A new swing at LaValla



Today I thought we could create a new swing at Nature Discovery so on our way to Lavalla we stopped off at Profarm to purchase some rope. The children were excited to be doing something a little different on our journey and were excited to help Leah and I measure the rope.

We looked at all the different trees around where we have our other two swings and discovered a nice thick branch that looked sturdy enough to support the swing. Then we had to look for a seat, Ava and her mum found the perfect piece of wood, long enough to tie the rope on each end. Ava offered to do the test run, which I thought was very brave as we are never too sure how the swings will perform! We all agreed it was best to stat off with little pushes, which slowly developed into bigger ones. Everyone enjoyed taking turns to either push or be pushed it was great to see our tamariki negotiating the order of the turn taking.

 Hauiti noticed that Tyler was having a little trouble getting onto the swing, he just couldn't quite jump high enough to get on the seat.

So Hauiti showed Tyler how to jump...so Tyler tried again a few times,

but still had no luck...

So Hauiti showed Tyler how to jump and pull himself up onto the swing, so Tyler tried again...but still had no luck...

So Hauiti offered to hold the swing thinking that maybe that was the problem, he then said Jump Tyler jump! So Tyler jumped, Hauiti held the swing but still they had no luck.

Hauiti gave it one more shot and tried to lift his friend onto the swing and Tyler jumped, but still they had no luck so Hauiti called me and said..."Cassandra Tyler cant get on the swing can you help him"

And so I did. Hauiti asked if he could use my camera to take a photo of his friend, and what a great photo he took. I was so proud of Hauiti and Tylers perseverance today, it would have been so easy for them to have given up a lot sooner and asked for help. Instead they worked together, with Hauiti problem solving and supporting his friend. When Tyler finally made it onto the swing he wasn't the only one with a great big smile, Hauiti and I had one too!

Written by Cassandra