VIRTUAL EVENT - organized by Cyprus kindergarten Dimosio Nipiagogeio Lympion 3rd day

 The 3rd day started with Hello in each partner country language and said by Cyprus children! 

Then we had a little road trip in Cyprus to remind us that we still are virtually in Cyprus!! Even if we were sitting in our music hall:

Then we were able to see videos of activities about Animal Body Parts chart and with recording wall mat. Also the teachers introduced different games they had made for children.

For the active brake we played the Wheel of Fortune! So they rolled it and the wheel gave you a task, like "Please go and find something big! and so on...

Very interesting to everybody was a Cyprus kindergarten made educational program "A Suitcase of Fairy Tales"! It was a suitcase full of materials and everything made by them! Just wonderful!

Then Cyprus national animal mouflon Stavros travelled to Europa to visit the partners! And he wanted to know that what he will see and do there. So everybody got a little work to do to fill in the empty gaps and give some information about their country! So came along fairy tale "Once upon a time..."

Then Dr Maria Kyriakou held a seminar "Cyprus educational reform: From teacher-directed activities to child-directed pedagogy". Once again we were reminded how important is to play with children because through it they learn more easily.

Before ending our three day journey we watched short story of Heartland of Cyprus. Beautiful legend about Cyprus. 

So thank you Cyprus for welcoming us and giving us lovely three days! 

VIRTUAL EVENT - organized by Cyprus kindergarten Dimosio Nipiagogeio Lympion 2nd day

 2nd day virtual event on theme "Animals in Our Nature".

We started the event with lovely Good morning from the children!

And then Cyprus showed us how they started and got through with the theme "See - Our animals"!

Little active brake was a clapping song!

Then followed a seminar by Elena Erotokritou "The fauna of Cyprus". We always thought that Cyprus is like Egypt where is so warm and sunny that plants don't want to grow. But boy were we wrong! Cyprus has very diverse nature with lots of green! So thank you for showing it to us!

The day 2nd part consisted of yet another interesting seminar, where all partners showed the presentations what they had made on the theme "Animals in Our Nature". It is just amazing to see how diverse we can do one theme! how wonderful ideas the teachers have come up with and how perfectly they have executed them! Thank you again my dear partners!

Cyprus showed us an activity with the book "Zoe and Beans! The magic Hoop!". And they also shared the story with other partners to use in their work.

For the finishing off for our 2nd day Cyprus showed us an drama role play activity about the "Saint Helen to Cyprus". Where the children played the story how the Cyprus island came and Saint Helen ended up there.

And to finish the day we watched a little video of Cyprus kindergarten children celebration!

Lots of activities, lots of ideas! Thank you again!

VIRTUAL EVENT - organized by Cyprus kindergarten Dimosio Nipiagogeio Lympion 1st day

 On 29th of November  2021 started the 3 day virtual meeting, what was organized by Cyprus Dimosio Nipiagogeio Lympion. 

On the 1st day we traveled virtually to Cyprus! We were greeted by the children through a video. It was a lovely way to start our three day meeting on theme "Animals in Our Nature". Then fallowed a virtual trip to Cyprus! we had the opportunity to get to know the country more!

Then we were able to look around in Lympia village, get to know Cyprus national celebrations, their educational system and look around in their school.

Then dr. Maria Kontoulis held a seminar "Resilient teachers - resisting stress and burnout". We were reminded again: 

• to know yourself
• know your emotions
• be here and now
• take care of yourself
• be part of solution, not the problem.

We were sent some animal puzzles to sort out, to get to know Cyprus animals like:

Carreta Carreta Turtle

Monk Seal Monachus Monachus

Cyprus Mouflon

Leopard Butterfly

Then there was a presentation about pre-writing exercises and we were sent also the materials to do with children

And to finish off our first day we watched a video of Cyprus wildlife!

It was a very interesting first day and we are so lucky to have all our partners!

Creating a souvenir shop - "Our Sea"

 

Our Sea - The legend of Digenis Akritas – Petra tou Romiou

 

(https://www.visitcyprus.com/index.php/en/discovercyprus/rural/sites-monuments/item/732-birthplace-of-aphrodite-petra-tou-romiou)

In the district of Paphos, there is a famous beach called "Petra tou Romiou". It's natural beauty along with the mythology connected with it as the birthplace of Aphrodite and the legend of Digenis Akritas make it a popular tourist location.

Children listened the story of Digenis Akritas, made the following drawings and retold the story.

The legend is about the strongest and bravest of all Akrites who were the guards of the Byzantine Empire, Digenis Akritas.

He was so tall and strong that he could reach the island of Crete with his other leg, while he was in Cyprus.
 
One day while he was standing on a mountain he saw pirate ships reaching Cyprus. He was very concerned! 

So, he grabbed a huge rock and threw it on the pirates' ships.

As he grabbed the rock, his hand left a mark on the mountain which it's called Pentadaktylos, meaning five fingers. 

 

Now, Pentadaktylos is occupied by the Turkish.

The rock was landed in the sea and it is known as The Rock of the Roman (Greek) man. Today, you can see it standing there very beautifully.

By the rock, the mythology says that the Goddess of Beauty and Love, Aphrodite (Venus) was born from the waves. 

All the pirates' ships were destoyed and the Cypriots were saved thanks to Digenis Akritas! 

Digenis Akritas returned to his hometown as a hero. No pirate approached the island.

 

Our Sea - “Amazing Beaches of Cyprus”

 As a Mediterranean island, Cyprus, has many beautiful beaches. 

Children has many and direct experiences at sea!  

We have asked children to bring photos of the seas they visited or/and they would like to visit and they presented them to their classmates.

