22/09/2024
Another great explorer session - the tyre playground at Centaurus Park, St Martin’s. 🚜. There’s a standard playground near the road that you park on, but go behind and almost into St Martin’s school to get to the tyres. Tamariki enjoyed swinging on ropes and climbing over tyres.
Playcentre Aotearoa
18/09/2024
Te rerengi kupu o te rā / The phrase of the day:
Taihoa / Hold on, wait a minute
This can be used anytime you are asking for your tamariki to exercise a little patience. E.g., “Taihoa, I’m just finishing up here and then I’ll be with you”
“Taihoa, it’s your turn next”
“Taihoa, the pizza is still hot”
“Taihoa, you need to walk next to the pool”
̄ori Playcentre Aotearoa
17/09/2024
Te rerengi kupu o te rā / The phrase of the day:
Kua mutu / Finished
This can also be used as a question. E.g., at the kai table “Kua mutu? Are you finished?”
Aotearoa ̄ori
16/09/2024
Te rerengi kupu o te Rā
E noho / Sit down
E tu / stand up
This is the first phrase to add into our kete (basket) of familiar phrases.
If you’re new to te reo Māori, or you’re just out of practice then it might feel awkward at first. Push past that that feeling. Before long it will feel normal, just like saying “kai”.
He waka eke noa / We’re all in this together.
Let’s do this!!
15/09/2024
Kia ora koutou e te whānau. Nau mai te Wiki o Te Reo Māori! (Hello to our Playcentre family. Welcome to Māori Language Week!)
Hepetema (September) is a wonderful time of the year when we celebrate and honour our indigenous language, te reo Māori, as a unique taonga to be treasured by all New Zealanders.
Kia pai ake tō tātou reo. (Let’s improve our language together.)
Playcentres across Aotearoa will be celebrating Te Reo Māori this week, and we encourage you all to practise your Te Reo in your whare (home) as well.
At Linwood Playcentre we've had a wero / challenge to learn and use a different useful phrase each week. We'll be posting them on our page this wiki / week.
The theme for 2024 is ‘Ake ake ake – A Forever Language’. It represents the resilience, adaptability and endurance of our language. It also reflects the commitment New Zealanders have to embracing and learning te reo Māori long into the future.
Kia Kaha Te Reo Māori!
Credit: Playcentre Aotearoa ̄ori
Huatau | Ideas - Reo Māori
Here are some things you can do to use and speak more te reo Māori.
08/09/2024
Who doesn't love a parachute and waiata! So much fun!
Join us for sessions at centre every Monday and Friday 9 - 12:30pm
Playcentre Aotearoa
05/09/2024
Another lovely local spot - Rawhiti Domain. A beautiful nature playground, wonderful sensory garden, and glorious signs of spring!
Join us for more exploring every Wednesday 9 - 12:30pm.
Playcentre Aotearoa
03/09/2024
Our little explorers recently ventured out on an ātaahua morning to Te Kohanga Taiao Nature Sensory Park in Burwood. It also features a wonderful bike track where we saw some great tuakana teina relationships - older tamariki got off their bikes and played alongside the crawling pēpi - encouraging them along the way. 🚲
We love discovering local tāonga! Message us to come and join in the exploration.
01/09/2024
A few weeks ago we were visited by Project Jonah. One of their lovely experts came in and taught our tamariki all about whales / tohorā and dolphins / pāpahu. We measured out the length of different whales, saw pictures, and learned how to keep beached whales cool. 🐳🐬
projectjonahnz
29/08/2024
The official messy play week may be over, but let's be real - mess is always welcome at Playcentre! Top tip - bring at least ONE change of clothes along to sessions - just in case!
Our little mermaid here is showing true commitment to her imaginative play by going for a swim in the sandpit 😅🧜♀️❤️
28/08/2024
Our tamariki love to help tidy and clean at the end of session. It's awesome to see their sense of mana whenua / belonging to our place. Here one of our little helpers is helping with the hoovering and enjoying the bonus wind machine! 😂
26/08/2024
To sync up with the we ran our own activities to celebrate physically active play / korikori. Obstacle courses, bike and scooter racing, balance beam and gymnastics.
Playcentre Aotearoa
18/08/2024
MESSY PLAY WEEK 2024!
Join us on Monday, Wednesday and Friday this week 9-12:30 for Playcentre's annual 'Messy Play Week'. Come and play for FREE with your tamariki aged 0-6. Flick us a message or just come along to our centre for lots of messy, mucky, and marvellous playing.
06/08/2024
Stay tuned for our Messy Week timetable - coming soon! We can't wait to welcome you to get messy with us!
With opportunities to explore a range of different sensory materials, children discover new ways to express themselves and be creative.
Come and join in the fun during Playcentre Messy Play Week (19-23 August). This free event for families with children aged 0-6 years is being held at Playcentres across Aotearoa.
Find your local Playcentre at www.playcentre.org.nz
06/08/2024
Did you know mānuka trees are some of the strongest trees in the native forest? 🌳
A small tamaiti, despite their size, can have many attributes and abilities. However strong they may be, our young mānuka still need nurturing from whānau.
Find more whakataukī 👉🏽 https://loom.ly/uTCaHns, link in bio.
22/07/2024
This morning we had a visit from Erena from Playcentre Aotearoa. We loved collaborating with the tamariki to make poi. The adults got to get crafty and experiment with plaiting, while the little ones enjoyed choosing colours and patterns for their creations. Erena read us a story about the origin of poi and then tamariki danced with them on the deck.
