NZH School'sOut July 2016

School’sOut July 7, 2016

Staycation

Fun on the home front

Cool runnings Icy school holiday fun PLUS – YOUR SCHOOL HOLIDAY GUIDE Win zoo and ice skating tickets

July school holidays 9-24 July

CONTENTS

6

Fun on the home front........... 3 School Holiday Guide........... 5 Cool Runnings........................ 6 Sweet Solution Science fun at home ............ 8

8

School holiday fun up for grabs School’s Out has one Auckland Zoo family pass for 2 adults and 3 children. Pass is for daytime admission.

To enter simply send an email to schoolsout@nzme.co.nz with Zoo please in the subject line before July 11th. Please include your mailing address and name in the body of the email.

We also have 5 passes to the ice skating rink at Aotea Square – the passes are for 2 adult and 2 kids or 1 adult and 3 kids.

Editor: Greg Fleming Writer: Graham Hepburn

Advertising enquiries: Tweenie Hayward-Brown Tweenie.Hayward-Brown@nzme.co.nz

To enter simply send an email to schoolsout@nzme.co.nz with Ice skating please in the subject line before July 11th.

Include your mailing address and name in the body of the email.

The next issue of School’s Out will publish in December.

In Cinemas Now

MONDAY 11 – FRIDAY 22 JULY School holidays are easier with Westfield. Keep the kids busy with a range of free fun-filled activities including Disney.Pixar’s Finding Dory crafts, monkey themed art projects and games, and entertainment with Monty the Monkey.

www.disney.co.nz

GET CREATIVE WITH MONTY

©2016 Disney/Pixar

MAKE A FINDING DORY THEMED AQUARIUM

Let your creativity run wild and enjoy some monkeying around.

Create a 3D Monty the Monkey, make a Monty puppet and play Monty’s World games.

Make your very own Disney.Pixar’s Finding Dory aquarium, complete with your favourite underwater characters from the movie, then take it home to just keep swimming†.

JOIN THE

WESTFIELD

KIDS CLUB

Sign up at Customer Service or join online today.

WESTFIELD KIDS MONTYSWORLD.CO.NZ

†

Bookings taken on the day in Centre Court.

See Customer Service for more details.

MANUKAU

WESTCITY

ST LUKES

ALBANY

WEEK ONE

GET CREATIVE WITH MONTY 10.30am - 2.30pm

GET CREATIVE WITH MONTY 10.30am - 2.30pm

GET CREATIVE WITH MONTY 10.30am - 2.30pm

MAKE A FINDING DORY THEMED AQUARIUM 10.30am - 2.30pm

WEEK TWO

MAKE A FINDING DORY THEMED AQUARIUM 10.30am - 2.30pm

MAKE A FINDING DORY THEMED AQUARIUM 10.30am - 2.30pm

MAKE A FINDING GET CREATIVE DORY THEMED WITH MONTY AQUARIUM 10.30am - 2.30pm 10.30am - 2.30pm

MONDAY 11 FRIDAY 15 JULY

MONDAY 18 FRIDAY 22 JULY

NEWMARKET

MAKE A FINDING DORY THEMED AQUARIUM 11am -1pm

N U F ME FRONT

School’s Out

3

ON THE

have t ’ n o d You town to e v a e l to p of a e h a e hav ool h c s e s e fun th days holi

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If you’re not heading away for the holidays, there is still a raft of events and d to keep k activities on around Auckland the young ones entertained.

Holiday programmes are especially attractive – whether they are getting children to extend themselves or just getting them off your hands for a morning.

Here are some of the offerings over the July school holidays.

GET CREATIVE

SCIENCE A STAR

Auckland Art Gallery is helping kids to get creative these school holidays with a series of workshops inspired by exhibitions in the gallery. Each workshop is run once in the first week then again on the same day and at the same time the next week. There are limited spaces so bookings (via Eventfinda) are essential.

Stardome Observatory and Planetarium is running Astro University on weekdays during the school holidays, giving kids the opportunity to explore the different areas of study that lead into a space science career. There will be experiments including how to tell a meteorite from a rock, how craters are made on the Moon (using flour and cocoa powder), and learning about satellite launching by firing some mini “satellite” projectiles.

