Life is surely always interesting working in a Polkadotty World! Fluro costumes . . . quirky elves . . . little monsters . . . It has has been hectic in the build up to the Extravaganza but it’s been such a lot of fun creating and living amongst our growing cast of characters. A little like a Polkadot version of the happiest kingdom of them all.
I had the Little Monsters finished and set up when the grandchildren came to visit with their friends. Mitchell and Levi. As they rushed into the room, they came quickly to a stop.
Mitchell: “W . . . wow . . . Polkadot monsters! They’re actually Polkadot monsters.”
Levi: “Yes, but I . . .I . . . I’m not scared because they’re very friendly monsters.”
Anika (stroking her green monster) “They won’t hurt you.”
Ashton (Staring at the orange monster): “Whoa . . . Carly monster!”
I have to admit, I love being a grandma that gets to play and work with my imagination and to see my grandchildren enjoying the results.
And now a very special thank you to everyone for all your support of Polkadots through the last year. It really has been an exciting journey and we’re looking forward to everything the new year holds for us.
Wising you all a very merry Christmas and a great new year.
Grandma Polkadot.
Can you find the little monsters hiding in my house?
In the words of one of my favourite Christmas songs by Celine Dion, ‘another year has gone by!’ It feels like just yesterday that my twin brother and I couldn’t sleep a wink waiting for our stockings to be filled to the brim with sugar free lollies, dairy free chocolate and my own chocolate vitasoy! (Doesn’t that sound appetizing?)
About 20 years down the track, it’s hard to believe that I have my own two girls’ stockings to . . . put out for . . . Santa to fill, with all the SUGARY goodness that a child could ever hope for at Christmas time. It’s hard to believe that I am now a parent! WHERE HAVE THE YEARS GONE? I swear I would never say that like my parents always have but there I said it!
I was flicking through some old Polkadots videos and came across one of the first ‘Adventure Videos’ that Brookie and I did for our website. Watching this made me realise how much my little girl Brooklyn has grown up over the last few years. She was only 16 months old in the video. She is now 3! You just don’t realise how much they’ve grown until you look back! It’s such a strange feeling. I love looking back at old photos and videos with Brooklyn so she can see for herself how much she has grown. I guess we can do the same thing with ourselves too can’t we?
I originally wanted to share this video to show my little girl when she was a baby but there is also a pretty cool activity we did too! Enjoy and Merry Christmas!
Is there a more popular Christmas song than Jingle Bells? Kids all over the world know and love this song for its simple and catchy melody. So in an effort to make this good’ol Christmas favourite our own, The Polkadots decided to create a slightly different version that caters for the Southern Hemisphere.
Many children in the United States, Great Britain or other Northern Hemisphere countries may not realise that downunder has a summer Christmas. That makes celebrating the festive season very different. Instead of it being cold and snowy, it’s sunny and hot and days are spent playing at the beach in the surf and having outdoor fun.
Listen to The Polkadots version of a summer Christmas. We call it Jingle Bells – Kiwi Styles.
Round 2 of our Junior Explorer classes is about to come to an end this week with the children attending their very own DVD Premier event! Over the past 7 weeks the children have been Singing, Dancing, Learning and Playing like a Polkadot, as we learnt all about Chemical Change.
During each session the children are taught new singing skills and techniques so they can become more confident singers. They have also learnt the choreography for numerous Polkadots dances, but in particular they focused on learning the lyrics and moves to the Polkadots’ Science Seeker song “Mixing Stirring”. Each week the children were also able to engage in a different experiment which helped to develop their knowledge of what a Chemical Change is and what components are needed to create one. We made bread, salt dough, hokey pokey, and spent time just experimenting with various ingredients.
All of these activities have been filmed over the 7 weeks and all culminated last week for video week, where the children were able to make their very own music video to “Mixing Stirring”. They got all dressed up like Crazy Polkadot Scientists and did a fabulous job putting all they had learnt into action to make an awesome music video. This week they will get to celebrate and watch their efforts at the Junior Explorers Premier. Each of the children have been able to invite a special guest along and each will take home their very own copy of the Junior Explorers Journey on DVD to have as a keepsake and to share with their rest of their family and friends.
I have been very lucky to be the teacher of this awesome group of children and have loved watching their desire to learn and explore, and their confidence to sing and dance grow over the 7 weeks. Thanks everyone for being such an awesome group. If you want more information about the Junior Explorer Classes that will be starting up in the new year, e-mail info@polkadots.co.nz and we will make sure you are kept up to date with developments.
