Putting up our Christmas tree 🎄🎄

Today Phoenix house got into the Christmas spirit and put up our Christmas tree. We had so much fun listening to some Christmas music and putting the decoration on. Come check out the finished product!! 🎄

Our butterflies are beginning to hatch!!

What an exciting day in Phoenix house! Our butterflies are beginning to hatch! We were so excited to watch this process, the chrysalis first turned a black colour and then slowly went clear and we could see the butterfly's beautiful wings. Finally it hatched out from its chrysalis, at first it was really small and it's wings wet. We gave it time to dry out, and it began to open and close its wings. We knew we had to take it outside into the garden, we placed it in the garden and watched for sometime. Eventually it flapped its wings and flew away. All the children in Phoenix house were so excited, it's been an awesome learning experience watching them grow from little tiny caterpillars.

Phoenix house practicing 'Be turtle safe'

Today at mat time we had a big discussion about being 'turtle safe' in the event of an earthquake. We talked about the recent earthquakes that have been happening around the country and how the ground can shake really hard. We talked about what we would do if an earthquake happened  around us and we read 'be turtle safe'. From here we practiced getting into our turtle shells. We curled up as small as we could and made sure we used our hands to cover the back of our heads. We also talked about what else could keep us safe in which Helena responded "getting under a table" awesome work Helena you defiantly know how to keep yourself safe if there was an earthquake. It's great for the children to gain an understanding of how to keep our selfs safe. Try practicing 'be turtle safe' at home.

Sand Pit Volcano

With the weather being so great and the children enjoying the sunshine, Alisha decided to gather some of our Phoenix house children to prepare for a volcano experiment.

They dug and mounted the sand into a volcano - there was some fabulous team work and discussions about volcanoes.

Alisha explains to the children that there is a volcano in Auckland called Rangitoto and that it is a 'dormant volcano', she discusses the meaning of the word dormant and states it's a volcano that has not erupted in a very long time.

Joshua is surprised "there's a volcano in Auckland" he asks, "I live in Auckland" he says (:

This experiment works with red food colour, bicarbonate soda and white vinegar. The children help by adding the ingredients to a cup placed at the volcano tip, the outcome is red oozing lava bubbling over..with excited squeels, laughter and smiles this was alot fun.

Cocoon process

9th November 2016

Outside in the playground area the children had noticed that the Caterpillar out on the Swan Plant had started spinning itself into a Cocoon! Take a look at some of these cool pictures :)

The children were fascinated with the process which took place!

Paper Mache Cocoon

In continuation with our interest in Caterpillars we  have decided to bring the lifespan of a Caterpillar to life through arts and crafts!

Today we have started to make a Cocoon out of Paper Mache! We ripped up pieces of newspaper and dipped it into glue and smoothed it over an Orange balloon which will be the shell for our Cocoon. We each took turns at applying glue and paper to the balloon.

The children described what the glue felt like against their skin and were full of smiles as they squished it between their fingers.

This activity seemed to come across as very therapeutic as they children came across very relaxed and lost in their thoughts when involved in this art activity :)
Once the paper mache dries we will paint and decorate the cocoon with a variety of colours that the children will pick :)

Caterpillar Craft

This month the children have shown a growing interest towards Caterpillars that  have been found out on our Swan plant in the playground area. We have been exploring all areas of learning towards the life cycle of a Caterpillar through books, conversations, and activities.

Today we made our very own Caterpillars using craft materials such as pom poms, ice block sticks, pipe cleaners, wobbly eyes and a glue gun.

Through watching my demonstration of creating a Caterpillar the children took on board what to do and followed through with the instructions. I was pleasantly surprised to see how confident they were using a glue gun and picking out their own resources.

Some children chose colours that were favoured by them, while others decided to do a sequence of colours. Some caterpillars had one eye while others had two or three! Some of the Caterpillars even got an identity as the children gave them a name that was special and unique to them.
It was great to see how each child interpreted their own caterpillar and how each one looked so different :)

This was a popular activity amongst the Phoenix House children and we look forward to exploring more art and crafts around the Life Cycle of a Caterpillar :)