Tamariki celebrate Matariki
Matariki, the Māori New Year, is an important festival that is both the name of the Pleiades star cluster and also a marker of the beginning of the new year. We have been celebrating this awesome event through our group time at playgroup and music group.
As we did our weaving with natural materials, we talked about the role that the stars play and how they can be used to tell us when to harvest our crops. We talked about if the stars were bright next seasons crops would be plentiful because it would be warmer.
As tamariki worked with their own creations, we were able to talk about Matariki. We shared the lovely wisdom of this celebration and what this was about – how Matariki means the eyes of God and by flying kites/pākau. Flying kites was seen as a way for them to reach out to the Gods.
We talked about the cluster of stars and the celebrations in the community for Māori New Year as the tamariki manipulated their ow created star mobiles while other had fun with black starry playdough.
Can you crack Today’s neighbourhood conundrum?
Without a bridle or a saddle, across a thing, I ride a-straddle. And those I ride, by help of me, though almost blind, are made to see. What am I?
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This one was sent in by your fellow neighbour, can you figure it out?
What is first white then red and the plumper it gets the more the old lady likes it?
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