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Using our Imaginations at BestStart Burnside!
Our tamariki have been very busy this month, engaging in a lot of socio-dramatic play! In order to support this interest, our kaiako have provided them with a range of open-ended resources, which have allowed our tamariki to use their imaginations to the utmost! A few of our notable set-ups have been our duck-hunting maimai and also our Formula One pitstop.
As some of our families go hunting on the weekends, it was very special for our kaiako to be able to support our tamariki’s interests and also to allow them to share their knowledge and families culture with their friends! Our young friend who goes duck hunting with his family on the weekend did a great job of showing our other learners how he helps to build a maimai. When he had crawled into the shelter, he even showed his friend how to do a duck call and how to aim for a duck. With a loud bang from his imaginary gun, he would bring down a duck and scurry out of the shelter to go and retrieve his quarry to add to his bag. It was quite impressive how knowledgeable he was!
Another notable socio-dramatic play scenario was our Formula One pitstop, created by our boys with our carpentry tools and bicycles. Someone would race their bike around the bike track, pedalling furiously, and suffer a 'crash', which was the signal for everyone else to rush over to the bike and fix it with the tools! With a bit of Number 8 wire and Kiwi ingenuity, the bike was fixed in no time and off the person went again, pedalling furiously around the track to make up for lost time! I think Ferrari would have taken our pit crew on any time as the teamwork amongst them was excellent!
As our tamariki engage in socio-dramatic play, they are extending their social competencies as well as using their verbal communication in increasingly complex situations. It was a really proud moment for our kaiako to observe how well our tamariki are able to work with and alongside each other!