There will also be other interactive experiments focusing on botany, engineering and chemistry. Children can also watch Solar System Odyssey at 10am and 1pm, and We are Astronomers at 2pm in the 360-degree planetarium theatre. If the weather is nice, staff will also be launching water-powered rockets outside.

The workshops are: An Imaginary Nature (for 6–8 year olds, Tuesdays, 10.30am-12.30pm, $18), which draws inspiration from Maria Nepomuceno’s artwork Grande Boca (Big Mouth). Participants will explore various materials and joining techniques to create ‘imaginary nature’.

Generating Fun Painting Systems to Break (6–8 year olds, Wednesdays, 10.30am–12.30pm, $18) uses Ignacio Gumucio’s large-scale painted mural as inspiration for various tape and painting techniques to create and mess with structures and rules.

Cost: child $12, adult $10 Bookings essential. •

stardome.org.nz

ZOO ADVENTURE

Auckland Zoo is running a Ranger Academy daily from Saturday July 9 to Sunday July 24. The selfguided training course through the zoo’s African savannah has six great challenges (from fitness and monitoring animal movements to animal identification

Take a self-guided zoo tour.

Characterise Your World (9-13 year olds, Thursdays 10.30am-3pm, $36) uses the exhibition Honoré Daumier: Mirror to the World as a basis for

and poaching prevention) that provide the skills and conservation knowledge rangers must possess to help animals in the wild. Rangers ‘Rae’ and ‘Raf’ will be there to guide children and give them pointers. Normal zoo admission prices apply.

The zoo will also be holding a Safari Night on Saturday July 16, when kids get to explore the zoo after hours and can sleep over in the Old Elephant House. Particpants get a barbecue dinner as well as a torchlit walk around the zoo.

Price: $50 per person (BBQ and walk only). $80 per person (BBQ, walk and sleepover).

Minimum age: 5 years.

All children must be accompanied by an adult.

The zoo will also be running its Junior Keeper programme on weekdays during the holidays, with different age ranges (6-7, 8-10, 11-13) on different days.

Activities include helping to clean, feed and care for various zoo animals as well as exploring other parts of the zoo. The programme runs from 9.15am to 3pm and Costs from $110 to $160.

Bookings essential.

• aucklandzoo.co.nz

Get creative at The Auckland Art Gallery.

9th-17th July - Holiday Activities

JULY SCHOOL HOLIDAY FUN PROUD TO BE LOCAL pakurangaplaza.co.nz

MORE FUN THAN A BARREL OF MONKEYS

Join us for crafts or events between 10.30am – 1.30pm daily including Old Mac Donalds Farm, Animal Cookie Decorating and Making Animal Toys for the SPCA.

SEE WEBSITE FOR MORE DETAILS

4 School’s Out a workshop focused on drawing, collage and ink to create characters and fun stories relating to how participants see the world.

Capturing Light with Shades of Black (5-year-olds, Fridays, 10.30am–12.30pm, $18) is a fun-filled activity using and capturing light to create artworks. Participants will also play with various black paints to see what effects can be created. This workshop is inspired

by Time: Connecting Past and – Future/Te wa–: A, Mai I Mua Ki Te Ao Hurihuri, which features artwork by Ralph Hotere, Bill Culbert, Areta Wilkinson, Bret Graham and Peter Robinson

DINOSAUR MANIA

Kids can also step back in time – a long way back – at Butterfly Creek, which is holding a fun Daily Dino show where they can learn all about dinosaurs from Dinomite the Walking Dinosaur. And they can have hours of fun in the Dinosaur Kingdom using paint and glitter to make dinosaur masks. As well as these activities, they can meet Scar The Crocodile, pet bunnies, and walk among more

GO BACK IN TIME

They’ll be invited to step back in time 100 years for a day in the life of school children in 1916, guided by actors. Kids will do fundraising with specially created games - collecting scrap, bottles and even eggs! A healthy mind and healthy body were important in the war effort so participants will exercise both like children did in 1916. Programme runs on weekdays during the holidays at 10.30am, 11.30am and 1pm, $10. Children under eight must be accompanied by an adult. Accompanying adults are free and do not require a ticket.

Bookings recommended ph 09 306 704 or aucklandmuseum.com

Motat’s Science Roadshow.

