Water slide fun!

Over the last two days, thanks to Michelle, the children have had such a great time on the water slide. Michelle brought in her extremely long black polythene from home, we stretched it out to almost the whole length of our grass and after adding water and liquid soap the fun could begin.

There was such a sense of excitement and anticipation as everyone waited for the slide to be ready - what great patience.

This was a new experience for some children, and they certainly had a great time figuring out how to control their bodies as they slipped and slithered down the slope.

How great to see children challenging themselves with something new and being prepared to take responsible risks. These accomplishments are fantastic for developing self-esteem  - what great adventuresome children we have at Mairtown.

This type of play enables children to become more aware of the concept of spatial awareness (their own location and the location of other objects or children in relation to their body) whilst also discovering in action, ideas and theories on distance, momentum, speed, direction and cause and effect.

Playing with and alongside others develops social skills and social interaction (for instance sharing of equipment and turn taking).

What a great way to celebrate the end of term!

Tomorrow is our final day at Kindergarten for this term. We farewell many children and their families and wish them lots of success and happiness in the next steps of their lives and learning. Next year we are looking forward to welcoming some new families into our Kindergarten Whanau along with Rachel our new teacher who will be relieving for Zair while she is on maternity leave. But for now ngā mihi o te Kirihimete me TeTau Hou from everyone at Mairtown (A Merry Christmas and a happy New Year).

Christine