Playing can take you anywhere!

Here's a look at some of what we've been doing when we choose our own learning!

Last week many of us joined a game.  The game was that we were on a plane and the flight attendants were making sure we all had our seat belts on and were quiet before take-off.  The game started with a few willing participants and as it grew, you can imagine how complex it got.  There were lots of people wanting to have the game go their way so there was lots of negotiating and discussing going on.  We were all using our imagination as well as our prior knowledge as we imagined we were buckling up, listening to the instructions and getting ready to go to some unknown destination.  Some were going to Disney World, some were going to Auckland and others to Fiji!  We even got given refreshments and lollies at the end if we were good on the plane.  There were discussions of pilots and control rooms and rules on real planes!

In our inquiry we've been looking at how places change over time.  We found these old postcards and realised they were of places we knew! So we looked at them and started talking about what they used to be like and how they are now! We made these Then and Now posters to show our ideas! We were comparing and really thinking about how things and places change over time.  We still wonder how they change though? And who decides they are going to change?

Here we had a game going on that was looking after animals.  They were being cared for and taken around in the cages.  Some of them were sleeping under blankets and we were thinking about what people and animals need when they are sick.  Wellbeing is important and getting lots of rest is something we can all use--especially if we're feeling crook! Luckily, these little animals had these caring Autahi members looking after them! 

We got some new kinetic sand this week and we have been experimenting and building with it.  It's very interesting to feel it change from individual grains of sand to a solid form! We also got some molds and have been making castles and seashells and all different kinds of shapes!

This game had many iterations. It started as a shop with food being made and sold, turned into a house and people going on a trip and then became an army fort being defended.  There was lots of discussion, negotiating and compromising.  Everyone wanted the suitcase and money, so we had to do some problem solving as well! We are getting better at working out our problems together and with our words!