Normal admission fees apply.

For more info: phone 0800 668 286 or visit motat.org.nz

BECOME OCEAN EXPLORERS To celebrate the release of Disney-Pixar’s Finding Dory movie, Kelly Tarlton’s Sealife Aquarium is offering kids of all ages the chance to become ocean explorers on a Finding Dory adventure.

More info: Contact the Community Learning Coordinator on 09 367 1930.

Something of a culture shock is in store for kids at Auckland Museum, which is staging ‘Doing our bit - Kids on the Home Front’ during the holidays.

of new activities created to engage young minds with fun real-life engineering projects using straws and connectors that encourage trial and error-based learning.

Kids learn about conservation and protecting Dory’s home while following an entertaining and interactive quiz trail.

Dinosaurs are big at Butterfly Creek

than 700 butterflies, and see loads of tropical fish. There’s also a train ride, a playground, and a café.

butterflycreek.co.nz

The Finding Dory activity runs until July 31. kellytarltons.co.nz

SCIENCE AND IMAGINATION On top of its usual exhibits and activities, Motat will be holding a Science Roadshow Holiday Experience from Saturday July 9 to Sunday July 24 with intriguing displays such as the gigantic “sound wave” BBQ that examines the concepts of sound. There will also be investigations into the physical and chemical properties of different substances such as metals and fabrics and how these are put to everyday use. Children can step inside a wind tunnel to experience gale force winds, pump themselves up on an air jack, and test their throwing arms against a speed ball radar.

And every Saturday and Sunday in July, Motat is holding Weekends of Imagination: Strawbees Experience, a series

2016 AUDITIONS

Kids will find Dory and a whole range of sea-creatures at Kelly Tarlton’s.

MOTAT HOLIDAY

EXPERIENCE From

9 24 JULY

Have you got what it takes?

Go to www.christmasinthepark.co.nz and click on “Auditions”

ADVERTISEMENTS

SCHOOL HOLIDAY GUIDE

TREAT THE KIDS TO ALL-WEATHER FUN!

THE COOLEST PLACE TO BE!

Make sure to check out all the changes at Rainbow’s End: there’s an all-weather family entertainment facility for the younger ones, more thrill rides and a new front gate. It’s just so much fun for any time of the year – not just special occasions.The coming months and of course school holidays are a great time to visit, it’s quieter outside peak season and complete FUN ON DEMAND.

Aotea Square Ice Rink has everything you need for school holiday family fun.There’s a Kids Zone for learners to find their feet and an awesome 35-metre ice slide to race down.Themed weekends, competitions and parties ensure kids will be spoilt for choice.

Come experience the magic – open now to 24th July!

rainbowsend.co.nz

aucklandlive.co.nz

MARITIME MUSEUM SCHOOL HOLIDAY PROGRAMME

THE PERFECT FAMILY TRIP

ASTRO UNIVERSITY

Head down to the New Zealand Maritime Museum these school holidays for fun, sailing and plenty of creativity!

Monday 11 – Friday 22, 10am – 3pm Guardians of the Sea show:Watch and hear the stories of the Taniwha in this glow in the dark puppet show. Making a Taniwha: Used recycled materials to make your own Taniwha, kaitiaki (guardian) of the sea.

Also available, sailings on Ted Ashby for an additional $10!

Waitomo Glowworm Caves is the perfect family trip, only 2.5 hours’ drive from Auckland. These holidays, buy one ticket to the Waitomo Glowworm Caves and get another ticket for half price.

Enjoy a boat ride under the glowworm sky and breathtaking surroundings.

With pushchair access options, it’s great for all ages!

maritimemuseum.co.nz

waitomo.co.nz

Explore the different study options that link to space science and launch an out-of-this-world career at Stardome’s Astro University school holiday programme.

Watch the planetarium show Solar System Odyssey or We are Astronomers then have fun with the interactive activities exploring different areas of science study.There’s hands-on fun for all ages Call 09 624 1246 to book or book online at

TEENTASTIC ELITE TEEN PROGRAM

SPACE TO DREAM

MOTAT’S SCIENCE ROADSHOW

5 day Style Beauty and Confidence Workshop Auckland • Style personality • Body language • Top to toe grooming • Etiquette • Hair, makeup and nail masterclass • Catwalk techniques • Interview Techniques • Dress your body shape ….

