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Harvesting Kumara for Matariki
Our children in the preschool room have been taking a lot of interest in gardening, planting vegetables and flowers during the summer season. Last summer we planted Kumara in our centre vegetable garden. The children took turns watering the garden and taking care of the kumara plants growing. They were eagerly waiting for the plants to grow big and they enjoyed looking after the plants.
Throughout the week as Matariki drew closer, one of our teachers, Renuka shared stories about growing kumara and after hearing the story the children were excited to extend their interest further by learning how Kumara is planted in the soil and grows underneath the soil. We also have a kumara plant growing in our science area and children took an interest in taking care of the plants. After waiting for these long months finally, this was the right time for us to uproot the kumara plants from the soil as we were in the month of Matariki. It is during this time of the year when Maori farmers go out to their farms to bring their crops such as potatoes and carrots.
Harvest is a significant theme of Matariki celebrations where families and friends get together to take part in the celebration. This was a great experience for our tamariki to explore and learn science concepts on gardening. They have been looking at the kumara plants growing in the garden and we teachers have been explaining how plants need water, soil, and sun for them to grow. Through caring for the gardens, the tamariki are not only learning about how things grow but also how to take care of their environment. They are developing a sense of kaitiakitanga – guardianship for their environment.
This allows them to take responsibility in other areas, including caring for the resources in the environment and taking responsibility for the gardens in their own homes. Ka Pai Tamariki we are so proud of our achievements