We loved learning this new waiata - ‘Poi Atu Rā’
https://www.playcentre.org.nz/learnwithus/te-ao-maori-resources-and-events/waiata/
15/07/2024
It definitely feels like takarua / winter ❄️ but our tamariki don’t seem to mind the makariri / cold or the ua / rain 🌧️. We’re staying warm and carrying on playing by layering up, moving soft play mats onto our deck, and snuggling up for story time
̄ori
15/07/2024
💙 Welcome to Birth Trauma Awareness Week 2024! 💙
This week, all around the globe, people are acknowledging birth trauma, starting conversations, continuing kōrero, sharing stories and information.
We’re collectively calling for improved prevention towards the unacceptably high rates of birth trauma, as well as improved support following it.
Globally, the theme of this year’s Awareness Week is informed consent.
We appreciate that not all birth trauma – whether physical or psychological – is caused by a lack of informed consent. Even when informed consent exists, birth trauma can still occur.
In saying that, a lack of informed consent is a common cause of birth-related harm.
Whatever it is you feel caused your trauma, it is valid, and you are deserving of support.
This week, we’ll be sharing info. and insights about informed consent – keep an eye on our social media pages to follow along:
facebook.com/birthtraumaaotearoa
birth_trauma_aotearoa
💙 Tomorrow we’re looking at what informed consent is 💙
Some of our community may find this week’s content triggering – please take care and go gently with yourself.
Remember, it’s OK to step away or stop following.
This week, we’re also encouraging people to get involved in ’50 for 50, for birth trauma awareness’.
50 for 50 invites you to do 50 of something, over awareness week, as a way to acknowledge the birth trauma community and call for better birth trauma prevention and support.
How you get involved is up to you – take a look at our other posts for ideas 💙
We’d love to hear about it! Please email or tag us and use the hashtags:
20/06/2024
“Playcentre has always been home. I walked into Somerfield Playcentre, and it felt like our place. Belonging to Playcentre has given me a parenting support crew, whānau, really, especially important when our family has never lived in the same city as us.” – Mary
To celebrate National Volunteer Week, we are sharing the stories of some of our amazing Playcentre parent volunteers. Read more about Mary’s Playcentre journey here: https://www.playcentre.org.nz/about/volunteer-story-mary-2/
05/06/2024
Matariki ⭐️
To observe for this special season we are exploring the different whētu (stars) of Matariki over this term. Each week we will be using a different whetu to inspire our play invitations.
What is Matariki?
“Every year during winter twinkling in the sky just before dawn, Matariki (the Pleiades) signals the Māori New Year. Traditionally, it was a time for remembering the dead, celebrating new life, reading signs for the upcoming new year, and planning for the future. In this century, observing Matariki has been revitalised, and is celebrated in a number of different ways in Aotearoa.
Matariki is the Māori name for the small cluster of stars also known as the Pleiades in the Ta**us constellation. In Aotearoa Matariki reappears in June or July. This date changes each year as tikanga Māori follow the lunar calendar. Matariki comes into view in the tail of the Milky Way, low on the north-eastern horizon just before dawn.
Various Māori tribes celebrated Matariki at different times. Some held festivities when Matariki was first seen in the dawn sky; others celebrated after the rise of the full moon or at the beginning of the next new moon. Iwi recognise differing numbers of stars within the constellation Matariki, some iwi also recognise and incorporate the star Puanga or Puaka. There are different knowledge and traditions relating to the meanings of the stars.”
From: Playcentre - https://shorturl.at/vrcU9
04/06/2024
Yo ho ho! 🏴☠️
Near the end of session a couple of weeks ago some of our tamariki pushed some chairs together and popped a broom in between as a mast for a pirate ship.
The following week the kids were still talking about it and wanted to go bigger and better. They ended up creating the most incredible pirate ship with a plank, a crow's nest, treasure storage, sleeping quarters, 'sea', mermaids and sharks.
So much fun and so much scope for imaginative play! Perfect soundtrack = 'Pirate Party' by Music with Michal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3Hzf5j_VFA&ab_channel=MusicwithMichal-FunandLearningforKids%21
28/05/2024
Last Wednesday we visited South Brighton Playcentre! We were so grateful for their manaakitanga. The tamariki got to enjoy cupcakes and felt right at home. 🥰
27/05/2024
Samoan Language Week 🇼🇸
Did you know Samoan is the third most spoken language in New Zealand?
Talofa lava (hello): “Tah-law-fah / larva”
Malo (hello / well done): “Mah-law”
Tōfā soifua (goodbye): “Tore-fah / soy-foo-ah”
Niu Sila (New Zealand): “Knee-ew / See-lah”
19/05/2024
Potions 🧪 🔮
During our latest working bee 🐝 we relocated the mud kitchen to the sand pit which allowed us to hook up the tap to the hose. It has been so cool to see what our tamariki have done with this space - pouring, mixing, tipping, stirring all kinds of potions and solutions. Playing with cornflour, baking soda and vinegar, food colouring, and water has resulted in all kinds of fun for our budding scientists.
16/05/2024
Feijoas 🍐
Our tamariki LOVE feijoas and we've had fun gathering them from our tree at centre. The kids have had no problem tucking in to them raw but we've also turned them into muffins and even icecream!
Check out the recipes below and share any goodies you've found.
https://mykidslickthebowl.com/feijoa-muffins/
https://www.homegrown-kitchen.co.nz/2020/04/22/feijoa-ginger-ice-cream/
14/05/2024
Autumn / Ngahuru 🍂🍁
We love returning to our favourite local spots in different seasons. Our little ākonga were delighted to revisit the Christchurch Botanic Gardens to see the colours and shapes, feel the crisp textures and hear the crunch of the leaves.