And much more 26-30 September 2016

Auckland Art Gallery’s colourful and vibrant exhibition Space to Dream: Recent Art from South America has a dedicated ‘Family Trail’ to get kids energetically engaged with the artworks through all their senses.

The bonus is that parents love it too!

Kids 12 and under go FREE. Adults $15.

Concessions $12.50.

MOTAT’s July Holiday Experience: Science Roadshow is back! Exhilarating fun for all from 9 – 24 July as we explore a gigantic sound wave BBQ plus over 60 interactive exhibits grouped into 7 key themes!

Step inside a wind tunnel or pump yourself up on an air jack!

teentastic.co.nz

aucklandartgallery.com/spacetodream

stardome.org.nz/scienceroadshow

stardome.org.nz

6

School’s Out A family getaway to the snow is getting easier as ski fields improve their packages and facilities.

Winter fun can be had on the mountains, indoors or on a nearby skating rink.

Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, which operates the Whakapapa and Turoa ski fields on Mt Ruapehu, offers a variety of

ski passes and packages, as well as classes available for all skiers, whether beginners or experienced.

Having been granted an extension to its licence to operate the Whakapapa ski field, the company has invested in a new chairlift that will operate this winter and is

Peppa Pig © Astley Baker Davies Ltd/Entertainment One UK Ltd 2003. www.peppapig.com

At Whakapapa the programme caters for all skill levels of skiers (aged 4-16) and snowboarders (aged 8-16). Children can have either two hours or four hours of instruction per day. The two-hour classes (10amnoon) cost $275, while the four-hour classes (10am-noon and 1.303.30pm) cost $375. Children get the same experienced instructor and stay in the same group each day so they can build a rapport and make new friends while improving their skiing or boarding technique. The also enjoy priority on the lifts during their classes.

Turoa offers almost exactly the same sort of programme with their Holiday Crew taking skiers (aged 4-15) and snowboarders (aged 8-15) from beginners to experienced. Again, they classes are over five days and cost $270 for two hours or $370 for four hours tuition daily.

COOL RUNNINGS Winter school holidays often mean family ski trips, which are getting much easier to plan for all ages as ski fields improve their packages and facilities.

Friday in both weeks of the holidays on Turoa and Whakapapa ski fields.

planning to upgrade other chairlifts.

Once the Turoa licence is renewed, improvements are planned there, including a new café.

School-age kids who want to learn how to ski or improve their skills can tap into the five-day school holiday programme that runs Monday to

At the Turoa ski field there is a licensed childcare centre where children aged 2-5 are catered for with indoor play and some outdoor activities. That means parents and older children can enjoy the slopes while the little ones also get some snow action. Yeti Cubs ($80 a day) are given some snow play, while those littlies who are keen to get their skis on can be part of Yeti Skiwee ($110 a day) for beginners or Yeti Skiwee+ ($140 a day) for more advanced skiers who get up to two hours of lessons.

More info: mtruapehu.com

School’s Out

SKATING PARADICE

Snowplanet has a school holiday programme as well as its regular sessions

For some winter fun without hitting the slopes, ice skating is the way to go.

Paradice Ice Skating has two venues – at Botany Downs and Avondale – and they have brought their temporary ice rink back to Aotea Square in the heart of the city.

As well as the covered rink, people can also enjoy the 35m-long doublelaned ice slide and the Penguin Kid’s Zone.

The ice rink comes to life at night with its fairy lights, and will also host special events and themed weekends including DJ nights and ice parties.

SNOW CENTRAL

Closer to home and more easily accessible, Snowplanet has a school holiday programme as well as its regular sessions. The school holiday programme runs Monday to Friday both weeks with lessons two hours a day at either 9.30am or 1pm and costing $375.

Children are separated into groups depending on their age, ability and choice of skiing or snowboarding,

A Snow Pass, which gives access to the snow but does not include equipment rental, starts at $35 per child for two hours.

The 7 Summits restaurant and bar has windows looking out to the slope, meaning parents can retire there while the kids go crazy on the snow.

