What are the opening hours?

Monday 8:45am - 2:45pm Tuesday 8:45am - 2:45pm Wednesday 8:45am - 2:45pm Thursday 8:45am - 2:45pm Friday 8:45am - 2:45pm

Kahikatea Kindergarten

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Kahikatea Kindergarten

PHILOSOPHY

KINDNESS
Ngākau Atawhai
RESPECT
Whakakōwhā
MINDFULNESS
Taumārire
RESILIENCE
Manawaroa

26/09/2026

Exploring the Natural World

Our kindergarten, situated on the outskirts of town, has come alive with animals this spring, creating rich opportunities for tamariki to explore and connect with the natural world.

The arrival of ducklings has captured the children's curiosity as they observe their growth and changes each day under the gentle guidance of their parents.

We were also fortunate to welcome two lambs, Kevin and Rocket, brought in by whānau. Tamariki eagerly bottle-fed the lambs, felt their soft wool, and learned about their needs and care.

Adding to the excitement, another whānau shared their pet turtle, giving tamariki the opportunity to gently touch and closely observe one of the oldest reptiles of the world.

What a wonderful week of discovery, wonder, and hands-on learning! Through these experiences, tamariki developed a growing understanding of living things and their environments. 🌱🐥🐑🐢

24/09/2026

💜 Nominations for Community Board Members on the 2026 - 2027 Whānau Manaaki Governance Board close on 01 October!
If you're interested in joining our Board or would like to nominate a representative, please email [email protected].

06/09/2026

Kahikatea Kindergarten tamariki were delighted and surprised by a special visitor to their environment on Friday. Our amazing student brought along his Lego Mindstorms robot, which he had carefully built using sensors, motors, and a computing module.

Using his phone, he connected to the remote control system and expertly guided the robot around the kindergarten.
Curious tamariki gathered eagerly to watch as the robot zoomed around the group. There were plenty of giggles and squeals of laughter when it unexpectedly launched small plastic missiles toward the delighted onlookers.

The experience sparked wonder, excitement, and many questions as tamariki observed how the robot responded to different commands.

Tamariki then took turns using the remote control themselves, exploring their material and physical worlds through technology.

As they experimented with directing the robot's movements, they tested ideas, made predictions, and discovered the relationship between their actions and the robot's responses.

Tamariki were developing theories about how technology works, how machines can be controlled, and the connection between cause and effect.

Through hands-on exploration, tamariki demonstrated curiosity, perseverance, and a growing understanding that technology can be designed, programmed, and used to achieve specific purposes.

29/08/2026

Daffodil Day Friday at Kahikatea Kindergarten🌼

Our tamariki had a wonderful time celebrating Daffodil Day at Kahikatea Kindergarten, filling the day with the bright and cheerful colour yellow.

They came dressed in yellow and explored the colour through a range of creative experiences, including yellow arts and crafts, play dough creations, dancing to songs featuring the word “yellow,” and taking part in treasure hunts to discover hidden yellow objects around the kindergarten.

It was a super fun day of discovery, movement, creativity, and connection.

A heartfelt thank you to the whānau who kindly donated to the Cancer Society. Every contribution, big or small, is appreciated and supports such a meaningful cause. 🌼

16/08/2026

Project Sustainability

At Kahikatea kindergarten, our children enjoy exploring sustainability through creative recycled projects, expressing their ideas while developing a strong connection with their environment and one another.

Through these hands-on experiences, they strengthen their fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, problem-solving abilities, and creativity.

By reusing and repurposing discarded and used materials, our children develop an understanding of recycling, reducing waste, and caring for their environment.

These meaningful experiences encourage them to take positive action towards sustainability while fostering confidence, collaboration, creativity and environmental awareness.

02/08/2026

Our kindergarten is a welcoming place, guided by our core values of kindness, respect, mindfulness, and resilience, a place where children are inspired to explore, discover, and develop a strong sense of who they are.

We provide a warm, caring, and nurturing environment where children have the time, space, and freedom to explore and learn at their own pace, independently or alongside others.

Set within our beautiful Enviroschools environment, children are encouraged to connect with nature, follow their interests, and grow through meaningful play and exploration.

We warmly invite you and your child to visit our kindergarten, meet our teaching team, and experience our learning environment in action.

With places becoming available, we would love the opportunity to show you around, answer your questions, and discuss how we can best support your child's learning journey in our spacious, well-resourced natural setting.

Visit us to find out more on: www.wmkindergartens.org.nz

01/08/2026

Art appreciation supports early literacy development by encouraging children to communicate their ideas through symbols, drawings, abstract representations, and creative expression.

