Northland Maunga!

 Those of you who have joined us in session during the week might have noticed that this week we are ' all about mountains' at Kindergarten!

We've been thinking a lot about what makes Northland unique and the geography is one aspect. We've enjoyed the idea that legends give weather or inanimate features of geography a character sometimes. often with facial features that show an emotion! 

So when a huge group followed two girl's plans to make a really huge maunga, we really enjoyed the process. We loved measuring how high it was getting, working hard together to achieve an objective, and  connecting the work to a kindergarten regular event - simulating a volcanic eruption. When some of the children wondered if there were actual mountains nearby, we did some storytelling about this and research- legends and images of local places of interest. We love the idea of our Maunga being Te Ahumairangi ( which means whirlwind!)

After our work sharing what had happened that day and our group korero at our mat time hui about what we know about legends of mountains - all week we've had friends drawing mountains. Those that are nearby with recognisable features such as wind turbines, those from legend  which have features showing how the mountain character is thinking,  and those which reflect our research on volcanic mountains. Whew! we've been busy! Here's a sample of some of the work we have so enjoyed developing with those children who choose to express and investigate their interests using art media..... ka pai tō mahi!