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What's happening in the Waikato Region for 2012?
Hamilton outing to Hamilton Gardens - Tuesday 7th February Teddy Bears picnic
(Posted 15/2/12)
It was great to see Gaylene with Christian, Josh, Jordan and Addison. Sarah joined us with Andrei, Myasara and Charlotee. Angela had Riley, Locklan, Bella and Nicola. It was Bella and Nicola's first outing.
Zoe arrived a little later with Ashuma, thanks for coming, it was lovely for you to join us.
Wow, what a beautiful sunny day we had to look around the Hamilton Gardens. It was great to see so many favorite toys join us.
We saw lots of different cultural gardens - Chinese Scholars, Japanese, Italian, English, American Modernist and Te Parapara Maori Garden. The tamariki (children) really enjoyed so many water features, we even saw an eel in the stream! Great spotting everyone.
We had a lovely picnic under the shade of the trees and then Jo gave all the children a bottle of bubbles, some chose to take them home others like Ashuma chose to play with them straight away.
Then the children got to play on the adventure playground. Josh encouraged other children to have a go at the very high slide, well done Jordan and Riley you were brave. It was a great playground with swings, rock wall, balancing board, slides and swing bridge.
We will have to re visit another day, thanks for coming.
Jo
Incy Wincy Spider 13/2/12
Visited Angela yesterday - Nicola is a new child in care with Angela. The children have an interest in insects. Angela did an art activity. Each child made a spider out of egg carton, pipe cleaners and wobbly eyes. They made the spout out of a cardboard tube and covered with tin foil. She attached string so they could make their spiders go up and down the water spout to the song 'Incy Wincy spider', very cool I thought, cheers Jo
Turtle Safe 10/2/12
Locklan, today we practiced how to be “Turtle Safe” during an earthquake. Do you remember what an earthquake is? It is when the ground shakes because rocks deep under the ground are moving. When a big earthquake happens there may be a loud rumbling noise and things can start falling down around you. It might also be hard for you to stand up. You have to act quickly and protect yourself from things that may fall on you. Remember how a turtle quickly gets into its shell to keep safe?
Here’s what you can do:
If the earth begins to shake
What can we do for safety sake?
Get under a table and hold on tight
And everything will be alright.
If there aren’t any tables or you’re outside
We have a different way to hide
Crouch on the ground and cover your head
Just like a turtle tucked up in bed.
There’ll be no reason to cry or yelp
‘cause there’s lots of people around to help
But you must practice what to do
Drop, cover and hold and you’ll get through!
You did a great job practicing how to be “Turtle Safe” today – ka pai Locklan!
Louise 31/1/12
I visited Louise's place yesterday and she has baby rabbits. Jacob and Jackson are holding them, they are only a few days old. What a lovely experience.
Angela H 26/1/12
I visited Angela, one of my educators in Hamilton on Tuesday and this is an activity she has been doing with 2 of her children, Locklan and Riley. Locklan's interest in caterpillars was generated from having 2 caterpillars at his home.
Angela took this opportunity to extend his learning. They did leaf stamping, then made the egg from playdough and glued on. Inside the other picture is a caterpillar made out of egg cartons enclosed in the cocoon. Angela is going to get the children to make wings from hand prints and glue them on when they go home one day so when they open the cocoon there will be a butterfly. She also read them the hungry caterpillar story. (Life cycle of the butterfly)
What a great way to teach children about the life cycle of the butterfly.
Enjoy your day, cheers Jo.
18/1/12
I visited Sarah today and she has stuck foam letters of the alphabet on the playroom to encourage and teach the children the letters of the alphabet,  encouraging them to find the first letter of their names. She has also stuck up coloured canvas squares to help the children in care identify and learn the different colours. Thought it was pretty cool and wondered if you wanted to put it up on the website, thanks Jo
2012
I visited educator Sarah Grant yesterday(1/10/11) and she had this displayed on her wall. I thought it was pretty cool and wondered if you would like to put it on the website. The children collected the leaves and used the glue gun to make this mural, cheers Jo
And again with Sarah on the 7/11/11...great work Sarah, your care kids must love staying with you!  These are grass heads she made with the children - Myasara, Andrei and Declyn
Christmas party at Sharon’s 13th December 2011
(Posted 20/12/11)
Wow what a busy morning, there were lots and lots of Homegrown kids that attended the Christmas party. The children freely explored the surroundings, choosing to play with the playdough, dress ups, bikes and many other stimulating toys.
We had a lovely morning tea and then Santa arrived giving each child a gift. Jo did some face painting and Lou helped too, thanks Lou.
We had some mums join us and that was lovely, thanks for coming everyone.
“Merry Christmas”
8th December - Christmas outing to Awapuni Donkey Farm
Wow what a great place to visit! The children saw lots of goats, donkeys of all sizes, peacocks, a pig, Shetland pony, sheep and chickens.
