This time of year can present some challenges when it comes to keeping children entertained. As well as enjoying some time outside in Winter weather, it’s nice to have a range of fun activities that you can enjoy inside too.
That’s why we’re focusing our Winter Blog on great books to enjoy with your tamariki. Books provide endless entertainment and opportunities for activities. They can be read together and enjoyed, and they can become the starting point for imaginative play, art, story creation and lots of different types of fun.
We’ve pulled together a list of some favourite books that our Little Magpies whanau enjoy. We hope you enjoy them too.
Kia Ora, my name is Bonnie. I am currently a teacher in training working with children aged 3.5-5years. I have been working at Little Magpies for 3 years.
I believe reading aloud to children is important as it supports and extends their imagination skills and deepen their understanding of their world, while developing Language and listening skills.
My recommendation is a Te Reo Singalong book, “He aha Tēnei”. This book is about children discovering insects and inspiring them to think about insects as taonga, or treasure that we need to protect.
Being a CD book, it offers opportunities for the children to share their experiences and knowledge with their peers and teachers.
The story has a catchy tune with detailed illustrations.
Kia Ora, I’m Emma, Acting Head Teacher of the Kiwi Room with the 2-3 year olds.
I have been working at Little Magpies for 2 and a half years. I believe that reading to the children is important because it supports comprehension skills and encourages children to be imaginative and creative, as well as extending their verbal communication.
The book I would like to recommend is: ‘Kei te Pēhea Koe? – How do you feel?’
This book is about feelings, incorporating Te Reo as well as English. The children really enjoy reading this book. I encourage the children to make the facial expressions of the feelings in the book which they participate in enthusiastically.
This book is a good tool for exploring and expressing different feelings, something we focus on a lot in the kiwi room.
Kia Ora I’m Amber, I’m currently a teacher in training and I work in the Gecko room with children aged from birth to 2 and a half years old. I’ve been working at Little Magpies for 3 years. I believe reading aloud to children is important because it allows them to use their imagination and also helps them develop their language and listening skills.
The book I am recommending is ‘Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?’. This book is about colours and animals so this is the perfect book for this age group as it is a great introduction to looking at and learning about colours. Children love this book as they are able to visually see the animals and make the noises, they enjoy the repetition of language throughout the book. The illustrations are bold and easy for the children to identify.
Hi I’m Rachael, I am a Visiting Teacher for our Little Magpies Home Based Service, which I have been with for over 10 years. I recommend ‘The Little Kiwi’s Matariki’ because he involves all of his friends in his search for the light they see from the Matariki stars. It has a lovely explanation about the significance of Matariki.
Hi I’m Amanda, I am the Home Based Manager and Visiting Teacher for our Little Magpies Home Based Service, which I have been with for over 5 years. I love the story of the ‘Seven Kites of Matariki’ as it draws the children’s interest to the beautiful illustrations of the kites. Children enjoy discussing the different colours and facial expressions and how all of their eyes on the kites are different shells you can find here in Aotearoa.
