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Yabba DAPA Doo!
Every month we look forward to more celebrations and events. For Samoan language week this month we’ve been learning how to make pani popo (Samoan sweet buns) as well as learning new songs like Savalivali and Nofo i lalo! We’ve been practising Samoan words for colours and counting. Some of our Samoan ai’ga also brought in some pani popo for us to try! So tasty! We really enjoyed celebrating with our ai’ga.
We’re getting back into the GROOVE with our excursions and this month we started our ACRO session with the dance and performing arts studio (DAPA) next door. Our tamariki absolutely loved being free to express themselves through music and movement and explored a range of different props from cheerleading pom poms to…. more pom poms (!) and had a blast learning how to move in different ways. We got to be a Jack-in-the-box, purerehua/butterflies and rainbows. We hushed our teddy bears to sleep with hits from the Wiggles and danced away to other energetic movement songs. We also explored rhythm with the drums, beating our drums fast, then slow, loud, then soft. We had so much fun!
These sessions are tying in well with our upcoming Kapa Haka show for whānau for Matariki. We are learning some new Matariki waiata and kanikani/dances. We are also in the process of learning about the pūrakau behind the Matariki festival with some special pukapuka/books. Matariki also timed in really well with our Space project which is still ongoing. We’ve built a ‘real’ rocket ship with cardboard boxes so we could blast off into space and explore different planets. We’ve also had lots of space related provocations and activities set up in our Kaka classroom such as button planets, planet sequencing and space pukapuka. At wā whāriki, mat times we’ve been learning about different features of the planets in our solar system, exploring exploding rockets, balloon rockets and learning about the earth’s impact on how we can see our moon as well as playing space games and learning space songs. In the art studio we’ve been exploring space art from collage, making rockets from recycled materials and also exploring some Māori mahi toi Matariki art and creating our own interpretations of a particular art piece.
So much learning and fun happening at BestStart Kapiti Road. Looking forward to even more fun and exploration next month as we celebrate Matariki and Bastille Day and delve into more space related activities!