The Explorers at Best Start Marne Street like to make links to the world around us by learning about our own local area through the lens of children's play.
On this warm spring day, we set out to create the Manawatu Awa and the trail it takes towards Foxton Beach.
Our leaders were chosen based on their own Individual learning plans, which focused on responsibility and acts of service, an important cultural value in Samoan and Indian culture. To begin, the Tamariki helped me to dig a long and deep hole into which we would put the water.
Once this was completed, we took a look around our playground to find an object that we could use as our Manawatu bridge. We found a plank and placed it carefully over the river. Then came the fun bit where we added the water from the hose. Our leader took responsibility for keeping the hose down low, and it went into the trench we had dug.
Tamariki spotted this exciting provocation outside and crawled, toddled, and ran over to join us. The children spread out around the whole sandpit, immersed in their own learning. Some chose full body sensory engagement sitting in the water. Others chatted with kaiako about the water running down towards the beach.
Some tamariki who were older and were beginning to enjoy peer play, working together on shared goals such as transferring sand to new areas and emptying buckets there. Our littlest explorers practised using a range of resources to interact with the sand and water, including paua shells, buckets and spades, scoops, and kitchen utensils.
Towards the end of the play, tamariki decided that they wanted to throw all of the coloured balls into the "beach" at the end of the awa and had a great time exploring trajectory, floating and sinking and having so much fun as they learned.
We often repeat this experience and others like it, as it really brings knowledge of our local area to light as children hear our teachings and make sense of the world around them.