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Exploring our amazing backyard
At BestStart Mt Eden we are very fortunate to be in an area where we have so many nearby amenities. In this central area we are in walking distance to beautiful parks, gardens and stores for our curious tamariki to explore. Over the past few weeks we have had a number of excursions for our older tamariki out into the community.
On one of our Forest Kindy trips we headed to Gribblehirst Park where we had great learning opportunities in talking with the tamariki about road safety as well as having a lot of fun at the park.
A week later an overcast day didn't stop us on the next excursion, we all put on our raincoats and away we went to Eden Park which we are lucky enough to have right on our doorstep!
Eden Park has 4 Maori God tekoteko (carvings) guarding the stadium at each corner so off we ventured on a hunt for them. We found Tūmatauenga the God of War, Rongomātāne the God of Peace, Tanemahuta the God of the Forest & Tawhirimatea God of the Wind. At each post we stopped to have a read about who they were and why they were the chosen Gods to guard Eden Park. It was incredibly interesting and made for good stopping points in between all the puddles we were jumping in.
The following week was Daffodil day where we had a great turn out for our Spring into Spring Dress up Day. With our gold coin donations, our tamariki headed out for a short walk to the nearby supermarket. Each tamariki got to look after a coin until we got there, then on their very own they put it in the donation box in exchange for a daffodil. What a great opportunity for our tamariki to see where the money was going, allowing them to contribute to the community and to have natural conversations about why this day is meaningful.
As a centre, we believe it's so important to utilise the local community that surrounds us. Who knows what we will get to explore next!