A little tree, with a big spirit

Last week we had an Enviroschools cluster meeting at Little Earth.  This coincided with Mataariki, the Maori New Year.  Mataariki is the Maori name for a group of seven stars known as the Pleiades star cluster.  Mataariki appears sometime near the end of May, into June and in Maori tradition is thought to determine how successful the harvest crop will be in the coming season.  The brighter the stars, the more productive the crop will be!  Mataariki is also a time of reflection with whanau (family) and of giving thanks.  In short, it is a time of new beginnings.

As a way of giving thanks, Enviroschools donated a tree to Little Earth.  In spirit with the Maori tradition a mihi was said before the tree was planted.  A mihi is an acknowledgement of the spiritual and physical forces in nature.  The mihi we said honoured and acknowledged the family of Rangi (Sky father), Papa (mother Earth) and Tāne (Forest god). 

Tēnei au, tēnei au
Ka mihi ki a Rangi
Ka mihi ki a Papa
Ka mihi ki a Tāne
Kia tau, kia tau, kia tau

At our preschools we embrace the heritage of Aotearoa (New Zealand), honouring the original habitants of the land itself.  The Maori people, the indigenous people of Aotearoa, have a strong connection with nature.  Maori tradition emphasis the need to live as closely as possible with nature, to learn about it, and to understand it.   It is their believe that the inter-relatedness of people and all of nature (whanaungatanga) is through the family of Ranginui and Papatuanuku.  By showing respect for the ancestors and for generations to come our Little Earth community becomes a part of a much larger relationship, a relationship not only between humans, but between humans and the land.

The little rakau (tree) is a kaponga, a native silver tree fern.  It is the first addition to our lizard garden.  As part of our outdoor development we are developing a lizard habitat in an area of our garden.  There are two kinds of lizards in New Zealand – geckos and skinks.  They are endemic and have been in New Zealand for over 80 million years, when we were still part of Gondwana.    In order to survive and carry out their daily activities, skinks and geckos have to raise their body temperature by extracting heat from the sun’s rays and from rock surfaces.  Their habitats are decreasing due to urbanization and pollution. 

At Little Earth we are planning a lizard habitat by using a mix of logs, rocks, shrubs, ground cover plants, and open areas.  This project will take time as the shrubs and plants need to grow to create a safe habitat.  As is our philosophy at Little Earth, the children are empowered to participate in the daily running and development of their learning environment, and this too will take time.  We will start collecting plants and shrubs, logs and rocks and one step at a time add a quiet space to our beautiful outdoor environment.  Hopefully this space will become a place where the children will go for solitude and stillness, for observations and connections with the beautiful world of nature.  Guarded by Te Manaia, the Maori guardian representing the balance between Sky, Earth and Water, our lizard garden will become a special place in time to come, honoured with a special little tree, and a big spirit.

- Anja

Creating a frog pond

Note: I wrote this post before our January holidays (Summer in New Zealand).  I didn't post it earlier as we have had no frogs. However, reflecting on the project, I still think it is a great project to do. It may not work in our garden (please leave a comment if you have any suggestions for improvement), but it may well work for others. The project also shows that not everything we undertake has the desired outcomes, however, there is always something to be gained and learned. If it is not a visiting frog, it will be the many water insects that have made themselves at home or the learning that took place at implementation. As with any journey, our journey as an enviro preschool has obstacles and highlights and we embrace them all!

One of the great advantages of attending conferences is the sharing of ideas and meeting like minded people. Last year I came away from the Sustainability and the Early Years Conference in Melbourne with many great ideas. The fantastic team of The Point Preschool in Sydney shared the idea of creating a frog pond with us.

Place a basin or bowl into the ground in a sheltered spot in your garden, ideally surrounded by greenery. Make sure it has sloping sides so the frogs can get out. Fill the basin up with rocks and add water from the rainwater tank. Some frogs have a "homing" instinct and it is best to wait for the frogs to come on their own goodwill, rather then displacing them. It can take anywhere between six weeks and many months for the frogs to arrive, so the crucial part is patience.

At the back of Tawa Montessori runs a small creek, which we suspect may house frogs, so we decided to give the frog pond idea a go. With the children we discussed the habitat of our local frogs, the southern bell frog. We made a list of what we would need in order to recreate a frog habitat. Over a week we collected the items from our garden, mainly rocks and a log. We explored our garden for a good "frog" spot and decided on a bushy spot at the back, close to the creek and away from the pathways and the preschool building.

We bought a big bowl, the biggest we could find. Although it is still not big enough for our liking, it will be good enough to start. The children dug a hole in the ground and placed the bowl in the ground. Strong muscles were required to carry the rocks which were placed around the edge of the bowl. Pebbles and smaller rocks were placed inside the bowl to enable the frogs to climb in and out and also to make sure the pond is not too deep. We planted the odd water plant from our turtle pond. Several loads of water had to be carried from the rainwater tank to the frog pond. A sign warns our young explorers to be vigilant and to be on the look out for frogs. Our next task now is to keep the pond filled up with water from our rainwater tank and to practice the virtue of patience!




Creating your own backyard frog pond is a great project to do with young children. You can make it as big or as small as you want. You can use any type of container that holds water, but watch the depth if you have little children around. The most important part is the spot you choose to create your pond. Frogs are amphibians, meaning their babies, tadpoles, live in the water, but as adults they spend most of their time out of the water. Therefore it is important you choose a spot where the frogs can find shade and can hide out of the water. Plants, rocks and logs are ideal for this. It is also important your spot is pesticide free, and rich with insects as this is the staple diet for the frogs.

We finished our frog pond in our last week of school before Christmas. The preschool will be closed for five weeks over summer. We are not sure what we will find when we come back, but we will let you know!
- Anja

With thanks to Catherine and Peter from The Point Preschool in Sydney, Australia for sharing this idea.

Helpful link:
- Backyard Buddies, New South Wales government