Fiordland Kindergarten: Researching worms and fun in the leaves

Bug hunting has always been a cause of fascination for our tamariki. Every rock in our Kindergarten has been over-turned at least once in the search for insects. Often the hunt for bugs results in discussion and research as we try to find out exactly what type of bug we have caught, what they eat and how they live.
This year already we have investigated at length; monarch butterflies, stick insects, cicadas, wasps and baby snails.

On Monday's Nature Discovery it was the day of the worm! Our skilled bug hunters spotted a long, pink worm crawling amongst the pine needles. 

It was in a fair bit of danger, being in the middle of an area with many pairs of running feet, so it was decided that a rescue operation would be in order.

There was a bit of interest about the worm and what it was up to. So much interest that when we got back to Kindergarten, John offered to bring us a library book; which he knew had some interesting information about worms.
Charli, Sienna and Karmen researched what worms eat, which turned out to be more than the expected 'dirt.'
We found out that worms  eat decaying roots and leaves and also the remains of animals.
Being able to research like this is a great way to inspire the children's curiosity in the world around them and the more they learn, the more they appreciate the small creatures that share our space.

Even the dog is curious

At Kindergarten recently the tamariki have been having lots of fun playing in the thick carpet of red, yellow, brown and orange leaves that have fallen in our playground.

There has been lots of play centred around this including: raking the leaves up into piles and transporting them around the playground, burying themselves and each other in the leaves, throwing them up in the air and watching them fall, exploring how the leaves have changed the colour of the water in our trough, and  creating pictures by gluing dried leaves onto paper.

It is great to see the children delighting in the change of season.

This interest continued on Monday's session at Nature Discovery. Judy's group had a great time burying John in the leaves. They discovered that with such a wide variety of trees at Ivon Wilson Park there was also naturally a wider variety of leaves. It was decided to bring some of these different specimens back to Kindergarten for all of the children to appreciate.

Post written by Tash