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The Start of Matariki

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The festival of Matariki is coming up this month. Matariki is a special occasion in the New Zealand calendar which marks the start of the Māori New Year. Signified by the Matariki cluster of stars reappearing in our night sky, this is a time to reflect on the past year, celebrate the present, and plan for the year ahead. Teachers are eager to plan for this event and do some intentional teaching about why we celebrate Matariki and teach the children about the matariki sister stars. Our Waiti Room has decided to create the night sky. They use pastel coloured paint and a big paint brush for this activity. Our children had an awesome time splatting the paint onto the dark blue paper. Splat, Splat, Splat goes the paint creating different types of lines and small and big dots. This has been a great activity for children to explore another type of art medium and to express their creativity through art. Giving children to explore art mediums and teaching them how to use resources in different ways opens children creativity to create something new.