Massey:

Room: Babies
Teacher: Val Fletcher

Do you know what I can learn through engaging in messy play?
    Not sure...... then let me tell you.  
    No wait let me show you.

Because I am still little, one of the ways in which I learn more about the world around me is through my sensory perception. Messy play with paint, foam, sand, water, glue, gloop and playdough lets me explore experiment and discover how both new and familiar materials and resources feel. How do things sound, what they look like, if they smell, and sometimes if my teacher isn’t looking I can see how things taste.

Messy play is also an opportunity for me to express myself when I have not yet developed the verbal skills to communicate effectively. Messy play such as painting, allows me the chance to use my imagination, express my thoughts and creativity through my play experiences. All of these feelings come in to play and the results are my own unique and individual creations and experiences.

Messy play encompasses my whole body holistically. When I engage in messy play it makes me feel good and has the potential to be very calming and soothing. I can join in with my friends and socialize verbally and non-verbally, while having fun. I can also use my whole body from my head to my toes, especially when I get to body paint. Oh what fun!!

Let’s take a short journey and capture some of these special and memorable moments.
These will last me a life time.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading about my wonderful learning experiences that I have had at Junior Junction. I know that I have learnt so much because of the opportunities that I was able to have through my messy play. But for now I am going to concentrate on celebrating the festive season with my family, teachers and friends. I hope that you can join me. Until then ka kite anu.

Room: Preschoolers
Teacher:

Today was a slightly overcast but very warm day, the perfect kind of day to play fun games for our Sports Day. The children arrived at the centre in different kinds of sporting attire such as shorts, t-shirts, sweatbands and sneakers. After a nutritious morning tea to give us an energy boost we separated the children into teams, Yellow, Red and Blue, then headed outside to begin our games.

We started the Sports Day with an Egg and Spoon Race, where the children had to run from one point to another carrying an egg on a spoon without dropping it. The children thought it was great fun to run with an egg, especially when it fell on the ground but didn’t break. There was plenty of cheering and laughter as we watched this funny game.

A Balloon Relay was the next game we played. The children ran from the starting point to a teacher, getting a balloon and returning to a chair to pop the balloon by sitting on it. This game was also filled with laughter as the children had trouble sitting on the balloons and needed some help from the teachers to pop them. For the final round of this game some of the parents had a turn and it was fun to watch them running and trying to pop balloons with their bottoms.

We played some more musical games next, with the teams taking turns to see who could sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” the loudest. Each of the teams tried their hardest to sing loud and some even used instruments to make themselves louder. We then played Musical Chairs and cheered on our team members, encouraging them to sit on the seats when the music was finished until we found a winner.

Tug of War was one of the last couple of games we played and this gave the children an opportunity to show off their muscles. They pulled the rope very hard and put lots of effort into making their team the winners. An Obstacle Course was next and the children ran over planks, climbed through boxes and put on funny all while their friends and teachers tried to hit them water balloons.

At the end of our Sports Day the children got to sit down with an ice block and enjoy a treat to cool off. The children (and even the teachers) were really tired by the end of the morning so the afternoon was spent relaxing with a DVD and a prize giving. The children were rewarded with a Gold Medal certificate to celebrate their participation in our fun day and they couldn’t have been prouder as their photos were taken.

Links to Te Whariki: Exploration
Goal 2: Children experience an environment where they gain confidence in and control of their bodies.

Room: Toddlers
Teacher: Temp

What a fantastic adventure we had today with toddlers. One of our focuses this month is gardening. So what better way to give the children a gardening experience then to take them outside into the Junior Junction vege garden.

“ohhhhh pumpkin” said Kane as he pointed it out. Leisharne enjoyed hopping from stepping stone to stepping stone.

We had a wonderful experience with the children. Unfortunately we could not enjoy this activity with the entire class as we had to venture in small groups for safety reasons, but this did not stop tui room toddlers from having lots of fun. “Leon will water garden” a little voice said to Kerri so he helped her to turn the sprinkler on and we all stood on the deck and watched the garden get watered.

We had so much fun and look forward to more days out in the vege garden. Excellent job toddlers.