News / Halaman York / 2019 / March 2019

I hope you all had a short and sweet break with your children during the one week holiday. I received a few text messages from parents saying that the children missed coming to school. I missed the children’s guffaws echoing in the classroom as well.

    Just before the holidays, we had ‘Bento Day’ [Lunch box] and some of the new children wondered what this special day was about. It is a special picnic day where the kitchen staff set up a “Bento Shop” in the garden. Our 5 big children helped to pack the food neatly in the compartment boxes. All the children made ‘wallets’ and ‘money’ earlier during the morning artistic activity. Then, they all queued up to “buy” the ready Bento boxes.

  Many children had extra servings by going back to the ‘Bento Shop’ to replenish their Bento container. Some of the children asked if they could buy an additional Bento set for their dinner. They had much excitement and a merry picnic lunch in the garden.

    For the children, one of the most enjoyable moments in Nania, is without a doubt, outside playtime. Young children like being close to nature because they are physical beings who like to interact with their environment.

  At Nania, we include outside play is part of the daily curriculum. Every day, we hear the children’s happy laughter resounding throughout the garden as they run about playing games with their friends like ‘chase and catch’ and ‘freeze’.

  They build sand castles, dig tunnels and landscape the sandpit with high mountains.  They pour water into their rivers and hastily dig diversions for the water to flow through continuously. Sometimes the sand is made into ‘muffins’ and ‘cakes’ garnished with flowers gathered from the garden. One of the benefits of this type of hard work is that it builds “will power”, the ability to “stick with it” when faced with challenges. It is a skill that will serve our children well for the rest of their lives.

    Some children jump confidently on the trampoline while a few would climb up the tree. They would proudly call to us as they swing on the tree house or walking on the balancing bar without needing any support.

    When children spend time outdoors without toys or electronic gadgets, they find creative things to utilize the natural “toys” around them.  This fosters creative imagination and cultivates creativity. Besides building and strengthening physical and mental health, outdoor play enhances communication skills, flexibility in thinking, teamwork, and problem- solving. 

    We will soon celebrate Easter as a festival of new life being born.  In the case of flowers, a new life starts with the bud which sprouts and grows.  With chickens, for example, a new life begins when chicks hatch from eggs and grow into adult poultry.

    During our New Life celebration, the children will colour eggs in the morning and then watch a puppet show performed by the teachers. The main storyline is the transformation of a caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly to reflect our celebration of new life.

    After that, the children will begin to hunt for the big and small eggs [peanuts] in the garden.  The eggs are hidden by the Aunty Anny and Uncle Boy during the puppet show.  The eggs that they find will be given to Aunty Anny to be served for lunch.

    At the end of the day, they will bring home the eggs that they coloured that morning.  Please ask them about the day’s activities when they reach home.

                                                                                                                     Teacher Chithra