The morning began with Jo reading a Christmas story "I think I just saw Santa" then giving each child a small gift while they were having morning tea.
We then had a look around Jenny's magical house all decorated for Christmas with Santa's, holly, tinsel and Christmas trees. It was very special.
Outside to hand feed two lambs, well they were pretty big . Then each child had the opportunity to have a ride on a donkey. Some tamariki (children) preferred to just ride on the cool child sized tractors. Everyone had fun playing on all the outdoor equipment - trampoline, swings and ride on's while waiting their turn.
Once everyone had had a ride on the donkey Jenny let the children feed the chickens. I think everyone had a great time - thanks for coming. A special thank you to Jonty's grandparents, it was great having you join us!
Farm Visit 22/11/11
It was an overcast morning; the tamariki (children) had a great time exploring the farm. It began with a bite of morning tea and a play together in Lou’s large back yard with lots of stimulating play equipment. It was great to have so many Homegrown kids educators, parents and children join us on this outing. Thanks for coming. The children got to play in the plane, see the rolls of silage and visit the Zebra, Bison and deer. It was great to see a helicopter up close too. Everyone had a great morning; thanks for letting us visit your farm Lou.
Parana Park - Hamilton outing 7/11/11
Educators and children attending –Sarah, Myasara, Andrei, Declyn, Charlotte, Kristy, Jackson, Tiana, Holly, and Cooper
It was an overcast morning but the tamariki (children) still had a great time. It began with a scavenger hunt. Part of the scavenger hunt was to have a photo on the tuatara, and the bottle tops were hidden around the wooden kiwi. When each child had found the items they received a bottle of bubbles. Another playgroup was at the park with toddlers, when the children blew the bubbles some of the children joined us to catch the bubbles. We had some kai (food) I provided; potato chips and biscuits. While the children had morning tea I read the story “Look out lion cub”. Which was enjoyed by all – I encouraged the children to guess what the animals were behind the flaps. Jackson enjoyed guessing. The children then had a play on the adventure playground and even though it was a bit cold all the children had a paddle in the pool. It was a busy morning.
Hamilton Airport outing - 14/10/11
It was a fabulous morning. Gaylene, Josh, Jordan, Christian, Addison, Sarah, Myasara, Andrei, Charlotte, Kristy Jackson, Tiana, Holly, Cooper, Mhairi and Danton got to see many planes flying in and out of the airport. Sarah Tracy the administration manager organized the fire truck to do some water displays and we were fortunate enough to have an army plane practicing landing and take offs, it was very cool! The children and adults really enjoyed this outing which was obvious with all the pointing, chatting and watching on with mouths a gasp.
All the children chose a toy plane to take home and a variety of colouring in pictures - even an older style plane.
Wow Josh looked cool dressed for the occasion, great shirt Josh.
We will definitely be revisiting the Hamilton Airport next year!
Playgroup at Lollipops Playland - 7th September 2011. (23/9/11)
Josh arrived dressed up as a Pirate, Jordan a Rock Star and Addison was wearing a purple dress all costumes from the HGK’s toy library and they looked fabulous. Charlotte and Myasara dressed up in the Lollipop costumes. Josh had his face painted as Batman, Charlotte chose to be a cat and Myasara was a dog, even Sarah had her face painted with some small flowers, don’t they look great!
All the children had fun in the ball pit, exploring the equipment; Myasara really liked the large soft toys and had a ride on Donkeys back. Josh, Myasara and Charlotte remembered to buckle up when they had a ride on the merry go round. We had a great morning. All the children enjoyed some morning tea. Thanks for coming.
Waikato Playgroup 8/8/11
Jordan and Jonty arrived at Playgroup all dressed up with dress ups from the toy library. Doesn't Jordan look great in the rock star outfit and Jonty in the Pirate suit.
They began the morning busily exploring the playground, throwing balls in the ball pit then Jordan had a few turns on the slide before moving onto the climbing fixtures. Jonty had fun on the rocking horse and fish.
It was time to refuel with some morning tea then Jonty had a little longer playing before burning out and falling asleep on Gaylene's lap. Jordan chose to ride on the red racing car and play in the big ball pit with Jo. .She also had fun in the little tyke cars, filling some with gas before taking them for a spin Well done Jordan, you don't want to get caught with not enough gas for the trip. Thanks for coming, sure hope you had lots of fun! I know I did – Jo.
Waikato Outing to the Te Awamutu Fire Station 8/7/11
We had a great morning at the fire brigade. Geoff the fireman let us sit in his office while everyone arrived. I had purchased some Rescue Giant Colouring and activity books. George and Danton did some colouring-in. I gave each educator one of these books to take home as they were full of safety equipment, fire hydrant, fireman, fire engines etc... So they could expand on the learning that occurred while at the fire station. I sure hope all the tamariki enjoyed them. I look forward to receiving some of your great art work to send to the fire brigade along with a thank you letter.
