Matariki Celebrations at Preschool

Written by: Mona

Matariki hunga, