If you have had children in early childhood education for a wee while you may have heard of the phrase tuākana-tēina when referring to children’s learning, but what exactly does this mean and how can this social learning benefit your child?
Visual arts can play a crucial role in your child’s development by offering a large range of opportunities to explore their world and extend on their learning and communication skills, but what exactly is visual arts?
Did you know that at the beginning of each year, your child’s Early Learning Centre undergoes a philosophy review where all parents are encouraged to provide their ideas, suggestions and feedback on the Centre philosophy?
There is no denying the calming effect that water can have on most children! Whether it be splashing in the bath, playing in puddles, going for a swim or engaging with water play, most children are delighted when offered opportunities in these experiences!
As a parent or caregiver there is possibly nothing that pulls at the heart strings more than tricky goodbyes when dropping your child off to early learning, especially when they are just settling in and the environment is new and unfamiliar to you both...
It is very natural when hearing the word risk to automatically think of hazards and danger. As parents we want to do all that we can to prevent our children getting hurt so hearing the words risky and play together can feel a bit hazardous in terminology alone...
You may have heard the term loose parts (or open ended resources) used within your child’s Early Learning Centre but what exactly is it and how are they beneficial in your child’s learning journey?
There are many ways that whānau can positively impact their child’s early literacy development by creating opportunities during day to day interactions. Here are just three of the ways you can help support your child on their literacy learning journey.
Everyday in lots of different ways, opportunities present themselves for our children to engage in mathematical concepts.
No doubt over the years we’ve all had a wee dabble playing with play dough- whether it be the commercial play-doh brand that was first marketing as a play product in the 1950’s or the homemade version that has been whipped up in kitchens all around the world. There are many reasons why playdough is so popular and the skills developed through playing with this medium go far deeper than just imagination and creativity!
There’s no denying the delight that bubbles can bring for children and adults alike! As an adult it comes naturally to us to be able to blow bubbles, but have you ever thought about the different skills it takes?
Find out how to create your own DIY chalk paint for endless hours of fun for your child!
Happy Chinese New Year! Here at our Active Explorers centres in Glenfield, our tamariki had so much fun during our Chinese New Year celebration.
All our tamariki have engaged in learning activities related to Mother's Day this month!
We had some Easter craft activities this month! Tamariki were invited and encouraged to work on age-appropriate Easter-related crafts. Some toddlers demonstrated fantastic cutting skills with scissors already ;)
Effective 1 April 2023, more people will be eligible for subsidy and the hourly subsidy rates will increase.
This month, we celebrated St Patrick's Day. So happy to see our tamariki dressed in green!
In light of Waitangi Day, our tamariki were encouraged to participate in Māori-related learning activities
So glad to see a lot of exploration happening in our classrooms from the very beginning of the year 😉
We went to Jump Trampoline Park and the Apprentice Builders Competition. It was such an exciting experience!
Tamariki really enjoyed sharing their Easter hats and making Easter eggs!
We all dressed up green and celebrated with a variety of green activities in the centre!
For Waitangi Day our children were invited to wear a korowai and sign a Treaty of Active Explorers.
Supporting cultural diversity, inclusion, and an opportunity for students to connect to our global community!
Our tamariki are so excited and happy to be back out enjoying playball in the sunshine!
A visit from the local fire station was a source of much excitement for the children at Active Explorers Blockhouse Bay.
The Living Eggs Programme provides a unique hands-on opportunity for children to get up close and personal with the chick hatching process and this month, the children at Active Explorers Blockhouse Bay were treated to an inside glimpse of nature at work.
Showcasing your work at a local A&P show is a BIG DEAL. And today, the children at Active Explorers Richmond poured all their creativity and focus into crafting beautiful sand saucer flower gardens to enter in this weekend's much anticipated show.
Active Explorers Glenfield celebrated Diwali in style this year with a dress-up celebration day bursting with fun and colour.
What a fun day we had celebrating Diwali, the Indian Festival of Lights on October 22!
Active Explorers Blenheim and Pascals Blenheim joined forces to host a special Parent and Child Expo, showcasing their first-rate programmes and facilities to the local community.
Bollywood music and dancing has taken the world by storm and for the children at Active Explorers Blockhouse Bay, it was one of the many highlights of Diwali 2019.
Creativity and sustainability converged last night at Active Explorers Henderson's 2019 Art Show.
