Peninsula Early Learning

We had a wonderful time at the Enviroschools Te Upoko o Te Ika a Māui "Energiser Day' last week, bringing tamariki together from different schools and ECE to connect, have fun and learn through nature. 💚

Our tamariki got stuck into some fantastic hands-on activities, including:
🏡 Creating bug hotels using a repurposed doll house and terracotta pipes
🌳 Planting trees and helping care for our natural environment
🌬️ Taking part in air monitoring and learning about carbon dioxide
🐛 Exploring leaf litter and observing the fascinating insects living amongst it

🌱 Getting ready for Kōanga! 🌸

Today our tamariki have been busy preparing for spring by planting ngā kākano/seeds we carefully saved and dried ourselves earlier in the season at Preschool.

What a wonderful morning spent with our friends at Holy Cross School Miramar who are also part of Garden to Table! 🌱🥕

The school students welcomed us by showing us around their incredible garden and taking us on a fun treasure hunt to discover all the amazing things growing there.

We were invited to share morning tea together and enjoy delicious rosemary and date scones—made with fresh rosemary from the garden and dates generously gifted by one of the school families.

It was wonderful to see the school students engaging in the entire process of growing kai in the garden, cooking and eating it, even doing the dishes!

A huge thank you to the students and teachers for making us feel so welcome. We can't wait for our next visit and to continue learning together through growing, cooking, and sharing food.

A huge thank you to one of our wonderful preschool parents, who handcrafted a whole lot of wētā hotels—one for every ECE centre in our Enviroschools Te Upoko o Te Ika a Māui cluster! 🪲🌿

Now even more tamariki can enjoy observing wētā in their natural environment while helping create safe spaces for our native wildlife. What a generous gift to our wider community! 💚

Kaiako from Peninsula Early Learning attended this Enviroschools Hui - ka nui ō mātou mihi, huge thanks from us all to one of our Preschool parents who made Wētā Hotels for all of the ECE centres in this cluster!

Celebrating Matariki together 🌟 Here are some special moments from our preschool celebrations so far, as we reflect, connect, and create together.

Creating a 'wishing tree' and adding our hopes and wishes for the year ahead was a special way to acknowledge Hiwa-i-te-rangi, the wishing star. Of course we have been doing lots of cooking and baking too; whetu shaped biscuits were shared with our whānau, and we sat down together to share our famous soup one wintery lunch time✨💙

Our tamariki were delighted by a visit from Birdlife Productions on Thursday. We loved their magical puppet show about the amazing manu that call Aotearoa home 🪺

🌿 Happy International Mud Day! 🤎

When we trust children with open-ended experiences in nature, we honour their innate curiosity and capacity to learn through exploration.

Now that winter is here we are super excited to have many more learning experiences that involve plenty of MUD!

From waste to wonder—creating our own recycled paper 🌍♻️

Our purpose-built carpentry workshop is very popular with our tamariki, for engaging in Tārai Rākau. Using real tools designed for young learners, children confidently design and build their own unique creations, with support from kaiako as needed. We love seeing their ideas come to life and watching their skills grow with each project! 🌟🛠️