This week, our centre has been filled with excitement as our tamariki celebrated Matariki, the Māori New Year. Across our Pāua, Uenuku and Kea Rooms, children engaged in a variety of meaningful learning experiences that helped them explore the significance of this special time in Aotearoa while embracing creativity, culture and connection.
In the Pāua Room, tamariki have been busy preparing for our Matariki celebration by creating beautiful decorations to brighten our learning environment. They enjoyed colouring and painting stars, making their own Matariki Hands by tracing their arms and hands before decorating them with sparkling star glitter, and painting paper plates featuring "Matariki 2026". Children also explored a paint-splatter technique to create stunning night-sky backgrounds filled with twinkling stars.
Throughout the week, they listened to Matariki stories and enthusiastically sang and danced to Matariki waiata, learning about the traditions and meaning behind this special celebration in fun and engaging ways.
In the Uenuku Room, tamariki celebrated Matariki through storytelling, music, waiata, movement and creative art experiences. During mat times, they listened to stories about the nine stars of the Matariki cluster and learnt about their special meanings in age-appropriate ways. The children shared their own ideas, asked thoughtful questions and made connections to their own experiences. They also created beautiful Matariki-inspired artwork and enjoyed Matariki-themed play experiences that encouraged creativity, collaboration, problem-solving and imaginative thinking.
Our youngest learners in the Kea Room also joined in the celebrations with great enthusiasm. The babies created their own colourful galaxy filled with vibrant stars, enjoyed practising Matariki dances and listened to a variety of Matariki stories. They also explored recognising different fruits and vegetables, helping them make connections to the harvest, nature and the changing seasons in simple and meaningful ways.
Celebrating Matariki has provided wonderful opportunities for our tamariki to learn about Aotearoa New Zealand's bicultural heritage while embracing the values of whānau, remembrance, gratitude, reflection and hope for the future. It has been heartwarming to see the curiosity, creativity and joy our children have shown throughout the week as they learnt and celebrated together.
Mānawatia a Matariki! We wish all of our whānau a happy and peaceful Matariki filled with reflection, connection and new beginnings.