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The legend of Okatia
The Legend of Okatia is a Maori legend told by Rangitane of Okatia which is about the origin of the Manawatu River and how Te Apiti was formed.
Here at BestStart Palmerston North Babies room to celebrate Maori Language Week and linking it to our Localised Curriculum we explored the Legend of Okatia and how the Manawatu George and River was formed.
To start our learning off we created a river in the sandpit. At the moment a large number of our children have a huge interest in the sandpit, water and messy play so this activity certainly captured a number of our children who were keen to right in and give it ago. With their spades and hands, the trench was dug, water put in using the hose, rocks placed in the river and on the edge being our river banks.
A long piece of driftwood was collected and placed in the river representing the mighty tree that crashed to the ground. To carry this learning on and making our localised curriculum more visible in our room we plan to make a representation of the river and ranges surrounding the Manawatu using paint and collage.