
We also farewell Joey, Maddie, and Hunter as they begin their school journey — we know you’ll do amazing things!
Happy Easter to all our wonderful families, and thank you for being part of our special Kindergarten whānau. Travel safely if you’re heading away.
Ngā mihi nui, Ka kite anō 🌿

This week we explored creativity through collage faces, with children carefully selecting and gluing on eyes, noses, mouths, and ears. Through this, they developed their fine motor skills while building awareness of facial features and identity. Many children chose to create their loved ones rather than themselves, sharing heartfelt messages about the special people in their lives—it was so lovely to see 💛

Our new wrecking ball swing continues to be a favourite! Climbing on and balancing on the large round ball is a fun challenge that helps build core strength, coordination, and confidence as children test their abilities.

A warm welcome to Iris and Goldie—we’re so happy to have you join us! 🫶

What a fun-filled week we’ve had! ✨
We loved our special visit from Uncle Adam, an NZ Air Force pilot, who brought in a model of his Hercules C130 aircraft, along with his uniform and helmet — even letting the children try it on! ✈️
The children got creative with clay, making nests, birds, and eggs, and enjoyed tasting fresh tomatoes from our garden🍅. There’s been lots of imaginative play, music, and movement, including poi songs and some favourite action songs.
A big thank you to Matilda’s family for the egg cartons — now transformed into sparkly treasure boxes! We also saw amazing building in the block corner and colourful Elmer elephants created from recycled materials.
On Tuesday we celebrated St Patrick’s Day with plenty of green, and lots of smiles thanks to some fun green moustaches! ☘️