Kiwi Educare

🚌 A Trip to the Library! 📚
Some of our tamariki had a wonderful adventure out into our community as we hopped on the bus and made our way to the library! 🌿✨

Along the journey, tamariki were busy noticing and making connections with the world around them. They spotted letterboxes, recognised numbers, and looked for letters on buildings. This turned our bus ride into a fun learning experience filled with curiosity and discovery.

Once we arrived at the library, we had so much fun exploring the pukapuka, joining in with activities, singing waiata, and having a kanikani. 📖🎶

These experiences provide tamariki with opportunities to build confidence, develop a sense of belonging within their wider community, and strengthen their love for learning through real-world experiences.

💛 Daffodil Day Fundraiser 💛
Our tamariki have been busy creating their very own Daffodil Day donation boxes! We are encouraging them to collect donations from family, friends, neighbours, or anyone who would like to support this wonderful cause.

Please return your child's donation box to the centre by Friday, 21 August, so we can send all donations through to help support the incredible work of the Cancer Society.

Thank you for supporting our tamariki as they learn about kindness, generosity, and giving back to our community. Together, we can make a real difference. 💛🌼

🌱🥦 From Garden to Table! 🥦🌱

Today our tamariki enjoyed a wonderful hands-on learning experience as they harvested fresh broccoli from our garden! Together, they carefully picked the vegetable, washed it clean, and explored where healthy food comes from.

We love creating meaningful learning opportunities that connect our tamariki with the world around them. 💚

He kai kei aku ringa - There is food at the end of my hands.

🌿

✨ Matariki Whānau Night ✨

A huge thank you to all of our wonderful whānau who were able to join us for our Matariki Whānau Night. 💙

We truly appreciated everyone who came along and loved seeing so many familiar faces. It was wonderful to see everyone getting involved alongside the tamariki, sharing in the activities, and connecting with one another. Since our Matariki Whānau Night, our tamariki have loved continuing their learning by creating bird feeders and making more beautiful stars!

Ngā mihi and thank you again for celebrating this special occasion with us!

✨ Mānawatia a Matariki! ✨

We hope everyone had a wonderful Matariki filled with time to reflect, connect with loved ones, and celebrate together.

Our tamariki have been busy exploring the meaning of Matariki alongside their kaiako through a range of fun and engaging activities inspired by the Matariki stars. From creating colourful kites, making beautiful stars filled with their wishes and the names of those they love, experimenting with exciting tornado activities, creating sea creature artwork, and so much more, there has been plenty of curiosity, creativity, and learning happening throughout the centre!

Kiwi Educare has proudly received a renewal of our Healthy Heart Award from the Heart Foundation! 👏

A huge mihi to our amazing homemaker for all the hard mahi, dedication, and aroha she puts into our kitchen every day. Thank you for creating delicious, nutritious kai that supports the health and wellbeing of our tamariki while still being so yummy! 🥕🍎

We are so grateful for the care and passion that goes into every meal. This achievement reflects our commitment to providing a healthy, nurturing environment where our tamariki can thrive. 💚

Ngā mihi nui! 🌿

Recently, some of our tamariki enjoyed a special trip to Woolworths to help collect groceries for our centre! 🛒 🍎🥕

This was a wonderful learning experience that sparked lots of questions, curiosity, and conversations. They demonstrated a growing sense of responsibility by helping to choose, carry, and care for the items we needed.

Mā te mahi tahi ka ora ai te katoa - By working together, everyone benefits

Experiences like these help strengthen our sense of community and encourage our tamariki to become confident and capable contributors. We are so proud of the way they represented our centre, and we look forward to our next shopping trip together! 💚

Our tamariki have been having a wonderful time creating with chalk, exploring colours, mixing shades, and bringing their ideas to life through their drawings.

Chalk is one of the many ways they can express their thoughts, imagination, and creativity!

We love seeing the joy that comes from creating, experimenting, and learning alongside one another. 🌈✨

Mā te ako ka mōhio, mā te mōhio ka mārama - Through learning comes knowledge, through knowledge comes understanding.

At Kiwi Educare, our tamariki absolutely love sensory play! From exploring different textures and colours to scooping, pouring, squishing, and creating! Sensory experiences bring so much joy, curiosity, and learning into our environment. 🌈🖐️

Sensory play is such an important part of early childhood education as it supports the development of fine motor skills, language, problem-solving, creativity, and social connections. It also helps tamariki build confidence as they explore the world around them through hands-on learning.

He kura tangata, he kura whakangungu - A treasure of people, a treasure of learning ✨

Some of you may have noticed in one of our previous posts these yummy pastry treats! Safe to say, they are definitely a fan favourite amongst our tamariki! 😋

Our homemaker has kindly shared the recipe for these tasty Apple Square treats so that you could make them at home too!

Ingredients:
- 3 apples
- 2 teaspoons jam (we use strawberry, but any flavour works!)
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
- Puff pastry sheets

Method:
- Grate the apples and use a paper towel to drain any excess liquid. Place into a large bowl.
- Add the jam, cinnamon, and vanilla essence to the grated apples.
- Mix all ingredients together until well combined.
- Spread the mixture onto one sheet of puff pastry and cover with another sheet of pastry.
- Cut into squares and use a fork to poke small holes into the top layer.
- Place onto a baking tray lined with baking paper.
- Bake at 180–200°C for 15–25 minutes, or until golden brown. 🥐🍎