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Monkey Bars

Our tamariki have shown a huge interest in gross motor play, with monkey bars being a huge focus.  One of the many skills shown have been not only practising climbing across the bars, but also hanging upside-down, hanging from a bar for longer periods of time and helping others swing across by holding their legs.  Our children have shown a huge amount of confidence, determination and perseverance, problem solving and teamwork. We have been so proud of the aroha, mana, whanaunatanga and...

Living Eggs 2024

We have been so lucky over the last few weeks to have pépi heihei (chicks) at kindergarten.  Ten eggs arrived in an egg box and were transferred to the incubator to keep them warm.  The ten eggs stayed safe and warm until the chicks hatched from their eggs over the next few days. Our tamariki seemed so intrigued watching the eggs and waiting for them to hatch.  This year almost all of the eggs hatched at night time and we got a big surprise to see the chicks the following mo...

Celebrating Our Dads

Every year we celebrate our Beachcomber Dad’s with a special Father’s Day evening.  Children and their Dad’s shared some yummy takeaways for dinner in the workshop where we had set up a special restaurant.  Each table was decorated with ‘Dad Rocks’ which some children had created earlier in the week.We had lots of special activities and different spaces set up to explore and share this special event with our dads. There was face painting, threading, play dough monster creatio...

Beachcomber Olympics

We have enjoyed celebrating the 2024 Paris Olympic Games through art experiences, group time activities and various sport setups outside. Our tamariki have been very busy and put a lot of effort into creating their own Olympic flags, flames and medals. They have also had the opportunity to participate in a variety of sports including shot put, gymnastics, volleyball, table tennis, long jump, diving, hurdles, badminton, rowing, rugby, soccer and weightlifting.The Olympic Games have provided a gre...

Messy Play

Many of our children at Beachcomber love messy play.Messy play encourages creativity, sensory exploration, and fine motor skills. Engaging in activities like playing with mud, sand, or paint allows children to experiment, make decisions, and solve problems. This type of play also supports cognitive growth by stimulating their curiosity and imagination. Messy play provides a tactile learning experience, helping children understand different textures and consistencies. ...

Give a Kid a Blanket

Each year we ask our Beachcomber whanau to donate warm clothing and bedding for those in need.We choose to support Give a Kid a Blanket who’s mission is to relieve the effects of poverty and offer practical help to those in need.Thank you to our wonderful families for your support....

Celebrating Matariki

Every year we enjoy celebrating Matariki, the Māori New Year at Beachcomber.Our fantastic mandarin tree once again gave us a plentiful harvest of delicious fruit and we enjoyed making butter by shaking cream in a jar.We have been revisiting our favourite, and learning new, Matariki songs and stories.Our annual Matariki breakfast is always a enjoyable morning for our tamariki and their whanau....

New Zealand Sign Language

At Beachcomber we are excited to learn New Zealand Sign Language.  It is an official and unique language of New Zealand and is the language of New Zealand’s deaf community.  NZSL uses the hands, the body and facial expressions to express meaning. It helps us communicate with everyone, including friends who are deaf or hard of hearing.  It helps our brain development, boosts memory, attention, and creativity.It also teaches us social skills, such as empathy, patience, and un...

Samoan Language Week

Talofa!  We are always keen to learn something new at Beachcomber and have been enjoying celebrating Samoan language.  We have made our own tapa cloth; and learnt new songs, dance and vocabulary.  Learning about different cultures helps children understand and appreciate diversity. It fosters a sense of acceptance and belonging for all....

Mother’s Day Evening

Our tamariki had a fantastic evening celebrating their Mum’s and Grandmothers at our special Mother’s Day evening.  We shared some yummy kai for dinner in the workshop where we had set up a special restaurant.  Each table was decorated with flowers which some children had arranged earlier in the week.We had lots of special activities and different spaces set up to explore. There was face painting, bead bracelet making, our light box with beautiful natural resources, sparkly ocean p...

Chinese New Year

Over the last few weeks, we have been celebrating Chinese New Year.  We have several Chinese families as part of our Beachcomber whanau and have enjoyed sharing in the festivities of this special occasion.We have decorated our learning environment with red and yellow lanterns and were so lucky to have Chinese families help us learn to make dumplings and write Chinese characters for us.The dumpling mixture was full of delicious vegetables, corn, carrots, bok choi and onion.  It was a bi...

The Treaty of Waitangi

We have been learning about the Treaty of Waitangi and its importance in Aotearoa.Some children dressed up as the first Rangatira (chief) and the European Settlers.We talked about how the Europeans and Māori people argued and fought battles over the whenua (land) the resources and trading.  Communication became difficult because Māori spoke te reo and pakeha spoke English and they couldn’t understand each other to put an end to the fighting and disagreements.The British Crown decided to...

