Little Citizens

❄️SNOW DAY UPDATE ⚠️ Little Citizens is now CLOSED today due to weather & road conditions🌨️ We look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow. Stay Safe, Stay Warm! ❄️

Last week, our Tūī Room celebrated Chinese Language Week with a special visit from Muchen's mum, Xinglin. 🥰

She joined us for mat time and taught the tamariki how to say "hello" (Nǐ hǎo) and "goodbye" (Zàijiàn) in Mandarin. We also learned a fun spring song together, which the tamariki loved singing and dancing to.

To celebrate, the children created beautiful cherry blossom artwork. Using cardboard and a variety of art materials, each child explored their own ideas and created something uniquely their own.

It was a lovely way to celebrate the different cultures in our Tūī Room and learn from one another. 🌸❤️

Something exciting is happening in our outdoor area! 🌿✨

Our tamariki have been fascinated watching the workers prepare our playground for some brand-new swings. It's sparked lots of wonderful conversations, curious questions, and opportunities to learn about what goes into building something new.

We can't wait for the big reveal - and we're all just a little bit excited to see our tamariki enjoying their new swings soon! 💚

Science is always more exciting when it's hands-on! 🧪✨

Our Kiwi Room tamariki have been busy experimenting with vinegar, baking soda, food colouring and detergent to discover what happens when they're mixed together. There were plenty of bubbles, fizzing and colourful surprises!

As they explored, our kaiako encouraged conversations by talking about what they could see, hear and feel, while tamariki also developed their fine-motor skills by carefully squeezing the vinegar into the bowl.

✨ Inspired by Matariki and the night sky, our Kōtuku tamariki created their own scratch art! 🌌🎨

After covering their paper with colourful oil pastels and painting over it with black paint, it was a little nerve-wracking to see all those vibrant colours disappear, they scratched away the top layer to reveal the vibrant colours hidden underneath. The results were simply magical! 💛

🐝 Our tamariki have been buzzing with excitement while taking on the Bee Game! 🌼

Using careful focus and concentration, they guide their little bee over each flower to collect the pollen – using only their heads! It might sound easy, but it takes plenty of determination, coordination and self-control, especially when they're not allowed to use their hands.

It's a fun way to build perseverance, balance and body awareness while sharing lots of smiles and laughter along the way. 💛🐝

🏡✨ Our little whare has had a beautiful makeover!

A huge thank you to the Wakari Venturers Group for transforming our playhouse with a stunning nature-inspired design. Featuring native birds, plants, and little creatures, it perfectly complements our new mural and has added even more colour and imagination to our outdoor environment.

We are incredibly grateful for your generosity and the care you've put into creating such a special space for our tamariki. Thank you! 💚

Our tamariki recently came to the rescue of some letters in trouble! 🩵

The alphabet had become stranded in the moana and was getting very cold. Luckily, our caring little helpers were ready to save the day, carefully using giant tweezers to rescue each letter before time ran out!

While the children were having fun, they were also strengthening their letter recognition and letter sounds, developing their fine motor skills and hand strength to support early writing, exploring their senses, and working together through mahi tahi as they communicated and helped one another.

Who knew saving the alphabet could be so much fun? 💙

🎨✨ Our mural is complete - and what a beautiful addition it is to Little Citizens!

We recently celebrated the completion of our mural with our tamariki, whānau, and supporters who have been part of this special journey.

We gathered together to see the finished artwork and celebrate with a special performance of the albatross song. It was a wonderful moment to see the children connect with the mural and the story it shares.

A huge thank you to local artist Alice Blake for bringing this vision to life and creating such a meaningful piece for our centre. We would also like to thank the Caversham Bowling Club for providing kai for our celebration, and the Rekindle the Vā of Papatūānuku Grant Fund for their generous support, which made this project possible.

We can’t wait to see the stories, conversations, and adventures this mural inspires for years to come 💚