As children explore and create art, they develop an understanding of symbols and meaning, strengthen the fine motor skills needed for writing, and build vocabulary through discussion and storytelling about their work.

Engaging with art also promotes critical thinking, observation, and interpretation, helping children make connections between visual and written forms of communication.

By using drawing as an early form of expression, children gain confidence in sharing their ideas, laying a strong foundation for reading, writing, and overall literacy development. (Links to Te Whāriki – Communication/Mana Reo).

25/07/2026

Recycling our kai scraps is a valued part of our daily routine and reflects our Enviroschools kaupapa by supporting sustainable practices. Through active participation, tamariki are learning that some food scraps are placed in our compost bins, while others are fed to our very special helpers – the tiger worms.

These amazing worms transform food scraps into worm castings (vermicast) and worm tea, which we use to nourish our māra. What a wonderful example of nature recycling!

As we gently lifted the lid of the wormery, we found the tiger worms busily feeding in the top layer while nutrient-rich vermicast had formed below. This sparked great excitement as tamariki shared their observations, asked thoughtful questions, and developed new understandings.

"Worms like bananas!"
"There are lots of worms."
"Big ones and little ones!"
"What is vermicast?"

Together, we removed the second and third layers of the wormery to explore the texture of the vermicast. Tamariki were fascinated to learn that vermicast is a natural fertiliser produced through the process of vermicomposting.

Using recycled milk bottles filled with worm tea, tamariki eagerly took responsibility for caring for our māra by feeding the soil, weeding, and nurturing our gardens.

Through these experiences, they demonstrated a growing sense of kaitiakitanga, responsibility, and pride in caring for the environment.

These hands-on experiences support the Exploration strand of Te Whāriki, as tamariki investigate, question, make discoveries, and develop working theories about the natural world.

This learning also reflects the Enviroschools principles of Empowered Learners, Sustainable Communities, and Learning for Sustainability, as tamariki build an understanding of how their actions contribute to the wellbeing of people, places, and the environment.

10/07/2026

Our kindergarten community came together to celebrate Puanga and Matariki, marking the Māori New Year with a shared kai.

Thank you to all who brought along a special cultural dish from home. It was a wonderful way to celebrate the rich diversity within our community while sharing the flavours, traditions, and stories that make each whānau unique.

Our large kai table was filled with a delicious variety of foods, including Asian, Indian, South African and classic Kiwi favourites with fresh vegetables from our māra.

Sharing food together reflected the spirit of Puanga and Matariki, coming together to give thanks, celebrate the present, and strengthen our connections with one another. It also provided an opportunity for our tamariki to learn about different cultures while developing a deeper sense of belonging, respect, and appreciation for the diverse community we share.

Leading up to our shared kai, our tamariki enthusiastically helped prepare for the event by peeling and chopping vegetables, buttering and spreading toppings on pikelets, and getting everything ready to welcome our guests.

Through these experiences, they developed practical life skills, worked cooperatively with their peers, and took pride in contributing to a meaningful community celebration.

A heartfelt thank you to our community. Your presence made the celebration even more special, and we loved sharing this meaningful occasion together as we reflected on the values of Puanga and Matariki, reflection, remembrance, renewal and togetherness.

Whakanui i a Puanga me Matariki – Celebrating the Māori New Year together.

03/07/2026

What a fantastic night we had at our Kahikatea Kindergarten Neon Disco fundraiser!

Even with Tāwhirimatea making his presence known outside, our kindergarten whānau came together for an evening full of colour, music, dancing, bubbles, smoke, laughter, and fun.

Our tamariki played an important part in bringing the event to life. They helped create visuals for the door, light sales table, and ice block stand, while also contributing their ideas, plans and helping choose music for the night.

Through this experience, tamariki were learning through creativity, literacy, collaboration, communication, decision-making, and contribution. They could see how their mahi helped create a special experience for our community.

A huge thank you to our amazing Support Working Group, who worked behind the scenes providing equipment, kai, resources, and support to help make the night such a success. Also to the teaching team for putting it all together.

It was wonderful to see so many families dressing up, joining in, visiting the photo frame booth, and showing off some awesome dance moves.

Thank you to everyone who came along and supported our fundraiser, what a joyful evening of connection, creativity, and community spirit!

Address

357 Tukapa Street
New Plymouth
4310

Opening Hours

Monday	8:45am - 2:45pm
Tuesday	8:45am - 2:45pm
Wednesday	8:45am - 2:45pm
Thursday	8:45am - 2:45pm
Friday	8:45am - 2:45pm

Website

https://wmkindergartens.org.nz/

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