Te Taiao and a love of insects

Te Taiao is the natural world that contains and surrounds us – the land, water, climate and living begins.  It refers to interconnection of people and nature.  Ko au Te Taiao, ko Te Taiao ko au (I am nature, and nature is me).  It is an eternal relationship of respect, reciprocity and interdependence.Over the last few months, our children have been extremely interested in insects, seeking them out daily, full of wonder and curiosity of the secret life of bugs.  One of our t...

Christmas Party 2023

The annual Beachcomber Christmas Party is always lots of fun.Children and teachers had been practicing a collection of their favorite songs for a few weeks to share with whanau.The rain arrived at the wrong time but after a bit of moving around we put on a show for parents, grandparents and friends.Popcorn the Clown provided plenty of laughs with his magic show and we all enjoyed a yummy morning tea....

Teddy Bears Picnic

Today we had a teddy bears picnic to celebrate our wonderful teachers, Mandy and Elaine, as they go on maternity leave.We made name tags for our teddys and enjoyed lots of teddy songs and dancing at group time.Our morning tea was lots of fun, with an outdoor picnic.We wish Mandy and Elaine all the very best for the safe arrival of their babies....

Gumboot Friday

Today we showed our support for Gumboot Friday and helped to raise money for a free counselling service for children.We came dressed in our gumboots and had lots of fun with gumboot throwing games, gumboot songs and stories and creating painted gumboot footprints.Our Beachcomber family bought in gold coin donations for this worthy cause....

Kaitiakitanga – Guardians of Nature

“Traditionally, Māori believe there is a deep kinship between humans and the natural world. This connection is expressed through kaitiakitanga – a way of managing the environment.” (Te Ara, 2007)At Beachcomber, we love spending time outdoors. Our wonderful garden kitchen is a busy hub where children explore with all senses as they pick different herbs, explore the smells, add water, shells and other natural materials to learn and play with. With gardens to look after, vegetables and fruit...

Living Eggs 2023

Over the last two weeks the children, teachers and parents have all been captivated by the hatching of our eggs into beautiful little chicks. We all watched as the eggs in the warm incubator cracked, and the little, wet chicks emerged. At first they were not very steady on their wobbly legs, so they needed to stay in the incubator to get stronger.  When we moved them into the “brooder” they were hungry and began to eat the chick food and drink water.  It was fascinating to watch th...

Father’s Day

At Beachcomber we love to celebrate our Dads, Grandads, Uncles, Poppas all special tane in our children’s lives.Children invited the special men in their lives to an evening of fun at Beachcomber.After sharing some yummy dinner, our visitors had the opportunity to spend time with their children and grandchildren in their preschool learning environment.  Lots of tamariki enjoyed building, painting and reading and loved having their faces painted too....

Matariki Celebrations

We have recently been celebrating Matariki, the Maori New Year.  In June or July each year the constellation Pleiades can be seen in the north-eastern sky, this marks the beginning of the Maori New Year.Traditionally, Matariki was a time to celebrate a successful harvest and to prepare for the next growing season.  This is a time for whànau (family) to come together and share kai (food), waiata (songs) and pàkau (kites) are often flown too.We have been preparing for Matariki at Beach...

Mother’s Day

At Beachcomber we love to celebrate our Mums, Grandmas, Aunties, Nanas and all special wahine in our children’s lives.Children invited the special women in their lives to an evening of fun at kindergarten.After sharing some yummy dinner, our visitors had the opportunity to spend time with their children and grandchildren in their kindergarten learning environment.  Lots of tamariki enjoyed making special beaded bracelets as gifts and loved having their faces painted too....

Exploring at Cockle Bay Beach

Welcome to our Cockle Bay Beach Exploring Day.At the beginning of each year, we like to spend a morning at the beach learning and exploring the foreshore environment with our families and friends. It is a wonderful opportunity for our kindergarten families to meet and enjoy spending time together at our amazing local beach.  We invite all our families and extended members to join us on this annual excursion.The conditions were perfect for exploring the low tide rock pools, creatin...

Our Support for Child Cancer

Everyone enjoyed dressing up in bright clothes and wigs to help raise money to support families going through child cancer.Katie and Richard shared Daniel’s story with us and showed us all the beads that Daniel has received after each procedure he has had.  Evie also showed us her special beads, for being a supportive sister.Thank you to all the Beachcomber families for their kind donations.  A total of $105.20 was raised and donated to the Child Cancer Foundation....