Little Ferns Early Learning Centre Rolleston

A little touch of autumn 🍂

At Little Ferns, we love creating inviting spaces that encourage curiosity, creativity, and hands-on exploration. Using natural resources and loose parts allows children to investigate textures, colours, patterns, and movement in meaningful ways while supporting problem-solving, imagination, fine motor development, and open-ended play.

Simple experiences like these create opportunities for children to slow down, connect with nature, and explore through their own ideas and discoveries ✨

In the Ponga room (ages 3.5–6 years), we have recently been working on a group project exploring Māori myths and legends. This learning journey has grown from the children’s own interests and inquiries, creating meaningful opportunities for discovery and connection. Our teaching team also had the wonderful privilege of visiting our local marae, Te Pā o Moki Marae in Southbridge, where we were generously gifted books and shared local stories and legends that have helped inspire our learning.

So far, the tamariki have explored the stories of Māui and the Sun and Māui and his ika (fish). Through creative experiences, the children have drawn and created their own representations of these stories and the Māori atua connected to them. We are continuing on this journey of discovery and wonder, learning more about our local myths and legends together.

Recently, tamariki in Koru (ages 0–2) have been exploring special places within our community. Kaiako have warmly invited whānau to share photos of their tamaiti visiting local places such as Te Ara Ātea, Foster Park, Rolleston Pak’nSave, New World, and the Selwyn Aquatic Centre. Through these shared experiences, we are celebrating our meaningful connections with the community and strengthening our sense of belonging together.

We also recently celebrated Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday with a fun dress-up day. Tamariki explored animal-inspired provocations alongside greenery, pukapuka (books), and a variety of animal resources, sparking their curiosity and wonder of the natural world.

Over the most recent school holidays, our holiday programme was full of fun, laughter, and rich learning experiences, with tamariki engaged and excited each day.

Our kaiako intentionally planned meaningful activities to bring our special theme days to life. Highlights included our cosy Book/PJ and Science Day in week one, and a standout Teddy Bears’ Picnic & Wacky Hair Day in week two, both filled with creativity, joy, and connection.

It was so special to see tamariki proudly bringing along their own treasures from home and the effort that went into making these days memorable.

A big thank you to our wonderful whānau for your support, it truly made these experiences even more special 💛

Our tamariki in Ponga (ages 3.5–5 years) absolutely love exploring sensory play!

From making slime, to creating with playdough, water play, and exploring shaving foam, to spending time in the sandpit or investigating textures like salt and flour, these hands-on experiences are a big part of our daily learning.

Sensory play offers so many amazing benefits. It supports tamariki to develop their fine motor skills, strengthens brain development, and encourages creativity and imagination. It also plays a key role in supporting emotional regulation, helping tamariki to feel calm, focused, and engaged in their environment.

We love seeing the joy, curiosity, and concentration that comes through during these experiences, there’s always lots of smiles, laughter, and meaningful learning happening along the way 💛

Our tamariki have been loving this delicious dish from our new Autumn/Winter menu 🍂✨

Red lentil, ginger and broccoli noodles - a warm, comforting meal for these cooler days, packed full of flavour (and plenty of veges!!!) 🥦💛

Nutritious, hearty, and perfect for growing bodies 🌱

🌿 CONNECTING WITH OUR COMMUNITY 🌿

Some of our Little Ferns kaiako over the weekend had the privilege of visiting Te Pā o Moki Marae.

The visit highlighted the important role of the marae in sustaining ways of life through manaakitanga (care and hospitality), wānanga (learning and discussion), and the welcoming of manuhiri (visitors). There is a deep sense of knowledge, care, and connection woven through this kaupapa (purpose/values).

As we continue to strengthen our Little Ferns philosophy, grounded in manaakitanga, this experience offered a meaningful opportunity to learn from our local community. Through listening, sharing kōrero, and reflecting together, we are deepening our understanding of how these values can be authentically lived within our everyday teaching and learning.

A special and inspiring experience for our team 💚

What a beautiful autumn day! 🍂 Our little explorers in the Koru Room (0-2 years) embraced the outdoors with a fun, muddy play experience—squishing, patting, and discovering as they went.

Mud play is a rich sensory experience that supports creativity, coordination, problem-solving, and confidence, while helping tamariki connect with the natural world. Most importantly, it gives them the freedom to explore, take risks, and learn through play.

Grounded in Te Whāriki, these moments nurture curiosity, resilience, and wellbeing—and we can’t wait for more muddy, magical adventures!