2015 TERM 2 WEEK 1 & 2 14TH- 24TH APRIL
FROM KIM…
What an amazing thing it has been to see how the children have used the wood from the big gum tree in their games these past two weeks….
Even the little Butterflies got stuck in…
In the 1
st week it was this little chap’s
turn for tuck and this was not something
he was quite ready to grasp! However
he thoroughly enjoyed being part of the
experience as he stood with a muffin in
each hand, munching away, while
Hawken helped with ‘selling’ the tuck
for him. He was also very pleased with
the children saying ‘thank you’ to him!
Our first Friday in the forest was very exciting
as the river was high from all the rains that
we had. The children were absolutely thrilled
to be back in the forest and the fast flowing
river was a first for most of them. Such fun!
On 22nd April it was ‘Earth Day’ and we had a wonderful celebration. We started the day with a ring where we spoke about helping the earth that has been damaged by people through the years. We spoke about REDUCE, RE-USE, RECYCLE and COMPOST (3 Rs + C)and had a demo using the different dustbins and focused on separating at source.The original idea of ‘Earth Day’was based on the Native American philosophy of giving back to the Earth what you take and the idea is to plant a tree. We had a Milkwood tree donated to us which we planted in the bottom garden. The 22nd was a Wednesday and we didn’t have a worker but we felt we could manage to dig the hole. Well, Deborah and I both dug for a while and so did the children but we discovered that not too far down the ground was extremely hard and there was a large root in the way. It was an unanimous decision that I should go to Loerie Park and pick up a worker to help us! With Luck I got Lennnox who was recommended by the gentleman handing out the food to the guys waiting for work.
We put some of our earthworm compost and a bit of bone meal into the hole and talked about all the benefits of trees; shade, fruit, climbing, clean the air, absorb toxins…
We followed on from our Earth day theme the next day with some art activities. The older group made pictures of Earth using paper from old magazines.
The Busy Bees had a motivational session outside
before going up to paint their pictures of trees.
We went around the garden and looked at trees.
We felt them, smelt them, looked right up through
the branches and then sang a few songs.
The children were given very large pieces of paper
(Re-using discarded architect’s drawings donated
by an ex Sunbird parent.). Working on a very large
piece of paper when painting is excellent for
encouraging large, bold movements with the
brush. It’s a good activity for developing shoulder
girdle strength. Having good strength in this area
will help enable the child to learn to write.
We were all so sad to say goodbye to our beloved pet rat, Jimmy. As you know, Jimmy was a very
special rat and the children just adored him and he was always so gracious when they handled him.
We had a lovely burial in the forest and it was quite amazing to see how deeply sad the children felt.
As heart breaking as it is to see the children sad, it was also remarkable to see how they expressed
that sadness and sense of loss. They displayed gratitude, respect, compassion and a strong sense of
generosity in the love they showed when placing flowers on his grave.
Such precious moments
We extend a warm welcome to our new Butterfly, Jesse, who has joined us this term. We him a happy stay at Sunbird.
He joins the rest of this gorgeous little group who are all growing so quickly and amaze me daily with the new skills that they are developing.
