Camp Fire S'mores

Last week we had our first camp fire, and made some delicious garlic bread. Over the past week we have discussed with the children what we should cook next. There have been so many great ideas, but Ryan’s suggestion of S’mores has had us all intrigued.
 

I had never heard of S’mores so Ryan along with several of the other children had to teach the rest of us exactly what they were, how to cook them and what ingredients we would need (graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows).

Preparing the fire and safety bubble: Provides a sense of achievement and mastery of skills

Learning with and alongside others develops social skills.

Encouraging shared experiences where children can be the teacher or learner.

Children learn an awareness and respect for fire.

Understanding that some activities have contextual rules.

When the fire was ready for cooking, we had quite a crowd gathered. For safety reasons we decided the teachers should cook the marshmallows.  As we couldn’t get graham crackers, we adapted the ingredients slightly using one chocolate digestive and one plain biscuit. We left it to the children to squeeze the marshmallow between their two biscuits!

As expected the S'mores were quite a hit. This is what some of the children told us about them and what they tasted like;

"They sticked on our hands" Tyler

They tasted "like chocolate berries" Jaxon

Like "a strawberry rainbow" Aimee

Like "icecream" Joseph

Like "white snow" Makenzie

Such wonderfully descriptive language -ka pai tamariki.

We all found it interesting to know that S'mores apparently got their name from children asking for 'some more'.

Christine

Olympic Gymnasts at Mairtown

With the beginning of the London Olympics starting last weekend, this week at Kindergarten there have been many discussions, reflections and sharing of knowledge from the children about what the Olympics mean to them.





Although many of the sports have been discussed such as the rowing, weight lifting and swimming, it appears the gymnastics are a real favourite. Aimee came to Kindergarten on Tuesday and announced that she wanted to do the ‘triple dip’ – this inspired us to create our own gymnastic stadium inside.

Before we began however, we set up the projector screen and took some time to watch a few of this years gymnasts at work. We noticed how the gymnasts use many different pieces of equipment such as beams, vaults, rings, hoops, ribbons, even balls; and how this sport is represented by both men and women (constructing knowledge together).

As we watched the gymnastics, the children continued to share their thoughts and ideas and also began to develop ‘working theories’ in relation to the Olympics.

'Children develop working theories through observing, listening, doing, participating, discussing, and representing within a topic and/or activity.'





Whilst some of our discussions were general facts and ideas about the Olympic Games and the gymnasts, some were more focused such as ‘how did the gymnastics learn their skills?’

As always the children’s answers are wonderfully informative giving us a real insight into their knowledge and thinking. Here are some of their words:

“They are on the T.V at my house” Aimee

“When I grow up, I’m going to do that” Jessie-May

“And I’m going to do the big one” (referring to one of the men) Kaleb

 “Look at her, she’s so cool, cause she does tricks – she’s awesome! She’s like a kangaroo jumping. She’s my dentist” (referring to one of the gymnasts!) Ryan 

“Cor, he has strong muscles, he looks like a helicopter blade – my dad can do that” Corey

 “They get energy to do that. They do exercising and stretching” Jessie-May

“Their dads teach them” Kaleb

After some more observing everybody was ready to give the gymnastics a go themselves. We began with some floor work.

And then moved onto the beam.

“You can do it Aimee” Ryan

How great to see the children supporting and encouraging each other in their work.

Check out the little collection of video clips showing our skilled Mairtown children taking part in their own Olympics.

"Engaging in physical skills assists in developing locomotor skills (the body moving in any direction from one point to another) and Stability skills (the body balancing either in one place (static) or while in motion (dynamic)". SportNZ

As the Olympics progress over the next couple of weeks, I can't help but wonder where the children's interests will take us to next?












Christine

Matariki from a families experience

Thanks so much to Leah's nana Colleen who took these beautiful photo's at our Matariki celebration on the 19th of July. We thought you might like to share some of them:

Dining with one’s friends and beloved family is certainly one of life’s primal and most innocent delights, one that is both soul-satisfying and eternal. --Julia Child

Camp fires at Kindergarten

This term we are introducing  'fire experiences' into our programme. Our vision is to provide weekly fires in the cooler months for cooking, warmth and social experiences.

The creation of fire is an essential factor in a Nature programme. It is one of the four elements and provides opportunities for children to experience success and self-accomplishment when starting a fire from scratch that will ultimately cook food.

When planning the fire we rung our friend Jeff from Atomic Furniture in Parua Bay. Jeff makes funky, sustainable designs which often use re-cycled items. Our new fire is based on a successful European model with a wonderful re-cycled twist, all the materials have been re-used. The basket is a wheel hub from a car!

Over the past week we have been discussing our fire with the children. This has included some very important safety rules and lots of idea sharing about what we might be able to cook together.

Christine draws a 'safety bubble' around the fire

Today we had our first fire with the children. The plan was to cook 'Garlic bread'.

Fires provide many opportunites for learning including:

Making paper balls and laying wood for a good fire base (mathematical and science concepts).

Being part of a group and working together (contribution).

Carrying up wood to make the 'safety bubble'.

Developing fire safety skills and awareness (Rangitiritanga)

Making links with our families and community (Whanaungatanga)

Warming our hands

Today we used our especially made 'paddles' to cook the garlic bread. These paddles are great as the long handles allow the children to sit comfortably outside the 'saftey bubble' whilst participating in the creation of delicious kai.



















The garlic bread was a hit! 'This is delicious' reflected Eden and we agree. This wonderful new fire will be a well used and welcome resource over the next few months. I wonder what we will cook next?

Kim Townsend

To contact Jeff at Atomic Furniture call (09) 436 5698