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Matariki at Papakura BestStart
In the kawakawa this month, we celebrated Matariki by exploring experiences such as creating clay stars and star cookies, learning about the Matariki stars and their meanings, learning a Matariki dance, and enjoying our disco.
This month we have also been exploring and identifying our feelings and situations that make us feel certain ways. We have also enjoyed quiet time reading books, drawing our imaginary characters and role-playing in the sandpit and bark area. We all have been enjoying baking and cooking.
In the Kahurangi room this month, lots of fun and exciting things have happened.
We have had a few new babies start, and we have been settling them into our routine and had a lot of care needed to help them feel a sense of belonging, and we looked after their well-being.
We have had Maori new year Matariki and have been learning about the stars and what they mean. We have done this through songs, stories and different types of artwork.
We had a Matariki week and have done something different every day. We had artwork painting stars, firework explosions with paint and salt dough stars and then painting them. We displayed them in our room with flashing lights as well. Playdough was made with sparkles and a black colour which looked terrific, and the tamariki loved the texture.
Everyone brought in a vegetable, and we made a vegetable soup for the parents and the tamariki's lunch. We also shared kai with the whanau in a cup to go and rolls. Our cook made Matariki biscuits, and we had a dress-up disco for the children to enjoy and listen to Matariki songs.
It has been a fun-filled month and celebration with our first Matariki public holiday. We love how involved the tamariki are in our activities and how much they have learned in the month of June.
During the month, we had a few celebrations, such as plunket appeal week, when tamariki, Kaiako and Whanau worked together to raise money for Plunket. We also celebrated Queen's birthday by dressing up as princesses and princes.
It was an amazing opportunity to teach children about Māori culture along with creating a sense of belonging, and they all surprised us by actually talking about Matariki and learning about the nine stars.
Our annual Matariki celebrations are an example of our respect for Māori culture, as it is stated in one of the goals of tewhariki ( Nz early childhood curriculum). They experience the stories and symbols of their own and other cultures. Another highlight of this month has been cooking with Jinny when children get to make their own lunches. Cooking experiences teach children to be independent, make healthy choices, be patient, wait for their turn and be responsible. This month they got to help make sandwiches, pizza and salad rolls. It has been an exciting and busy month. We are looking forward to what July brings for us.