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The Festive Season at BestStart Te Heuheu St Kindy
Nau mai, haere mai/Welcome to our festive season blog
The children have been having a fun, busy time. We have been making connections with members of the local community and the wider community. We had visits from Cath from Bike Taupō, and Reuben the Road Safety Bear and his friend. The wider world of family and community/whānau tangata is vitally important to us here at Best-Start Te Heuheu Street Kindy. It is also an integral part of early childhood curriculum as children learn through responsive and reciprocal relationships with people, places and things.
By participating in sessions with Cath from Bike Taupō, children develop the physical skills and balance to learn to ride a pedal bike independently. Reuben the Road Safety Bear and his friend taught the children to stay safe in their car seats. They practised using a road crossing and to always hold hands with an older person before crossing a road. Children were reminded to check driveways, and to make sure their cycle helmets were done up safely. Reuben left them with gifts and the opportunity to join his road safety club.
Christmas craft making has been on-going with some very creative gifts, cards and decorations being made through children's participation and contribution. We learnt about languages other than our own by researching how to say Merry Christmas/Meri Kirihimete in languages that reflected the cultural diversity at Kindy.
Then there was the Christmas party for children/tamariki and families/whānau. This was so much fun! The bouncy castle was great for developing physical strengths as well as practising social skills like turn taking and sharing. We embrace healthy eating at Kindy. Children are educated to make healthy choices and recycle as we promote sustainable practices. Our Christmas party’s shared kai allowed us to eat treats as a celebration of togetherness and shared contribution.
We would like to end with a whakatauki/ māori proverb.
He aha te mea nui o te ao?
What is the most important thing in the world?
He tangata, he tangata, he tangata!
It is the people, it is the people, it is the people!