Before tamariki can learn to write, they first need rich opportunities to explore mark making—the foundations of oral language, literacy, and meaning-making
Today, our children were immersed in an exciting (and slightly “forbidden”) experience… drawing on the windows!
What began with Alara, Jordan, Remy and Aryan quickly grew into a collaborative exploration using liquid chalk pens across our foyer windows. There were curious glances and questioning looks—“Are we really allowed to do this?”, “Will we get in trouble?”—showing tamariki actively making sense of social expectations and their environment.
Through this experience, we saw strong alignment with Kōwhiti Whakapae – Oral Language & Literacy, where literacy is understood as the ability to communicate, create, and express meaning using language symbol systems. The marks our tamariki created—lines, circles, scribbles—are not “just drawing,” but early forms of communication. These are their first steps into understanding that symbols carry meaning.
As kaiako, we intentionally scaffolded this learning: encouraging children to describe their marks responding to gestures, movement, and non-verbal communication extending their thinking through conversation and shared attention Alara, in particular, was deeply engaged—dancing as she drew, smiling, pointing, and revisiting her work. Her movement, expression, and interaction highlight how literacy is embodied and experienced, not just spoken or written.
Equally Jordan Aryan and Remy were engrossed in making their own marks and testing boundaries and styles. The swapped pens,windows and seats as they explored as much as they could across the whole canvas area available. Even venturing around to the window of my office. The window became a living canvas—an environment that invited curiosity, creativity, and expression.
Here, the environment acted as the third teacher, provoking exploration and sustained engagement. Through this experience, tamariki explored: early symbolic representation through mark making (emergent literacy) social interaction and shared meaning-making with peers Kōwhiti Whakapae highlights that emergent literacy includes mark making as a key foundation for later reading and writing —and today, we saw that learning come alive.
Best of all, our learning is now proudly displayed in our foyer—celebrating the creativity, confidence, and growing literacy of our tamariki. Our windows have become more than artwork… They are a visible story of communication, identity, and learning in action.