Educare Wigram

This week in the Nursery tamariki have been learning and discovering alongside their friends, with some tamariki taking on caring roles helping further develop relationships with their peers.

It has been a busy week in our Preschool room exploring different science experiments and learning about density and chemical reactions.

First Preschool tamariki mixed milk, food colouring and dishwashing liquid and watched with excitement as the colours swirled and moved when the dishwash liquid was added. The dishwash liquid (soap) breaks down the fat in the mill and reduces surface tension causing the colours to move.

Preschool tamariki also enjoyed the milk and oil experiment whereby they put droplets of colourful milk into a tray of oil. This action resulted in creating floating beads/blobs that refused to mix with the oil. This reaction occurs as oil repels water and milk is mostly water. Therefore they are chemically different with different densities resulting in the milk forming a bead/blob instead of dissolving in the oil.

Tamariki were excited, curious and fully engaged throughout both experiments while also having fun discovering and learning about chemical reactions.

How things work...
Our 4 year olds have been wanting to discover how things work. We were lucky enough to be donated some old label makers, a screen and a computer hard drive for the children to take apart. The tamariki worked together to work out what screwdrivers would work where and quickly got the screen and hard drive open. Inside we discovered a fan and lots of little bits and pieces to make a computer work

Pink Shirt Day!

Today we are recognising Pink Shirt Day which is an anti-bullying campaign developed by Mental Health New Zealand (MHNZ). We are helping promote their message that we can all come together to create a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment for everyone.

Tamariki have come to Preschool in their favourite pink clothing/items and enjoyed some fun pink activities with their peers and Kaiako.

What to do on a crisp Autumn morning when the playground is covered in leaves….blow them all into a pile and have a leaf fight!

Vibrant Volcano
Nursery tamariki enjoyed creating their very own Volcano in the Nursery sandpit. Nursery tamariki each took turns adding the baking soda to the vinegar and with a splash of food colouring made a vibrant and bubbly volcano!

Dancing Raisins!!!
Preschool tamariki combined baking soda, vinegar and water to create a reaction that made the raisins dance. This fun experiment demonstrates buoyancy and density by dropping raisins into carbonated water. Initially, denser raisins sink, but carbon dioxide bubbles attach to their wrinkled surface, acting as tiny lifesavers to lift them to the top. Once the bubbles pop at the surface, the raisins lose buoyancy and sink, creating a continuous "dancing" cycle.

Diggers, Dozers & Dumpers!!!
Nursery tamariki have enjoyed exploring with the diggers and dump trucks in our purpose built construction zone. This activity enhances fine and gross motor skills, promotes understanding of basic physics (gravity, balance), and boosts imaginative role-playing, creativity, and social interaction.

Preschool Yoga
Preschool tamariki have enjoyed some yoga exercises this week. Yoga helps with balance, flexibility, strength and general wellbeing while also having fun!

Anzac Day Celebrations

Anzac Day, held annually on April 25, is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand commemorating all who served and died in16 military operations, conflicts, and peacekeeping missions. It marks the 1915 landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) at Gallipoli, focusing on honoring sacrifice, courage, and the "Anzac spirit".

Preschool and Nursery tamariki have been busy creating artwork to commemorate Anzac Day, this is proudly displayed for all to see on our walls in the Preschool and Nursery.