This year, Aotea Square will have a spectacular light display and the wintry wonderland feel will be augmented with life-size polar bears, penguins, and seals created by Rawstorne studio.

Ninety minutes of skating (including skate hire) costs $20 per adult, $15 for children (under 12 years), and a family pass (2 adults and 2 children or 1 adult and 3 children) is $55.

Helmets are available free of charge and skating frames can be hired for beginners.

Ice Slide tickets are $7.50 for three rides, $10 for five rides, $5 for five rides after 6pm.

The rink is open until July 24, and during the school holidays from 10am to 10pm.

Paradice also offers a school holiday programme at its two rinks. The programme consists of five days Monday to Friday - and runs each week of the school holidays. It costs $105 and children have lessons from 9am-10am each day followed by supervised skating from 10am to noon.

More info: paradice.co.nz

More info: snowplanet.co.nz

The cost includes rental equipment for each day (skis, boots and poles or snowboard and boots and a helmet, but not clothing). Participants also get a goody bag, a small snack at break time each day, and will enjoy an awards meal on Friday.

Snowplanet has a snow dome with two platter lifts on either side of the dome to transport skiers and snowboarders to the top of the slope. There is also a beginners slope, which is served by a ski mat to transport learners a small way up the slope. And there is a terrain park with a variety of rails, jumps and obstacles.

Paradice Ice Skating has two venues – at Botany Downs and Avondale.

Skate in the heart of the City at Aotea Square these holidays.

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A world of wonder awaits in Waitomo.

Our caves maintain the same temperature all year round, making winter a great time to visit. There’s adventure for the whole family!

Explore Ruakuri – New Zealand’s longest guided underground walk, enjoy a boat ride under a sparkling glowworm sky at the world famous Waitomo Glowworm Caves – or get wet and enjoy the thrills at The Legendary Black Water Rafting Company.

Visit www.waitomo.com for more information and to book.

7

Buy 1

Get 1

Half Price!

Buy one, get one half price on Waitomo Glowworm Caves passes.

For a limited time only

8

School’s Out

t e e Sw

Making a sugar water tower is a colourful experiment with a lesson about density as a bonus You don’t have to have fancy science equipment to engage your children in educational experiments.

Some common household items can be employed to teach them about density as they create a sugar water tower: food colouring, sugar and water.

Children love playing with colours and water so this is a fun experiment that will teach them something along the way.

INGREDIENTS

• Food colouring (at least four colours is good) • Water • Sugar

EQUIPMENT

• Coffee cups (one for each colour) • Tall beaker, test tube or tall glass • Dropper or pipette • Cup measurer • Tablespoon

METHOD

Science at home can be fun. Pic Getty.

Measure a cup of warm water into each cup and add food colouring to the water. The aim is to have a different colour with a different density.

For example, add 2 tablespoons of sugar to the red-coloured water, 4 tablespoons to the blue, 6 tablespoons to the yellow, and eight to the green.

Make sure to keep a note of the amounts of sugar in each of the colours as you want to load the colours into your beakers in order of the greatest density – in this case, green first, then yellow, blue and red.

Stir each of the water and sugar mixtures until the sugar is dissolved.

All of the sugar in each of the cups must be dissolved for the experiment to work.

You may need to warm the water in the cups in a microwave and then keep stirring to get all the sugar to dissolve.

Begin by taking the cup with the most sugar and dripping this into the bottom of your beaker or tall glass using a pipette or dropper. You can use a straw as a dropper by dipping it into the solution then putting your thumb over the top. Releasing your thumb will drop it into the beaker.

Creating the next layer (the secondmost dense solution) takes patience and care. It has to be dripped carefully onto the surface of the first solution. Place the pipette or dropper close to the surface of the first layer but against the glass. Slowly drip this solution on top of the first and repeat until a band of colour is built up.

Repeat this process until all the colours are layered in a rainbow effect.

This experiment teaches children about density, which is defined as mass divided by volume. Adding sugar to the water and dissolving it means the solution becomes denser.

More sugar equals greater density.

Because the solutions are different densities, they will sit separately unless they are shaken together.

Children can try different mixtures such as water with different amounts of baking soda or salt, or mixing oil and sugar to see if the solutions will layer in a similar fashion.

WEEK 1

WEEK 2

BOTH FRIDAYS