It’s that time of year, a special time on Gems calendar and a special time in New Zealand Maori culture. As the Matariki constellation appears in the early morning sky, we are reminded of the traditions of Maori culture and commence the celebrations of Maori New Year.
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The mornings are darker, and the temperatures have dropped. We wait patiently for the winter snow to fall and coat our mountain tops in white powder so we can reap the benefits of the extra space up on our ski fields this year. It has been a while since we visited Farm School, 9 weeks in fact, which meant our Autumn was spent at home, in our own backyards or exploring our local area
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It is well known that our under 5’s struggle with times of change; whether it is a change in their usual routine, transitioning from play to mealtimes, or from home to centre, all have the potential for less than ideal outcomes (think meltdown). This unprecedented time of transition, from weeks of home life with one another back to ‘the usual’ routine of work and days spent at school or Gems, will be challenging for everyone (adults included!).
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I have been busy making these little clay/plasticine figures of a little family experiencing lockdown life. I recently watched a live video by Nathan Wallis where he talks about explaining the lockdown and the virus to young tamariki in a way that they can understand, and also highlighted how important storytelling is to make meaning of this situation for ourselves and for young children. Whether that’s by making clay models, using puppets or role-playing, by giving children the space and opportunity to explore these ideas they will be better able to make sense of the changes that have occurred in their lives.
So, “Hello” from the Bubble Family to yours:
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Gems philosophy truly values the importance of the environment as the third teacher. Attuned teachers recognize children’s interests and intentionally set provocations to extend tamariki through play. Areas of play are constantly reflected on and adapted to spark curiosity, invite exploration, and provide comfort for our learners. This is especially important now as they return after our extended period of lockdown and resettle into our Gems spaces. A period of rediscovery and resettling as our children return to Gems places even more importance on beautiful and welcoming invitations to play.
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As we prepare to enter Level 2, we all have a lot of readjusting to do and our children are no exception. Right along with us, they will be reentering our wider society which will look very different than it used to. Children are adaptable and resilient, but they’re no fools. They are acutely aware of the change in the air.
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Kia Ora friends,
Finn and I wanted to share one of his favourite play activities he's interested in at the moment. He’s loving block play/poro rākau, and it´s open-ended play opportunities. Blocks are valuable manipulative and creative resources for children and adults.
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What are the world's best toys?
They are not gadgets or ‘fancy toys’ but your everyday materials called loose parts.
Loose parts can include natural materials altered or, stacked, carried, moved or altered. Loose parts can include natural materials like sticks, stones, sand, leaves and water or recycled materials like cardboard boxes, rope, fabric, milk crates and lengths of pipes.
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We all know toddler’s love the word “no”. You ask them to do something and you get a negative response. This is the period in their life where they are learning that they are actually separate beings to you, that they can have a measure of control over their world. And they love to test this out! Pushing boundaries is a big part of toddler development and they have an irresistible urge to test out this newfound power of assertiveness …
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I hope that this finds you well and content in your bubbles. We are now almost 4 weeks into this experience, and I think it’s fair to say that our perceptions of it have shifted somewhat. Maybe what seemed like a bit of an adventure to start with has now become somewhat more of a daunting reality. Maybe it’s the other way around...the scariness of those early days may have been replaced by a feeling of having stepped off the hamster wheel and you may be relishing extra family time?
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Having resilience goes a long way in the current climate, the question is where did our resilience come from and how do we make sure our kids have bucket loads of it to help them deal with any difficulties (both big and small) that come up for them in the future.
As adults (and children) we are all going through a lot at the moment and how resilient we are is one of the things that is helping us cope, or not cope as the case may be for some.
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Visiting The Nest at any Gems and you will see Heuristic Play and Treasure Baskets either in use or set up ready to be explored. This type of play is present for the majority of our day in The Nest and I wanted to share with you some ideas as to how you can offer opportunities for this at home for your child…
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These urges are building blocks for the human brain; they require repetition, sometimes lots and lots of repetition; and they usually need to happen right now, which explains why our little people are so determined to do these things. A huge part of learning happens through experiential play, so for a child to work out what will happen if they add their glass of water to their dinner, they need to do just that.
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Sensory play can be an early, but important step in the development process …
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Being a toddler is hard at the best of times. They thrive on the predictability of routines and ritual, of being close to their ‘people"‘ …
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Kelly and myself (Lana) the Centre coordinators for Gems Shotover Country and Lake Hayes Estate respectively, were lucky enough to go to a weekend of Professional development (PD) in October last year in Taupo.
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