Dance and Putting on Shows!
Music and Dance feed the soul! Over the last few months a core group of children have been interested and engaged in dance - the interest is rich and varied... Break Dance, Hip Hop, 70's revival (ABBA) and Ballerina's are dominant!
There are definitely some great movers amongst the group! We have also noticed that the facial expressions and moves shown by the dancers reflect the style of music... all the ballerinas have soft dreamy looks while the hip hop and break dancers are all full of action and the rock stars definitely have the rocker 'scowl' going on!
Creative dance provides children with an opportunity to express themselves, to feel the joy of movement and music, to gain confidence in physical movement, to experience & discover rhythm and beat. Dance assists children in developing coordination, balance, agility and fitness! Physical movement (especially moves that cross the body line) is crucial to brain development.
POSSIBILITIES... We will continue to provide a wide range of music for the children to explore - classical music to reflect the interest in Ballerinas. - contemporary music for the break dancers and rockers. -Waiata and traditional poi ,haka, kapa haka group and music from around the world to reflect our cultures and heritage. - Invite experts to join us... ballerina, musican's, kapa haka group (Rangitoto College) ballroom dancers, Dancespace..... -put on a 'show' or concert -Source fabric for costumes and dance outfits, scarves and ribbons for dancing.
The Bal-Dog-Mer-Rocker Show!
The interest in dance has led us to the creation of a show! Some creative thinking resulted in the show being called "The Bal-Dog-Mer-Rocker Show" as it was made up of a Ballerina Dance, Dogs dancing to "Who Let the Dogs Out", Break Dancers moving to "Get your Head in the Game" and rock stars performing to "We Will Rock You"
The children had been involved in every stage of the show preparation! They had decided on the part of the show they wanted to be in, the music they wanted they sewed costumes, made guitars, created decorations and practiced and practiced and practiced.
Invites had been sent out to everyone and we were expecting a great audience...
The day of the show finally arrived! Excitement was definitely in the air!
Nicole - Announcer and photographer!
The stage was blacked out to make it really dark - stars, lights and a disco ball added to the authentic show feel - we even had stage curtains...
Emergency services - Ambulance and Rescue People
Dr Cayo
April 2011EMERGENCY SERVICES
The siren goes (Callum is making the noise) and the Cameron, Logan, Cayo, Denham go whizzing passed in their pretend ambulance. A dog has hurt its leg and needs to go to hospital. There has been an ongoing interest in the last few weeks in hospitals, doctors, veterinarians and emergency services. Callum said "this is an expensive hospital" and Flynn replied " Yes it is really expensive they took all my money, all the money I have"
Dr Cameron taking care of his patient
The Luke, Logan, Cynan and Cameron have been bandaging each other up, writing down prescriptions and operations that they have to do, drawing pictures of aliments for their patients. The children have been so descriptive in their use of language and drawings when talking about the problems that their dogs or patients have. Cameron stressed to his patient that you have worms in your tummy here see (pointing to his diagram) and it goes down your tube here and into your tummy then comes out and lays eggs and it starts all over again, you don't want it going back into your tube"
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Ambulance officers
Through dramatic play and role playing children are taking onboard new skills – becoming the leader, negotiator, boss, learning to delegate tasks, to the doctors and nurses. Children who don’t often experiment with pen and paper have begun began drawing writing out prescriptions. New terminology and language is being discovered, children play with words and extended their story telling repertoire. Some children share their experiences, they have had themselves or with their parents/family/whanau and recall experiences in great detail
Casuality ward
Emerging interests - snails
How the interest in snails started?
There is still a very keen interest in snails amongst many of the children. Darcey, Kaia, Achezia, Antonia, Dylan, Anna and Liv are the leaders in this investigation. They are always on a snail hunt some time during the day while at kindergarten. The other day Darcey came over to ask what was underneath the snail. It turns out the snail was laying some eggs and was in that process when it was picked up by the children. This lead to us watching a clip on the internet about a snail laying eggs. During this process Darcey was so excited, she said "This is the best day of my life, forever and ever." Her face was so excited and happy to be watching her snail lay some eggs.
A Snail Hunt
Where to next?
- Further investigate the life cycle of snails.
- Provide books, resources, and information on snails.
- Refine the making of the snails homes to more functional snail friendly environments.
- Encourage the children to share their knowledge and skills on snails with their peers.
- Investigate why snails like to live in our gardens.
- Develop theories about living creatures and how we can take care of them and the environment in which they live.
Jamie's snails
A group snail adventure
A Fascination with Jewellery!
Then we saw them.... they had big red hats and purple feathers and loads and loads of bling (rings) on their fingers. Flynn and a number of other children were absolutely fascinated with the purple and red ladies group that were on the Ports of Auckland boat trip with us. The children went up to them and asked if they could look at their jewellery and of course the ladies were just delighted to show off their jewellery. The children were oh and ah over the shiny, glittery stones that were catching the light of the sun. They came away saying that they were going to make lots of rings and be really really rich!!
Bling!
Bling!! Creative and beautiful!!! We came back to kindergarten and new interest had arrived!
Knick-knacks are being transformed into necklaces, bracelets and rings.
Logan creating a Tiki necklace
Acharzia, Kaia, Liv, Anna, Tiana, Antonia, Darcey, Flynn,and Cynan, have been collecting and storing precious things in boxes and pockets as well as creating patterns with little gems and beads, to make jewelry for themselves or to give to someone special.
Logan's tiki necklace
When creating jewellery there are many aspects children do think about such as design elements for example what sot of materials are they going to use, who it is for, what sort of jewelry do they like etc. as well as colours, patterns, texture and shapes. Children are also learning new terminology, negotiation - when they want particular beads, sharing, supporting and peer tutoring.
Summer and fishing
HOW IT STARTED: The strong interest in water, dams and pipes at the end of last year has continued but also taken a new direction. Children came back from the holidays after a wonderful summer of experiencing, boating, fishing, swimming, learning how to snorkle, boogie board, camping and beaches in general! Children have shared their experiences through drawing, creating story books, dramatic play in the sandpit and kindergarten boat and photos from home. Sam, Cody, Ash, Spencer, Luke, Samuel, Darcey, Ryan and Flynn have all told 'fishing tales" (many of them about how the big ones got away and the little ones had to be put back. Victor loves anything to do with sea creatures - especially sharks! Marlin fishing (following the big catch Sam's dad had made) dominated play in the sandpit. Searching for boats on You Tube led us to the exciting discovery that some boats can go almost 200km per hour. This interest in summer related activities has combined with last terms interest in dams and waterways. We have continued to investigate the drams and where water goes. We have had a visit from Sally at Watercare. She explored the concept of conservation of water and ensuring our waterways are clean so the fish and other sea creatures can live happily!
DURING THIS EXTENSIVE INTEREST IN WATER RELATED INVESTIGATIONS WE HAVE NOTICED THAT CHILDREN ARE DEVELOPING THEIR WORKING THEORIES ABOUT THE WORLD AROUND THEM, THE CREATURES THAT LIVE IN IT AND HOW WE RELATE TO WATER. WE HAVE DISCOVERED WATER DOESN'T GO UP HILL, THINGS FLOAT/SINK, SOME WATER IS SALTY AND SOME IS CLEAN... THE INVESTIGATION CONTINUES... Where to next? - Provide resources for dramatic play - Continue to provide pipes, hoses, guttering etc for the sandpit. - Water / sea related books, posters and internet resources available to support inquiry. - Organise an excursion to look at harbours, boats... - Instigate and encourage discussion about water care, conservation and care of the environment and the creatures in it. - Invite parents to share talents such as diving, fishing etc with the children.