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Learning about Te Ao Māori
This month, at BestStart Wainoni, the prep room learnt all about Te Ao Māori while making a start on our Matariki celebrations. Our tamariki and kaiako delved into Māori culture, exploring tikanga, stories, symbols, traditions, and mythology (taonga tuku iho).
Māori myths and legends have captured and held the interest of our tamariki for a while now. It all started when we read Peter Gossage’s books about Maui. During Matariki, we explored the stories of Maui further as well as the story “Tawhirimatea: A song for Matariki” which taught us about the gods and godesses. This helped us learn about Matariki and each of her daughters. Our tamariki took great delight in finding out the special ways each daughter helped their grandmother Papatūānuku and were able to relate to the values they each reflect.
To gain an appreciation for Māori art and tradition, tamariki enjoyed creating manu tukutuku and weaving whetu. Manu tukutuku or manu aute are Māori kites traditionally flown to signify the start of Matariki. Our tamariki had a lot of fun using a range of materials such as sticks, feathers, crepe paper, and colourful string to create them. They also enjoyed creating whetu (stars) for Matariki. They used a variety of techniques, the favourite technique being raranga (weaving). We gathered information about harvesting harakeke the sustainable and respectful way as well as learnt a karakia to recite before cutting. Unfortunately we were unable to use the harakeke in our playground as we couldn’t find suitable leaves. Instead, our tamariki came up with the solution to weave with green paper. This allowed us to practice the skill of raranga which took a lot of patience but our tamariki did such an amazing job supporting and praising each other!
Having created such fantastic art, our tamariki were thrilled to learn that their manu tukutuku and whetu would be put up around our room and on a Matariki display. They have enjoyed bringing their whānau in for a look around to show them their photos and creations.
Through the stories, traditions, and art we’ve explored, our tamariki have had the opportunity to learn and develop values that are treasured in Māori culture such as kotahintanga (unity), whanaungatanga (teamwork and relationships), mauri (respect for the life force around us), and manaakitanga (uplifting the mana of those around us).