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Updating our worm farm
The children were very excited to set up their worm farm today.
We learnt about what different materials we could use to put into their new home and what food scraps they would love to eat.
We learnt that worms love shredded paper, hair, vacuum cleaner dust, and used paper towels from drying our hands in the bathroom and coffee grounds. They also love to eat a lot of vegetable and fruit scraps, although not many citruses like kiwifruit and orange.
A lovely lady came into the centre the following week and brought us some tiger worms from her own worm farm. We had a special mat time and discussed that by feeding our worms the food waste and some recycled paper from our centre, that we will also help reduce what rubbish goes into landfill, and that these practices will help us protect our environment in the future.
Just before we added our worms to their new house, we added shredded paper from Jessie's office, coffee grounds from the Z in Papamoa, and an old carpet rug and newspaper to keep them cosy. We also talked about how over time, we will produce worm tea from the castings the worms make from all the food waste they have eaten. We will use worm tea to feed all the plants we want to grow at the centre.
The new planning topic we will be implementing in the Aihe room will be about Kaitiakitanga. Kaitiaki is a New Zealand Māori term used for the concept of guardianship of the sky, the sea, and the land.
A kaitiaki is a guardian, and the process and practices of protecting and looking after the environment are referred to as kaitiakitanga. Over time the children will learn about how to care for the worms and look after their environment at BestStart Papamoa Plaza.
The children will also learn practices about reducing, recycling and reusing resources at the centre. Therefore in time will develop an understanding that the practices they learn and demonstrate will benefit their natural world and have positive impacts on their environment in the future.