Insects are ever popular at the centre. The children often spend hours searching about the centre for spiders and other creepy crawlies. Sadly they can be few and far between so we decided to go into the country.

We did find bugs galore. We lifted old logs, bricks and scrabbled about in an overgrown shade house, where we found all sorts of insects for our terrarium.

We also found an old tractor called Pedro, that we all took turns at "driving". Pretend of course!

What an excellent Christmas Party we had. Lots of scrummy food, all our families and friends and to top it off Santa arrived with sacks full of pressies, in a police car. Thank you Dan the Puppetman for entertaining us while we awaited the arrival of Santa. There was a bit of a catastrophe as Santa had ripped his pants while donning boots. Too much Christmas pudding and cheer!!

Always something new happening at Mount Plunket Preschool and there is NEVER a dull day. This day some soldiers from the army came in to visit us. They showed the children all the things they keep in their packs, their camouflage gear and how to do press ups!! Thank you NZ Army for taking time out of your busy day to visit our children.

Sometimes the most interesting places to explore and experience nature are not far away. A short van trip and our four year olds were able to explore the wonders of nature at Yatton Park, near Greerton. There were wilderness paths and a forest, waterfalls, amazing old trees to climb and hide in and a meandering stream. Nature is our greatest teacher and children are naturally at home in such an environment. Teachers only need to be there to keep them safe, and answer their questions. The most exciting find of the day was a huge bees nest hanging from a tree. We kept well away form that!

With the warmer weather we have had some wonderful fun this week playing in our Mud Pit. It is certainly a favourite activity of the children and nothing is healthier than getting up close and personal with nature by wallowing in Mud! Not for the faint hearted. :o)

HOw lovely that parents take time out of their busy day to come in and share their special talents.

What an exciting day we had today! Izzy-Jane brought her Dad in to entertain us with singing and playing his guitar. He played some good ole rock 'n roll, as well as songs the children knew and could sing along and dance to. Before long the children had the intruments out and were joining it with gusto! Damon is a local well known musician and plays in a band called Deeds. Thank you so much for taking the time to come to our Preschool, Damon, Izzy-Jane and Tyler were so proud to have you. And we all thought you were superb!

What a lovely evening we had recently down at Pilot Bay. Many of our families and their children joined us for a picnic tea to herald the end of daylight saving and the long hot days of summer. The weather was kind to us and although it was a little chilly many of the children took the opportunity for a last refreshing dip of the summer.

Many of the children have been interested in break dancing of late. Justin Bieber being the favourite musician to bop to. We were lucky to experience the great moves of a young break dancer first hand, when he visited us at the Preschool. The children scrutinised his great moves closely and were soon bopping and jiving along with him.

Rhythm Kids has returned to preschool on thurs at 1pm for 6 weeks. Participation is a gold coin donation. Today was the first session. What a blast it was!!!

Come one come all to celebrate Christmas with us on the 8th December at 5.30pm. This year we have a bouncy castle for your enjoyment and we will be entertained by the award winning band RPM. Oh and of course the jolly fellow in red will make an appearance with a sack full of pressies. So put on your dancing shoes and bring your picnic tea for a fun night out at Mount Plunket Preschool!

Here at Mount Plunket Preschool we are situated in one of the most beautiful parts of the the world. Within a short distance there is so much to discover and we take every opportunity to explore these places with the chilren. These trips generate many questions from the children that we can not always answer. So when we get back to the centre the children begin to research, in our centre books or on the internet. Sometimes we also visit the library next door.