The morning began with Geoff telling a story using a large book with illustrations about a little girl who saw smoke coming through her door and the smoke alarm was beeping, what should she do? I am sure you all know what to do now if there was a fire at your home.
George volunteered to try on the child size fire mans outfit, don't you look great. Jackson had a turn too. Geoff showed us around the station, wow they still have a fireman's pole. Each child got to walk through the fire engine, that was cool, and the lights looked pretty impressive. Thanks for showing us around the fire station and all the rescue equipment, we had a great morning.
Playgroup Outing 1st June 2011 - Lollipops Playland Hamilton.
Today we had Rea, the regional manager join us, thanks for coming Rea, we sure hope you had fun!
It was a very busy morning with a large Playgroup attending but this didn’t stop Josh, Jordan, Jackson, Tiana, Holly, and Ashleigh having a great time playing and exploring the equipment. Tiana had fun climbing the toddler’s steps to the ball pit then moving around in the balls. She played on the bouncy castle, drove the cars and had a turn on the merry go round.
Josh asked that I bring the face paints to Playgroup as he wanted to be painted as a snake, you look great Josh.
Jackson took charge and filled Tiana’s car with petrol, played in the ball pit with Holly, jumped on the bouncy castle with Tiana and chose to have his face painted as a snake like Josh’s. Don’t they look great.
Ashleigh chose to have her face painted as a rabbit, you do look cute. She enjoyed all the areas of Lollipops Playland.
Holly also had lots of fun in the ball pit, on the bouncy castle, driving the cars, riding the merry go round and climbing the frames. Kristy painted Holly’s face, thanks Kristy, she looks awesome.
It was a little busy for Jonty so Gaylene kept him close by, but he did enjoy the hot chips and sauce as did Jordan.
Playgroup 9/5/11
There were a few new toys in the baby / toddler area - a smaller ball pit. Josh and Jordan were playing in this when I arrived. Jordan had fun perfecting her climbing then sliding down the slide.
Josh, Jackson, Jordan and Holly all had a turn at filling the cars with gas. When I asked Josh if his car was running out of gas he told me, "it isn't gas, its petrol Jo" .
Cooper enjoyed playing on the bouncy castle and ball pit, then climbing with Holly and Jackson.
Holly, Jackson, Tiana and Cooper had a ride on the Merry go round.
Tiana enjoyed the freedom to explore the toys in a safe, stimulating environment.
Hamilton Zoo Outing - 27/4/11
A big thank you to our Otorohanga educator, parent Trudy and homegrown kids children to attend the Hamilton Zoo outing. They arrived a little later but all the children thoroughly enjoyed story time.
Jackson became very involved answering questions.
Everyone had a turn at unwrapping the parcel - Kristy helped Tiana, Jackson got a camel, Holly a hippopotamus and Chandini a Lion. What a great roar you made Chandini.
Yum Easter eggs. It was lovely to hear all the tamariki (children) use their manners when I gave them an egg, thanks.
We had a great day!!
There were lots of animals to see - Rhinoceros, Tapirs, kune kune pigs and even a duck with her two ducklings to name a few.
Playgroup at Lolipops 15/3/11
Holly and Tiana had to wait patiently for a ride on the merry go round. You were both very patient, well done (holding numbers)
Holly, Jackson, Tiana and Josh enjoy riding on the car merry go round. Josh is very safety conscious, he immediately puts on his safety belt, well done Josh.
Josh gave a great roar when he was dressed as a dinosaur.
Josh and Jordan played in the playhouse. Jordan played peek a boo with Jo.
Holly enjoyed the ball pit and Jackson and Holly had a go at the climbing frame, well done, it is very high.
Playgroup at Lollipops Playland - Hamilton Tuesday 8th February 2011.
Addison was a bit tired so had some Kai then a short nap in the pushchair.
Josh had fun exploring all the equipment, very confident in this surrounding. He enjoyed the merry go round and wow didn't you look cool dressed as a dinosaur - what a great roar
Jordan and Jo played peek a boo around the play house. Jordan also rode the merry go round.
Vaughn played on the large trike cars, filling it with gas then drove around making Brrroom noises, Chandini joined him.
Cooper had fun on the car that ran down the track and drove the car on the merry go round, great driving Cooper.
Chandini and Cooper threw the balls around in the ball pit.
Chandini and Vaughn were very brave and climbed the tower with Kristy's help.
Chandini enjoyed the rocking fish and horse.
Waikato Xmas Party 20-12-10
It was great to see so many educators, family members and tamariki (children) at the Christmas outing. Thanks for coming.
