Our Special Days and Celebrations
Celebrating Indian Culture
6-10 November 2018
As part of celebrating the Indian culture, some parents came in to share some Indian Diwali sweets with the Preschool children. They also talked about how Diwali is a time for celebration in their culture that brings people together and celebrates light in the darkness.
The Wizard of Oz
October 2018
As part of our 5+ programme at our Preschool, a group of children got to go on an excursion to see The Wonderful Wizard of Oz at a local theatre. The children got to experience an event in their community and boost their confidence in trying out new and different things.
Teddy Bears' Picnic
August 2018
If you go down to the woods today, you'll sure get a big surprise...The children had the opportunity to bring along their favourite teddy bear or toy and prepare a yummy afternoon tea picnic for them.
International Friendship Day
August 2018
Our Nursery celebrated friendship and families by inviting all the children and whānau to come along for the day in their traditional costumes. Everyone shared kai, stories and had a great time celebrating the wonderful diversity at our centre.
Helping others - Make a Wish
July 2018
Our Preschool held a Pyjama and Movie Day to raise money for the Make a Wish foundation. The children learned about the charity and its work for children in hospital. They wore pyjamas to remember children who wear pyjamas all day while in hospital.
Celebrating Matariki
June 2018
Our children enjoyed learning about the seven stars of Matariki and what it means to Māori when it appears in the sky.
The teachers and the children cooked and shared a hangi and enjoyed singing the new songs and dances they learned.
Celebrating our Mothers
11 May 2018
Happy Mothers’ Day to all mothers! It was an honour to serve our mothers as we celebrated together. The teachers and children gave them the special treatment they deserved like a foot spa, nail manicure, massage and healthy food and drinks. The children also spent the day creating their own Mothers’ Day cards for their mums and grandmothers.
Celebrating Earth Day
22 April 2018
To celebrate our Earth, and learn how to appreciate the gifts it provides, the children got busy planting some new vegetables and plants in their garden. They will look after these so they can harvest them later in the year.
Celebrating Sea Week
April 2018
Our teachers brought the seaside to their centre! The children got to explore and ask questions about the sea and all the plants and animals they can find in the ocean!
Celebrating Chinese New Year
March 2018
All our centres celebrated Chinese New Year by dressing up in red clothes or traditional costume, learning greetings in Chinese, and preparing some Chinese food. Our Chinese families and friends kindly contributed to our celebrations.
The Winter Olympics
March 2018
At Nursery the children took part in their own Olympics sports day. They dressed up in their sports gear, got involved in different activities, and each got a medal to celebrate their achievement.
Celebrating Waitangi
February 2018
All our centres explored Māori waiata, dance, learned some te reo, and the children got to participate in planting flowers and vegetables, making Māori bread and flax weaving.
Trip to Walter Nash
January 2018
The children enjoyed our trip to Walter Nash stadium.The children were excited, running freely around the stadium and also doing lots of passing and playing with balls. These trips link to our Moving Smart programme.
Celebrating Tonga
September 2017
At Cottage we listened to Tongan music and songs with ukulele and drumming. We also watched short clips of Tongan dancing in traditional costume. We had group music sessions where children participated with ukulele, drumming, costume and dance.
Matariki
26 June 2017
Across our centres we learnt songs and made lots of crafts. At Preschool we learned about Matariki appearing in the sky, why the Māori celebrate it and the things we could do to celebrate it together.
Celebrating Samoa
29 May - 2 June 2017
We learned about tapa cloth, how to make leis, and the Preschool children even learnt a sasa!
We invited our parents and families to watch our dance and share some food.
Charity Event: Pyjama Day
30 March 2017
We had a pyjama and movie day at Preschool in order to raise money for Te Omaga Hospice. We learnt about helping others and looking after people.
Trip to Te Papa
6 March 2017
As part of our programme on bugs, some of our Preschoolers went to Te Papa to check out the Bug Lab.
World Book Day
2 March 2017
We celebrated our love of books by sharing our favourite stories, dressing up as our favourite characters, and taking part in some cool activities!
Celebrating Asia
January 2017
We learnt about the different cultures of countries in Asia. To celebrate, the children made some arts and crafts and shared some food with our families.
Merry Christmas!
December 2016
We wish all our families and children a wonderful, merry Christmas. We hope your break is restful and full of laughter and blessings.
Celebrating India
2 November 2016
At Preschool we learnt about India and the special events that they celebrate. Some of our children came in their Indian costumes and we shared some food that our parents had prepared for us.
Fathers' Day
2 September 2016
We love our fathers and father figures! We invited our dads, uncles and grandads to spend some time with us and to share with us what it means to be a dad. We also enjoyed some food we had made for them.
The Olympics
19 August 2016
To celebrate the Rio Olympics we held our own Olympics Event. We took part in shotput, long jump and races. We even got our own Olympic medals!
Matariki
5 July 2016
This week we learnt about Matariki and what the new year means for Māori. We had a supper with our families where we shared some kai and conversations.
Mothers' Day
6 May 2016
We love our mothers and mother figures! We invited our mums, aunties and grandmas to spend some time with us while we pampered them!
Cultural Day
7 April 2016
We have children, families and teachers from all over the world, so we had a cultural day to celebrate the wonderful diversity at Life-Start.