If you’ve been past New Shoots Pakuranga recently, you might have noticed some changes. The café is no longer there, and we’ve transformed the area into a new pre-school space, with an exciting outdoor learning programme.

The children in this space closely connect with Papatūānuku in a 3 day a week outdoor “bush kindy” programme called Tane Mahuta. The other 2 days are spent doing meaningful, environmental project based learning back in the centre.

We trialled this programme one day a week within the centre for a year, and saw the immense benefits it had for our children. It’s a great opportunity for children to experience their senses, improve physical and gross motor skills and construct their own knowledge. The children are responsible for guiding their own learning and gain self-control while engaging in games of fantasy and creativity.

It’s a fun and exciting way for our tamariki to learn about the world around us - to foster a deep respect and love for Papatūānuku.

A few learnings we’ve seen within the programme:

Children learn how to make huts by using only ropes and tarps.
Trajectory learning and cause and effect when children throw stones into the water.
Engineering and imagination are at play when our creative tamariki construct a boat and dam with stones along the riverbank.
Mud pies seem to be a favourite for the tamariki who enjoy squishing the mud between their fingers

Being in nature develops confidence, inquiry, creativity, social skills and respect for the environment. It is also a wonderful way to encourage positive attitudes towards learning and developing self-esteem which improves their experience when they enter school.

The space is currently full, but if you would like to enquire about enrolling your child in the future, please contact pakuranga@newshoots.co.nz