It was very busy at the park with a primary school also choosing to play there, so unfortunately the children weren't able to play on the equipment as freely as I had hoped but we still had a great day.
We began the morning with a Christmas Story and snack. We played pass the parcel and find the Santa picture. These were hidden along the fence line and amongst the trees; the pictures were swapped for a bottle of bubbles. Each child was given a small gift, and then we had morning tea.
George, Bo, Disa, Alexis, Vaughn and Jackson choose to have a paddle in the pool.
Alexis and Bo had their faces painted, don't they look great.
I would like to wish every one a very Merry Christmas and look forward to seeing you all in the New Year. Happy Holidays!
Waikato Playgroup, Lolipops 7/9/10
Wow Maiya has no fear of heights, up she climbed to the very top of the cage, then through the tunnel and down the long dark slide, what a clever girl you are Maiya.
Maiya also spent some time chatting to Dad on the phone, building the road tracks with Josh and throwing the balls around in the ball pit.
Josh climbed very quickly up the padded steps and made his way back down with the assistance of the rope. Josh also enjoyed playing on the turning seat, building with the road tracks and riding the car on the track.
Jordan (baby) is really enjoying her freedom to explore, it was great spending time with her, letting her chose her own equipment, moving from one resource to another.
We had lots of fun at Lollipops Playland. I look forward to spending more time playing with you at Lollipops next month - Jo Coordinator.
Next terms playgroups dates are:
2nd November and 7th December, thanks Jo.
Lollipops playland Tuesday 27th July.
It was great to see Gaylene, Josh and Jordan attend playgroup. Rea the regional manager also made it to this playgroup, thanks for coming everyone.
Would love to see more educators and children attend playgroup, look forward to seeing you next time.
The photo's below are of:
Josh had lots of fun on the fast car - each time going a little further
After our busy morning it was time for a snack, great to have Rea join us
Josh gasses up his car and before going for a drive
Jordan explores the activity centre, pushing and turning the dials
Josh spends time in the baby area with his sister Jordan
Jordan spends time in the baby area
Jordan was delighted to find this car played music
Josh had fun rolling in the balls then chose to throw them around, it was great watching the other tamariki (children) too.
Lolipops Outing 1/6/10
Jordan enjoys the toys and watching the other tamariki at Lollipops (baby).
Josh and Maiya explore the equipment with confidence. Playing tackle with the mushrooms on the bouncy castle. While playing in the balls I encouraged Maiya and Josh to find the red balls, then the yellow, they were both very clever finding lots of red and yellow balls, ka pai Josh and Maiya. They also had lots of fun rolling around in the balls.
Josh and Maiya rode down the ramp on the little cars very fast..........
We had lots of fun, thanks for coming Gaylene, Josh, Jordan and Maiya.
Lolipops 4/5/10
Maiya got lots of attention as she was the only child who could make it.
Photos of Maiya exploring the equipment at Lollipops, took a brave girl to come down the slide as it goes quite fast. Maiya had lots of fun on the little cars on ramps, and nearly managed to reach me, with a push from Gaylene.
Maiya was very confident climbing up the tunnels, across the rope swing bridge and down the dark slide, ka pai Maiya, well done. We had lots of fun!!
Claudelands park on Tuesday 30th March.
We had lots of fun, the children played on the 3 different areas of play, one area was designed for older children but that didn't stop Maiya, Josh, Keisha and Ashleigh having a go. We played a game of pass the parcel where each child and educator unwrapped a layer and received a lollipop, YUM!!
We had a scavenger hunt, children had to find objects on the form, well done everyone, you did a great job of finding them. It was worth it though as they exchanged their items for a bottle of bubbles.
Last but not least it was the Easter egg hunt. The tamariki and educators had to find a laminated colourfull Easter egg, these were exchanged for the real thing. We had lots of fun, thanks for suggesting this park Gaylene it was great!
Above is the Waikato HG Kids recent Outing to Lolipops on March the 1st, 2010
Jordan is happy again after finishing her bottle
Jo face painting Maiya - she sits very still, well done Maiya
Maiya sitting on her (mums) Kylees knee
A special visitor - Maiyas granddad from India
Maiya, Jordan and Josh enjoying exploring the toys in the baby area
Kingsley has fun in the cars
So does Lauren Maiya remembers to buckle up - ka pai Maiya well done!
Kinglsey has many rides on the merry go round.
Our Lolipops Outing on the 9th February 2010
Fun at Lollipops Playland Hamilton – Tuesday 9th February
Welcome Jordan, it was lovely to meet you today – glad you could make it to playgroup. Jordan’s older brother Josh also had lots of fun.
Later Maiya joined Josh in the ball pit and then they enjoyed the bouncy
castle.
Kingsley enjoyed the merry – go – round and then chose to have his face painted...again!
See our Xmas Outing Here!
Kingsley being a Cat!
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