A Honey Bee Rescue

Spring is firmly upon us up in Ivon Wilson park. Our tamariki have been making the most of the beautiful blossom trees and the warmer weather during our adventures at Nature Discovery.

Last week on Wednesday some of the children were 'fishing' on Lake Henry. It was pretty exciting when our parent helper rescued two honey bees which had fallen in the water.
The wet and bedraggled bees were carefully taken over to the stone table to dry. There was a bit of discussion about how the bees would have drowned if they hadn't been rescued as their wet wings meant that they couldn't fly.

As the tamariki patiently waited for the bees to dry out, the importance of bees in our eco-system made its way into the conversation. Judy talked about how bees are vital in their role of pollinating plants and flowers so that we can have lots of nice fruit and vegetables. We talked about the difference between some insects which are pests and don't help our environment (like wasps) and insects who are important for balancing out our eco-system (such as bees).

Only one bee survived until it was dry enough to fly again. The children placed the bee onto a nice bush so that it could rest.

The children are learning to be responsible guardians of our area. They are learning to look after the creatures in our space, no matter how small.
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post written by Tash

Discoveries and magic times

This week at nature discovery has been amazing.  We have experienced many different weather conditions, frost, cold, sunny and rainy.  The children were amazed with the discovery of the basket fungi and it's egg with one child wanting to take it home and put it on her dresser as a decoration for her room.  Wednesday brought frost so sledging and playing in the big ice puddle was on the agenda. Finally the sun popped out and after a nice warm milo we spend time making a new cubby house.  Wonder if it is there next week and if anyone adds to it.

Orange cakes

Baking and flag making was on the children's agenda today.  The important part of baking is making sure that the fire has a good ember base so heaps of fire wood is required.  While some children were involved in the making and mixing of the cakes others helped by splitting wood and ensuring there was a good collection of pine cones.  It was a team effort and well worth the hard work because the cakes cooked in orange peel tasted delicious.

The Stick Insect

Monday 9th February

While we were at the "Bouncy Horses",  Ashen was searching for insects and made an exciting discovery.  On one of the trees was a green Stick Insect, which he carefully picked up to show all of us.
If you want to find bugs of any sort, Ashen is your man, he seems to know where the best places are to find them and has inspired the other children to join him in his searching.


Ashen's Story:
"I found a stick insect.  He was on the tree.  I looked on the tree and I saw it.  He has got 6 legs and he looks like a stick.  I have that in my Bug Book.  He can turn brown because he looks lie a stick.  If he is green he looks like a leaf and rats can't find him."


Well done Ashen, it was a great find and after we all looked at him, you said that we had to put him back where you found him.  We watched him crawl up the high in the tree but we could still see him because he was still green. I wonder if he will be there next week?

Art in the Park

Today it was art in the park.  Children made stick insects out of sticks, wrote their names then went on a colour walk.  It was a relaxed day finding different colours and treasures on the ground that the children could make their rainbow nature pictures with.

Tall trees, ducks and lakes

 Sammy and George found this huge eucalyptus tree that reached up to the sky.

We watched the ducks at Lake Henry and saw some trout rising.

We saw more ducks on the shore of Lake Te Anau.  We kept very still and they came right up to us.
It was a beautiful day here in summer in Fiordland.

Bug Hunting in Fiordland

Bug hunting was on the agenda today, so down to the pines we wandered.  In a log we found a huhu grub that was beginning to change into a beetle.  It was all white and hardly moved the whole time we studied it.  The children were amazed to find that it was changing without being a cocoon like a caterpillar.  Next someone found an interesting white bug that had us searching our insect books, we still don't know what type of bug it is so more research will have be done at Kindergarten!!  Back to the shed and there were still more bugs to find. No log or piece of wood was left unturned.  What an exciting day.