Seedlings Preschool, Welcome Bay

Noticing that many of our tamariki have been enjoying pretend cooking recently, our kaiako Sheng created an opportunity for tamariki to don their own chef’s hats and design pretend pizzas using mix-and-match veggie cut-outs and playdough. Through this fun and creative experience, tamariki explored colours and shapes, learned the names of new and delicious vegetables, and strengthened their creativity and imagination.
This quickly became a favourite activity, with tamariki enthusiastically creating their own pizzas and sharing their favourite toppings with friends – a wonderful opportunity for oral language and communication skills to flourish.
Seeing how engaged the tamariki were, we decided to extend the learning by making real pizzas together! Tamariki helped make the dough from scratch, learning about measurement and why accurate measuring is important for things like dough rising properly. Capsicums were harvested from our own māra (garden), and tamariki took an active role in selecting the vegetables for their pizza toppings. This sparked meaningful conversations about where our kai comes from, nutrition, and healthy food choices.
The experience concluded with a shared pizza lunch, where tamariki proudly enjoyed the delicious results of their hard mahi and teamwork. What a wonderful example of how children’s interests can lead to rich, meaningful learning experiences.

What a special day exploring our local moana!
Our tamariki had so much fun catching the bus together, exploring the shoreline, hunting for pāpaka (crabs), sharing a picnic lunch, and learning more about the amazing sea life found right here in our community.
Excursions like these provide valuable real-world learning opportunities for children. Through hands-on exploration, tamariki develop curiosity, confidence, communication skills, and a deeper understanding of the natural world around them. They also learn important social skills such as teamwork, turn-taking, responsibility, and caring for Papatūānuku.
Ka pai everyone for a fantastic day of learning and adventure together

Something truly special has been unfolding at Seedlings... Our tamariki have been part of a beautiful butterfly journey—discovering tiny caterpillars (anuhe), caring for them, and watching in wonder as they transformed into butterflies (pūrerehua). Along the way, our tamariki have shared their thinking, asked questions, and used rich language to describe what they saw, building their understanding of growth and change. There were moments of excitement and curiosity as we released them back into nature. Through this experience, our tamariki showed empathy, patience, and a deep connection to the living world around them - what amazing learning through nature!

For the last few months, our tamariki have been testing out their green thumbs in our vegetable garden! They have been busy planting seeds - orange and purple carrots - harvesting vegetables, and looking after the garden by weeding... an important job that always needs doing before they can eat any carrots or tomatoes they find.

Having the opportunity to work in the garden offers tamariki a rich, hands-on way to learn and grow. As they dig, plant, and water, they strengthen their fine and gross motor skills while developing coordination and confidence. Through caring for plants, our tamariki learn about healthy food choices and where their food comes from, building early nutritional awareness. Gardening also nurtures social and emotional development, teaching patience, responsibility, and teamwork as they work together and watch their efforts bloom. Most importantly, it fosters a sense of environmental kaitiakitanga — caring for and respecting the natural world around them.

We are so proud and blessed with our beautiful outdoor space, our teaching team and families all know this aspect of our environment positively impacts our tamariki in a variety of ways.

"Active free play outdoors is a kind of play that promotes healthy sensory and motor development in children. It is the antidote to your child spending hours sitting indoors and staring at screens. The outdoors awakens and rejuvenates the mind and engages all the senses at once" -Balanced and Barefoot.

"In nature, children learn to take risks, overcome fears, make new friends,regulate emotions, and create imaginary worlds. It's important that adults allow children both the time and the space to play outdoors on a daily basis. It's important that we give them the trust they deserve and the freedom they need to try out new theories and play schemes" - Balanced and Barefoot.

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