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Celebrating Matariki at BestStart Opihi
Over the last month, we have been learning about and celebrating Matariki here at BestStart Opihi. We have enjoyed many activities that have helped us to broaden our knowledge and celebrate.
Matariki is a star cluster that appears in the early morning sky in New Zealand during the mid-winter months. The star cluster is well known throughout the world and at different times of the year can be seen around the globe. It is one of the brightest clusters in the sky, containing hundreds of member stars. Matariki has different names around the world. In English, it is called by its ancient Greek name, Pleiades or the Seven Sisters. In Hawaiian it is Makali’i, ‘eyes of royalty', and in Japan it is Subaru, meaning ‘gathered together'. The rise of Matariki signals the Lunar New Year. It is a time to acknowledge the year past, celebrate the present and plan and prepare for the year ahead.
To learn about Matariki, we set up a Matariki cave with lights, pictures, display and information about the star cluster and their meanings. We created Hiwa-i-te-rangi wishing stars and asked the tamariki about what they would like to learn to do in the coming year. We made soup from vegetables that the centre families gifted. We learnt waiata (songs) and read books about Matariki.
On the 6th of July, we held our annual Matariki disco. This was a great time to come together, share kai (food), catch up, kanikani (dance) and celebrate. We look forward to celebrating again next year.