Papa Kāinga

Morning everyone

Lottie, Will and I have been watching the new education channel, Papa Kāinga, this morning.

It has been very cool and I think we would all like to go to Karen's Place for a play!

It is well worth a look.  While Lottie was watching one part of it, I was able to help Will do some maths set on his blog, so it helped with the juggle of lockdown life!

The link I've attached takes you to the schedule so you can see what is on and it looks like you'll be able to watch on demand as well at a time that suits you.

Papa Kāinga

Firewise and Fire Safety

Good evening,

I was fortunate to receive an email from the Nelson Fire Brigade who are providing fun, interactive activities relating to the Firewise programme. Click on the link, and then click on activity tahi in the right hand corner.

Below is the message from Amy (Firewise Educator)

Kia ora Koutou

Firstly, we would like to acknowledge you and the huge amount of effort you are putting in during this very unknown and unnerving time. We really appreciate this and would like to contribute in any way we can. Lockdowns can be a stressful time, especially for families, so we have adapted some Fire wise and Fire Safety tasks for tamariki during this time.

Access: You and your tamariki will be able to access the content using a Google site we have created. Here is the link https://sites.google.com/view/tmfafirewise/home

How the learning is organised: We will follow a Learn, Create, Share model of learning. This will have a description, a short video with key information, a task (create) and an opportunity to share what they create. This may be a video, photo, drawing or a piece of writing. In each description we will: recommend age groups this will be suitable for but each task can be adapted for all learning levels, include learning outcomes and recommended resources.

The learning tasks relate to our Firewise programme with adaptations for creative ways to learn while in lockdown. All tasks are short and we encourage whānau to get involved also.

Key learning tasks:

Identifying and checking our smoke alarms

Where should my alarms be placed in my home?

Creating an escape plan

Safe meeting place - where do we go if we have a fire in our home?

Winter fire safety - heaters and fires

Fire trap game

ABC's

One of our teachers (thanks Fleur) sent me a link to this idea.  Check out the photo and see what they did to practice the alphabet.

What do you have in your house that you could use to make the alphabet?

Send us some photos if you have a go!

The website link is:  Raising Dragons

What could it be?

Today on our bike ride we came across some bubbling water.  Lottie thought it looked like a spa to keep the fish warm at this time of year.  Will wondered if something was living under the rocks.

What do you think it could be?  

The Great Insect Hunt

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all well and are enjoying your family time.

Tonight I am eagerly awaiting the news of the arrival of my new nephew. My younger sister has gone into labour. Unfortunately she lives in Christchurch so I will not be able to visit her and my nephew until after the lockdown.

I found this insect hunt online and thought it would be a great activity to do.

I wonder what insect will appear the most in your garden? Send me a picture of your results.

The Big New Zealand Easter Egg Hunt

I know lots of you have been out looking for all the bears in your neighbourhoods.  Now you get to start looking for Easter Eggs as well! 

Will and Lottie are working on their eggs to put in our window.

They are focusing on...

• drawing different patterns to colour in;
• holding their pens carefully so they can colour in really well;
• and choosing colours that go together in interesting ways.

They are also thinking about making some ears for their teddies to wear.

If Will has 2 teddies and Lottie has 3 teddies, how many ears do they need to make?  (Remember, each teddy will needs 2 ears).

Let me know if you figure it out.

Update from Zac

Zac has been working very hard at home with his sister Keira. Zac has been reading lots of stories and doing some amazing writing. Check out the pictures below.

Well done Zac, keep up the great learning! Thank you for sharing your learning with me.

Staying in Touch

Morning everyone!

Today my niece, Sophie, turned four.  Because she couldn't invite her friends and family around for cake, she had a Zoom party.

Here is a picture of Will and Lottie getting ready to sing happy birthday to Sophie.

How have you been keeping in touch with your friends and family?  Have you been attended any 'events' online like we did today?

Goodbye Butterfly!

The butterfly spent the afternoon on the swan plant then disappeared before we went to bed last night. 

This morning it was back!  Lottie found it sitting in our garden.  Later on in the day it flew through our garden on the way to its next adventure!

What a beautiful butterfly!

We have a butterfly!

When Lottie, Will and I got home from our bike ride today we found a beautiful butterfly had arrived. 

Have a look at the pictures below.  Can you tell if it is a boy or a girl?  I missed the butterfly lady so tell me how to figure it out.

Butterfly Update

We noticed this morning that we can now see the pattern on the butterflies wings through the chrysalis.  We will keep a close eye on what happens over the next few days!

Our last caterpillar is still munching away.  The other caterpillars didn't seem to like our house!  We moved the plant to a new spot and this last caterpillar seems much happier.