Active Explorers Mayfair got in on the World Cup action with a special visit from two Hawkes Bay Magpies, Deven and Stacey.
Active Explorers Mayfair and Nurtured @ Active Explorers Mayfair were treated to a visit from local fire fighters and two fire trucks.
A trip to the recent Glenavon School 'Festival of Colour' was visual feast for tamariki at Active Explorers Blockhouse Bay.
This week the Prep Room children from Active Explorers Central City learnt a lot about Spring, thanks to a journey of exploration to one of Canterbury’s rural communities.
The staff and children at Active Explorers Blockhouse Bay played their part in supporting the one in three Kiwis affected by cancer with a special fundraising event, which included face painting, daffodil making and a picnic lunch.
A recent trip to Napier's popular Omni Gymnastic Centre boosted skills and confidence for a group of 3 and 4 year olds from Active Explorers Mayfair.
A wee seal pup wondered into our car park looking for a bit of care. So all the children went out to investigate.
At the end of June Active Explorers Mayfair held a Matariki Soup and Pyjama day to mark the end of Matariki and to support their local Jammies for June initiative.
This year as part of their Matariki celebrations tamariki and staff paid a visit to the Auckland Museum, where they attended a magical Matariki education session, specially crafted for preschool children.
To celebrate Matariki at Mana this year, families gathered together under the star-spangled evening sky, to share kai and celebrate our children’s art gallery.
As well as an awesome trip to the Auckland Museum, Active Explorers Blockhouse Bay celebrated Matariki 2019 through a wide and diverse range of learning experiences - from planting new seeds in the garden and bringing a vegetable for Soup Day, to exploring Maori patterns through visual arts.
After a foggy start in Nelson, the day cleared to present a spectacular night sky for our Matariki celebration at Active Explorers Richmond.
This week Nanny Deb created endless hours of fun with a few (quite a few actually) cardboard boxes. She built a giant tunnel that stretched its way across the outdoor play area, filling it with balloons and other hidden surprises.
This week children from Active Explorers Leeston’s Enquiry Class learnt how to make manu taratahi kites, with the help of Coby’s talented mum, Karen Quinn.
The tamariki at Active Explorers Blockhouse Bay have been fascinated by sea life recently, and a trip to Kelly Tarlton’s Sea Life Aquarium was a great way to get up close and personal with some of the creatures they’ve been learning about.
Children, teachers and whanau from Active Explorers Richmond took a walk on the wild side last week, with a visit to not-for-profit conservation park, Natureland Wildlife Trust.
Yesterday, Active Explorers Greenmeadows wore PJ’s for the day. This is to support the local initiative, “Jammies for June” where pyjamas, hats, socks and cash are donated in order to provide warm PJ’s for children who may not have them.
Staff and children at Active Explorers Richmond have never been healthier, and now, thanks to special recognition from the Heart Foundation, they have an award to prove it.
Enrolments are now open at Active Explorers Helensville, a modern, purpose built centre on Commercial Road.
Trikes, bikes, scooters, skateboards – and even some rollerblades – descended on Active Explorers Glenfield recently for the much anticipated Wheel Day.
Today we picked some of the lettuce out of our garden and made some sandwiches for afternoon tea.
Valentine’s Day has long been celebrated all over the globe – but this year on February 14 Active Explorers Richmond took our annual day of hearts to a whole new level.
The creative and environmentally conscious kids at Active Explorers Farnborough have taken out second prize in the much-anticipated Hamilton Gardens Scarecrow Festival.
Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Maori Language Week)
The snow has arrived at Active Explorers Glenfield on a gorgeous blue day. All our children Infants, Toddlers and Preschool were so excited and had so much fun.
Some of the children and teachers from Te Puawai tots room at Active Explorers Victoria visited Te Hotu Manawa o Rangitane Marae.
The financial literacy skills of children across the country were given a big boost yesterday, and pre-schoolers at 12 Active Explorers centres (36 of Evolve’s early childhood education centres) were some of the lucky recipients.
Active Explores Blockhouse Bay had a Snow Day on Thursday 12th July.
Earlier this week the preschool children made pikelets and pancakes for afternoon tea.
Celebrating Matariki with a ‘Wearable Arts Evening’ has become a tradition in our Palmerston North centres.
As part of our latest programme planning at Active Explorers Kaiwharawhara we invited parents to speak in front of our tamariki in the Juniors Room.
