Adventuring at Spencer Park

On Monday we had a big adventure to Spencer Park. We all piled into the school van and drove over to Spencer Park. First we had our morning tea. William was so excited to be there. He knew where the good play equipment was.

Alex had fun looking around. 

Can you see the bird sculpture on top of the tall post?

Merit challenged herself to balance on the rocks with Fay.

We walked over to the animal park. 

Can you find the tiny chicken in this photo?

Alex spotted a rooster.

What is this bird? It is not a duck.

Look at this fluffy chicken.

Rawiri made a new friend.

Alex looked everywhere to see what he could see.

Look, a peacock!

There were two peacocks. They were noisy and very beautiful.

Merit said she liked the doves best of all.

Alex was so excited when he found the pigs.

The peacocks started showing off. They put their tails up in a fan and twirled around. The females were not interested at all.

After we went to the animal park we decided to find the lagoon viewing platform. We followed the arrows on this sign.

It was HOT!

We followed the path.

Someone had his own idea about the best way to go! Come on William!

William knew the best way to go because he got to the viewing platform first.

Merit enjoyed the view.

Rawiri found the light a bit too bright. Luckily he had his hat on.

 The steps were quite steep so it was a bit of a challenge to get back down. We like challenges.

We noticed that there was horse poo on the path. Then we found the culprits! We met Gypsy the horse and his friend. Some of us got to give Gypsy a gentle pat because his rider said that would be OK.

Alex got to meet Gypsy's dog friend too. We never pat dogs unless we are invited to. Some dogs don't like to meet new people.

We decided that we have to return to Spencer Park when Matthew is at school because he loves animals so much. Matthew missed out because he visited the dentist. We missed you Matthew, but it was great that you went to the dentist to get your teeth checked out.

Homework
Can you name all of the animals in our photos of our visit to Spencer Park?

Out to Shirley Library

Now that the weather is better we are getting out on the bus more regularly. We catch the Orbiter bus and it takes us around to various locations around the city. Last week we decided to check out the Shirley library.

Matthew and William sat together on the bus. They have both learned that we need to use our Metrocard to pay for a bus ride. It is not free! They carry their ID cards and Metrocards around their necks.

Kyle enjoys a bus ride. He has used the bus lots of times and can pay for his ride independently.

Rawiri usually likes to sit in the seat behind the driver, but when someone else is sitting there he will sit with his mates.

Aimee-Lee knows about how to sit politely on the bus.

Once we arrived at The Palms we walked along to the library. 

Alex loves libraries. So many books to look at!

Here we are at the Shirley Library. Rawiri settled down to look at the books. Kyle looked around for something to interest him.

Aimee read a story to a bear. Fiona read a story to Alex.

Rawiri found the magazine section. Lots to look at there!

Matthew is another huge library fan. He knows there are usually toys at the library. He had a go playing with this barn toy first.

 Aimee and Fiona had a chat.

Kyle found something to read.

Matthew found a unicorn and read it a story.

Kyle found a Superman comic.

So far this year we have visited the Papanui Library, the Eastgate Library, the Shirley Library and the Bishopdale Library.

Homework

Is there a library in your local area? Can you visit the library with your family? Are you a member of your local library? Discuss with your parents or caregivers. 

Go All Blacks!

We have been having a fun week talking about Halloween things, plus getting excited about the All Blacks playing in the Rugby World Cup. Today at Allenvale we are having a Black Out Day to support our team. That fits in so well with our Halloween theme.

I wasn't too sure about whether we would do anything on Halloween. It can be a controversial topic! I gave all of the students a choice and they said "yes" to Halloween crafts and cooking. It is all a bit of fun.

The first Halloween activity we wanted to do was to make a carved pumpkin. Carving requires a very sharp knife, so Lulu took charge of that, and the students helped to scoop out the middle. We got enough flesh out of the pumpkin to make a small batch of pumpkin soup.

Look at our pumpkin!

Did you know that you can get little battery operated tealight "candles" which we used to light up our pumpkin? Just as well, because Matthew thought he'd take a close look.

 Look - a witch found our pumpkin!

We also decided to learn a bit about spiders. Some people are scared of spiders, but as long as you leave them alone, they will mind their own business and leave you alone too. We watched part of a National Geographic documentary about spiders. We learned that some baby spiders can fly on the wind for very long distances. Most spiders are very tiny. 

We made funny spiders out of chocolate kisses, with licorice legs and tiny eyes. Merit told us that spiders have eight legs. It was quite tricky - great fine motor practice! 

This is Dorota showing Alex what to do. Lulu was away, so we were thrilled to have Dorota helping us for the day.

We had to poke the licorice legs into the sides of the chocolate kiss body.

Here's one with the legs on.

Most spiders have eight eyes! Some have more and some have less. Some spiders that live in very dark places like caves have no eyes at all. This spider has eight eyes.

 It was quite tricky putting the tiny little eyes onto the spiders. Merit put two eyes on her one.

Kyle's spider looked awesome.

Here's Rawiri's spider.

 James made a spider too.

Can you count the legs and eyes on James' spider?

This spider has a grumpy face!

Alex put the eyes onto his spider. He read a spider book to see how they should look.

Aimee-Lee made a spider too. She and Fay did some drawings of the spider making sequence before they started.

 

 William made a spider with Fay. He thought the spider was very delicious and wanted to eat it before it was finished.

Yum - the spiders were gobbled up pretty quick! 

Homework 

• Device users - can you find "spider" on your Proloquo2Go? What other spooky things can you find? 
• Everyone discuss with someone: Who are the All Blacks? What game do they play? Where are they at the moment and what are they doing? 

GO ALL BLACKS!!!!!!!!!!