The next days we have talked about the sea and beaches of each district of Cyprus island. 

We have seen photos, presentations and looked for information of many of Cyprus’ beaches. 

We have learnt what the “Blue Flag” award is and discovered that most of our beaches havereceived this award. 

We ‘ve actually learnt some of them. 

We have also discussed about organized and not organized beaches and what their characteristics are in each case and learnt about Natura 2000.

 

Later on, children drew pictures of our sea and beaches and prepared a poster with some of our amazing beaches.

 We have also remembered our beaches that  are located at the occupied area of our country. We have seen pictures  of  a very beautiful and famous, golden sandy beach in the town of Famagusta before the Turkish invasion and compared them with photos of this certain beach in Famagusta nowadays, after the Turkish invasion. Famagusta city is now known as Ghost City.

Children expressed their feelings and made wishes that this beach and the rest of the occupied island to be free again and people enjoy once again their time in this beach and other occupied beaches of our island. The last two drawings are about Famagusta Beach before and after the Turkish invasion in 1974.

Our poster: “Amazing Beaches of Cyprus”

Our Sea - "The birth of Cyprus"

 

(https://www.hippostcard.com/listing/bg35746-cyprus-birth-place-of-venus-paphos/10272387)

The project "Our Sea" started at Lympia Kindergarten by telling the story of the "Birth of Cyprus" through the sea.

We represented the moment of the big earthquake that caused the birth of our island.

Creating our picturebook

 

Lympia Kindergarten, Cyprus, initially -  since September -  chose and studies two places .
The first place is the small garden located at the school’s front yard. The study of the small garden in which there is a variety of herbs, trees and plants will give our young students the opportunity to monitor and enjoy the changes of nature due to the weather conditions and  climate changes prevailing in Cyprus per season. Our children, with their physical presence and movement between the different plants and the use of their senses will become conscious receivers of messages that nature offers to human.   

The second place was the salt lake, named Aliki, at Larnaca. Larnaca is a city nearly to our village, but is a different province of ours.  

 

We were sure that monitoring and studying this particular wetland would be very interesting for children, because in this lake the changes that can happen from one month to the next are exciting. In summer the water evaporates and salt is the only element of the lake. This happens until early  Autumn. When the gradual drop in temperature begins, the center of the lake begins to return to its liquid form, which expands and gradually covers the entire lake. Then many migratory birds flood the lake, with the presence of thousands of flamingos creating a fascinating picture.

 

 

All this and combining the subjects that we could study in depth with the study of the lake made us choose to photograph and study it, even if this would be visual since according to the original health protocol for the corovirus group movements and excursions of students are not allowed. The photo shoot would be done by us and the study would be iconic.  In order to achieve the acquaintance and study of the second reference point we would certainly need the help and contribution of the parents. We have asked the parents to visit the lake along with their children in their free time and photograph it if they wish. Parents were willing and children were excited, when returning to school presented us and their classmates with their observations and surveys.
Unfortunately, however, since the beginning of this year, Cyprus has been in lockdown again and this does not allow movement between different provinces. Teachers and students, we discussed and decided to ask our coordinator to give us the opportunity to change the second place to another which is located in our village and can be seen from our school. 

The answer was YES! 

 

And so, from now on, we proceed with the observation, study and photography of the monthly changes of the natural environment that develops on the hill of the Holy Cross at the top of which is a small chapel which has great emotional and historical value for us. While it is so close to us - as part of our village - we can not visit it since it is occupied. This hill is visible from our school (from the windows of all the classrooms) but also from the children's homes so it will be easier to observe.

 

 

 

Then many migratory birds flood the lake, with the presence of thousands of flamingos creating a fascinating picture.

Στη συνέχεια, πολλά αποδημητικά πουλιά πλημμυρίζουν τη λίμνη, με την παρουσία χιλιάδων φλαμίνγκο δημιουργώντας μια συναρπαστική εικόνα.

Then, many migratory birds flooded the lake, in the presence of thousands of flamingos to create an exciting picture

Στη συνέχεια, πολλά μεταναστευτικά πουλιά πλημμύρισαν τη λίμνη, παρουσία χιλιάδων φλαμίνγκο για να δουν μια μαγευτική εικόνα

Can't load full results

Try again

Retrying...

Retrying...

Learning about Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine! - Making our own medicines

 

Children learnt about Hippocrates, the Greek ancient doctor, through presentation and discussion. They have learnt about his great contribution to the science of medicine, the Oath of Hippocrates, the importance of prevention and mental health since he believed that illnesses come from stress and sorrow. Based to that, we have discussed about ways someone can limit or eliminate his/ her sorrow and stress. They have also learnt about the importance of healthy nutrition and found out that Hippocrates used about 256 herbs in order to cure illnesses.

Then, children “travelled” through a “time machine” to ancient Kos, the birth island of Hippocrates and became his students.

As "Hippocrates’ students" we have visited our botanical garden (Hippocrates’ botanical garden in our imaginative play) and collected herbs in order to make medicines.

After we have collected enough herbs, we returned in our “laboratory” (classroom) to prepare the medicines. First, children found information about the usefulness in our health, of the specific herb each one have collected by studying small booklets the teacher has prepared. Since they have studied the booklets mentioned above and decided what the medicine would be about, they made the label they would put on the medicine’s bottle.

Then, they put some water in the basins where they placed the herbs they have collected and they mixed them well.

After the medicine was ready, they put it in the bottle and placed the label with the help of their teacher.

When the children prepared their medicines, we got on the “time machine” and returned to the present, to our classroom.

The next days, we created the Pharmacy of Hippocrates where the medicines they made were placed along with relative posters.