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Enhancing Manaakitanga Through Pretend Play
In the Pitau Room, we have seen a surge in engagement with pretend play activities, which has inspired our room planning to focus on enhancing manaakitanga through these experiences. Recognizing that tamariki's current interest this term revolves around imaginative scenarios, we have prepared a variety of pretend play areas that encourage creativity, collaboration, and learning.
Our dramatic play areas include setups where children can pretend to be doctors, firefighters, police officers, and shopkeepers. Through these role-play activities, tamariki engage in meaningful interactions, taking care of patients as doctors, bravely putting out fires and helping people as firefighters, or maintaining peace and order as police officers. In our pretend supermarket, children enjoy selling and buying goods, which allows them to practice language skills as they converse with one another.
We’ve also added dress-up materials and props to immerse tamariki in their roles, sparking imagination and engagement. Each of these activities is thoughtfully designed to foster manaakitanga—the value of care, respect, and generosity towards others. As children pretend to help and care for others, they naturally develop empathy, kindness, and social connections. This focus on pretend play not only aligns with their interests but also strengthens their communication skills and their ability to express compassion and cooperation with peers.