Visit to Kindy by Jim Wheeler, sculptor

Jim Wheeler was one of the sculptors whose work was on display at the Botanic Garden. 

Object of devotion

We invited him to come to Kindy to talk to us about his work and Olivia welcomed him wearing our Korowai

He brought lots of his work to show us and we had LOTS of questions for him.

All his works reflect his love for the New Zealand flora and fauna

We learnt so much about the process of making his sculptures. It was much different than we expected. He starts by making a small model then progresses to a bigger one then a bigger one – we thought he would just make the one big one!

He showed us on his computer how he had made his work in the Botanic Garden

We loved the wooden bird that he made

Samuel farewelled Jim and gave him a present

Thanks Jim!

The Daisy Blanket - or is it a Daisy Chain?

The Daisy Blanket at the Sculpture trail at the Botanic Garden was a favourite with all the children

So we worked out how to make our own using plastic bags brought into Kindy by our families

It took a lot of concentration to make a daisy but ...it was possible!

When we had enough we tied them all together and took them outside 

We tried them in different places around the Kindy

Then after a while our Daisy Chain was left for other interesting things to pursue at Kindy!

Our trip to the Botanic Garden to view the Sculpture Trail

On 10th Feb 2012 we set off on a bus to see the sculpture trail at the Botanic garden.
The sculpture trail is a biennial event at the gardens and is only open over the summer.

We went into the visitors centre and saw the mini sculptures  before heading off to have morning tea

It's amazing how hungry one gets after a bus ride!
then off we went to look at all sculptures.

Barnacles in the water!

We all loved the bird sculptures by Bing Dawe

Jeff Thomson's work - renamed 'Marshmellows' by our children!

The bird watcher

The tropical forest in the Children's Garden (designed by Jill Rice)
had very welcome 'rain'.

Peter Lange's brick dinghy is a permanent exhibit at the gardens  but it was a definite favourite!

'The Bivvy' caught the imagination of many children - it almost turned into a competition -
 how many children can you fit into a bivvy?

100 spades went into this spikey flower!

It was a really hot day and by lunch time we were all exhausted!