Water Shortage!

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO : The Water Shortage! 

ABOVE - what the reservoirs SHOULD look like vs how they are looking right now...

As many of you know, Auckland is running very low on water! 

I have enjoyed going into classes and sharing a presentation and talking about this issue with you all.

I hope you have managed to share your booklets with your family and talk above ways to save water.

 Here's a video showing you how low the water levels are

Term 2 Week 5

Term 2 Week 5 TOP PICKS! 

Activity - 

It has been great to see so much sun lately BUT it has meant that Auckland is now experiencing a water shortage and will soon restrict the amount of water we are allowed to use. 

Watch the video to see ways we can save water.

Now go round your house and write down or draw pictures to show all the ways you use water. How many can you find? 

How could YOUR family save water?  Can you think of 3 ideas?  

Website -  All about water; saving water, using water, and there's some really fun games to play too! 

Recipe - Banana Pancakes. Treat your Mum this week by making HER breakfast. These banana pancakes are SO easy and super yummy! 

Moth Plant pod competition CANCELLED!!

Moth Plant pod competition CANCELLED!!

HI all

Thanks for your enthusiasm with this competition. I'm sad to tell you that it has 

BEEN CANCELLED. See information below... 

BEFORE you BIN your pods, Please send any photos / numbers of what you collected and where to me and I'll collate it and send them a picture collage from Howick Primary School. 

47 teams entered making a total of 151 of you. That is a really significant jump from 2019 when there were 20 teams.

The following are two key reasons we have cancelled the 2020 Moth Plant Pod Competition:

1. Council is not endorsing any community conservation work on public land at the moment
2. Students and whanau would be breaking their bubbles if they were to join up with their team  or enter other’s properties to collect moth plant pods

We realise some keen teams started collecting pods prior to lock down and have many bags full in your sheds... please can you take photos and let us know the numbers of pods you gathered?

We really want to know what you have achieved, as will the Local Board. Once you have taken a photo of yourselves and the pods, please put all your moth plant pods in your landfill bin.

We thank you again for your enthusiasm to get out in your local community to take pest plant action.

Hopefully next year things will have returned to how we were before Covid 19, and the moth plant pod competition will open again and you will take part.

Term 2 Week 4

Term 2 Week 4 TOP PICKS!

EDIT TO ADD... Really enjoyed making MY mandala ... here's a picture! 

FACT OF THE WEEK:  11% of household waste is plastic.  (Make sure YOU are recycling it all!) 

Activity - Make a Nature Mandala.  Want to do some awesome art! With this cool activity nature meets art!  HERE Benji from DOC shows you how. 

HERE'S some more great pictures but get creative and make it however you like! 

How:
1. From your garden or when out for a walk, collect different natural materials - such as leaves, petals, sticks, feathers, stones. You will need lots of each type. Don't pick them from other people's gardens though! 

2. Lay all the materials out and take the time to look at each of them.

3. Group the materials by size, shape, colour etc. 

4. Find a place to create your mandala. You can do this inside or out. Either find a flat surface or work on at home, or use the sand at the beach or another outside surface. The idea that the nature mandala is not permanent, so there’s no use of glue.

5. Start creating! Place a larger object in the middle. Let the shape expand outwards with rings or layers. The nature mandala art emerges and grows through the process. 

6. Keep adding until you decides that the mandala is finished. Take a photo of it for keepsake. Or, if you’ve made a mandala outside, then revisit it over a few days and document the changes that wind, rain and sun can make to the formation.

Recipe -  Muesli bars - Click the title for lots of different muesli bar recipes!

Website - Kiwi Conservation Club,  lots of information about NZ animals as well as great quizzes, jigsaws and puzzles.

Term 2 Week 3

Term 2 Week 3 TOP PICKS! 

FACT OF THE WEEK... A glass bottle made today will take more than 4,000 years to decompose! (Please RECYCLE!!) 

Activity -  While walking around Howick this weekend, I've seen some awesome 'zero waste' poppy creations. As we are at home, in our bubbles, it is a great time to try some more "crafty art."  Why not have a go at some of these?

Website - Love sea animals? Then this NZ website, Young Ocean Explorers,  will be just the thing for you!

Recipe - Chocky Bready Muffins! Yum!
Click the title for the recipe.

Happy Earth Day! 

Why not do some painting outside on such a beautiful sunny day!
This idea uses all natural things supplied by NATURE - you probable have them in your cupboards, pantry and fridge! Remember to ask first!

Term 2 Week2 TOP PICKS

Term 2 Week 2 TOP PICKS!

Feedback from last week ...
Awesome Ice Eggs!  Great effort Jackson and Jade. 

It's great to see that this blog has already had nearly 200 views! Wow! Fantastic everyone thanks!

Comment below what you would like to see more of.

Term 2 Week 2 TOP PICKS!

FACT OF THE WEEK... 
90% of plastic polluting our oceans is carried by just ten rivers.
Thanks to Jackson for supplying this fact.

Website - National Geographic KIDS  An awesome website packed with competitions, games and quizzes as well as interesting facts.

Activity- Wicked Waste BINGO 
On Wednesday 22nd April it is Earth Day. 
Competition Time! Can you get 3 in a row in this WICKED WASTE Bingo Game?
Available as a VIDEO (click title above) and a document to download. 

Recipe - Breakfast Cookies (eat them anytime!)
Still no flour or eggs? No problem! You don't need either for these!
Click the title for the recipe.

Term 2 Week 1 TOP PICKS…

Each week I’ll share "Miss Long’s top picks" of Enviro things to do, 

This will include...

1 recipe
1 awesome interactive website
1 activity 

The purpose of these activities are to HAVE FUN while educating ourselves about WHY we need to help the environment and HOW we can do this. 

Term 2 Week 1 TOP PICKS…

Website: Auckland Zoo -  online puzzles of your favourite animals but there’s heaps of other cool things to do on this website too! 

Activity- Ice Egg - still feeling the love for eggs? These aren't chocolate but make a fun science experiment - fill it with cute flowers and leaves from the garden, add water and freeze. Watch it melt! Make it into a science experiment - what makes it melt slower? faster?

Recipe - Choccy- Orange Bliss Balls. 

Super easy to make and flour and egg free! Click the title for the recipe.