Tiny Smiles Early Learning Centre

This week meet Jane and Natalie. Two of our wonderful Kaiako! You will often find Natalie running a very interactive Mat time or hear Jane singing with the children....

🌈 What is your favourite thing about working with children?
N= The things they say, they are so innocent
J=Their spontaneity and openness

🎨 If you could only do one activity with tamariki all day, what would it be?
N=Read books/Audio books
J=Sing songs and dance

🍦 Favourite ice cream flavour?
N=Maple & Walnut and Rum & Raisin
J=Hokey Pokey

🐶 Do you have any pets?
N=A Greatdane and a cat - both black and white
J=2 black cats, 1 fluffy, 1 short hair

☀️ Favourite season and why?
N=Spring - its when all new life begins
J=Summer - warmth and sunshine

📚 Favourite children’s book?
N= NeeNaw series
J= The little yellow digger

🍕 Sweet or savoury?
N= Both but more savoury
J= Sweet

🌍 Dream holiday destination?
N= Canada in the Autumn
J=Sienna - Italy

☕ Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?
N= Hot chocolate
J= Coffee

🎬 Favourite Disney movie?
N=All of them but if Im picking one it would be The Lion King
J=Sleeping Beauty

🌻 What makes you laugh the most at work?
N=What the children say or come up with
J=My peers (the Kaiako)

🦖 If you could be any animal for a day, what would you be?
N=Bird, so I could fly up high and see the world
J= Black Panther

🎂 Favourite birthday cake flavour?
N= Vanilla or Rainbow cake
J= Chocolate Mud cake

🌟 What is one thing the children teach you every day?
N= How to be happy and to be able to laugh at myself
J= To not be so serious/have fun and enjoy life

🚗 Early bird or night owl?
N= Night owl
J= Evening person

🍓 Favourite lunchbox snack?
N= Yohurt
J= Raspberry Bun

Meet the Team! Each week we'll be introducing two of our amazing kaiako and putting them through a quick round of fun questions. Stay tuned—you might be surprised by their answers!

First up Its Kerryn our Centre Manager and Dale our Head Teacher!
🌈 What is your favourite thing about working with children?
K= They make you look at the world thru their eyes
D= Always make me laugh, watching them learn and grow everyday

🎨 If you could only do one activity with the tamariki all day, what would it be?
K = Anything fun! Messy! Allows them to explore!
D= Art, creative

🍦 Favourite ice cream flavour?
K= Jelly tip
D= Cookies and Cream

🐶 Do you have any pets?
K= A cat Bella
D= 2 dogs and a cat

☀️ Favourite season and why?
K= Autumn, Love the sunshine but not as hot as summer
D = Winter, love the rain and the fire on

📚 Favourite children’s book? To many.
K= Probably The Gruffalo or Are you my Mother?
D= Any Julia Donaldson book especially Room on the broom

🍕 Sweet or savoury?
K = Savoury
D=Seet

🌍 Dream holiday destination?
K= Japan
D= Scotland

☕ Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?
K= Coffee – but not instant haha
D= Coffee and Hot chocolate

🎬 Favourite Disney movie?
K = Finding Nemo – I relate to Dory!
D=Lion Kind

🌻 What makes you laugh the most at work?
K= The chats with the children (and our teachers)
D= Conversations with the children

🦖 If you could be any animal for a day, what would you be?
K= A bird
D= Butterfly

🎂 Favourite birthday cake flavour?
K = Carrot cake
D= Lemon and Blueberry

🌟 What is one thing the children teach you every day?
K = To have fun, laugh, and the power of a hug!
D= They don’t care if we dance funny, cant sing, or do silly stuff

🚗 Early bird or night owl?
K = Night owl
D= Early bird

🍓 Favourite lunchbox snack?
K = Chips
D= Green grapes

What a special way to celebrate NZ Music Month at Tiny Smiles.

We were so lucky to have two amazing dads come in and share their love of music with our tamariki.

A huge thank you to our talented dads Ben and Logan for taking the time to come and share their music with us. You guys Rock!!!

The smiles, laughter, and excitement showed just how meaningful these experiences are for our children.

What an awesome way to celebrate NZ Music Month and strengthen the connections between home and our centre community!

This week at Tiny Smiles our tamariki have been busy exploring a range of creative art experiences both indoors and outdoors!

The children even enjoyed painting, creating and experimenting with different textures and colours outside in the fresh air.

Through art, children are developing so many important skills including fine motor coordination, creativity, problem-solving, self-expression, and confidence. Working alongside their friends also supports communication, sharing ideas, and social development.

We love seeing each child’s unique creativity shine and watching the joy and pride they feel while creating their masterpieces!

Yesterday we celebrated Pink Shirt Day at our centre with a special afternoon tea shared with grandparents, parents, whānau, and the special people in our children’s lives.

Pink Shirt Day is all about standing together against bullying and celebrating kindness, inclusion, friendship, and respect. It’s a reminder that everyone deserves to feel safe, valued, and accepted for who they are.

It was wonderful to see our tamariki proudly wearing pink, sharing kai, laughter, and meaningful moments with the people who support and care for them every day. Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make the afternoon so special.

Together we can continue to create a community where kindness grows and everyone belongs.

Last week we celebrated NZ Sign Language Week and the children were busy learning new ways to communicate through sign language.

It has been wonderful to see the children using signs during play, group times, songs, and everyday conversations with their friends and teachers. Learning sign language helps build communication skills, inclusion, confidence, and empathy for others.

We have included some examples of what we have been learning in the photos so you can use them with your child. We would love to know — have you noticed your child using any signs at home? Maybe teaching siblings, signing during meals, or showing you a new word they have learned? Please share with us, we love hearing these special moments 💛

There’s nothing like a bit of teamwork (and a leaf blower!) to keep our centre looking its best!

Today the children helped with our daily housekeeping. Using the leaf blower to tidy up the outdoor areas. Of course, what started as a tidy-up quickly turned into lots of laughter as leaves swirled and danced everywhere!

Moments like these are a great reminder that everyday tasks can be fun, meaningful learning experiences. The children are building a sense of responsibility, caring for their environment, and working together—while also enjoying the simple joy of leaves flying through the air.

Who knew cleaning up could be this much fun!