Spring is in the Air

22nd of October 2014

We have been busy little bees at Lumsden Kindergarten learning all about Spring. During our mat times we were learning about the new life and growth that spring brings in our gardens, orchards and on the farms.

It was so great having the children being active participants learning about spring and bringing in some special things from home. The children showed confidence as they stood up in front of their peers and talked about the blossom parade, daffodils, lamb postcards and books.

We also celebrated the mighty Magpies success with the Ranfurly shield and Max, Sophia and Arabella all brought in their own shield from home.

Collaboratively we completed a weather chart daily by monitoring the increasing temperatures alongside learning the day of the week, month, year and thinking about the changing weather.

We have all been observant in our own environment and noticed lots of spring life in our gardens at Lumsden as well as making links to home and the community, too.

With the garden as our inspiration we also took this into the art room and are showed our interpretation of beautiful daffodils that were blossoming.

With a picture near by, Little Lumsden got stuck into painting and creating wonderful daffodil masterpieces. We talked about when they bloom in the garden, what colours they are and about the daffodils growing at Big Lumsden.

What a wonderful Spring surprise we had! Lucy brought in her wee lamb named Penny! She was three days old! Hard to believe how young she was. The children loved being up close and personal to her and it was such a treat to touch her wool, some of the children even got to feed her a bottle. Thanks Lucy,we look forward to hearing about Penny’s updates.

As part of our Srping Study we decided to hold a Spring Picnic. We had a perfect day for it. The sunshine was out, the flowers were blooming, the lemonade was chilled and the children were bursting with excitement and dressed in their best spring attire.

The atmosphere was filled with joy and happiness as we waited in anticipation for 11am. Our lovely whanau, friends and families began to arrive and we waited patiently until we went out and performed our spring songs that we have practiced so well.

Thank you to everyone for coming along to our special picnic. The children were still bursting with excitement and everyone was full of smiles after a perfect afternoon in the sun. It’s lovely to see our new outdoor environment accommodating our families and seeing everyone being together.

We had “Pearl” come along, too. She was a popular wee lamb with lots of children wanting to have a pat, look after and even feed her a bottle!

It was also lovely that families got to see our brand new chalet that has only been up for the week. This is going to be a very popular spot for a while and just perfect to play in during our warmer months.

We were all very excited to be able to sample and share our lemonade that we made for the picnic. What a yummy treat it was! Many asked for the recipe and it’s super easy. Maybe you could make it with your child at home:

6 Large Lemons

150g Granulated Sugar

1.4L Boiling Water

Squeeze all the lemons into a bowl. Add the sugar and boiling water to the lemon juice. Stir well together and leave over night in a cool place. Stir again in the morning and taste for sweetness, adding more sugar if needed.

Next, we added some lemon and mint for presentation and for a little more flavour. Enjoy making this treat as the lovely spring weather continues to bloom and get warmer!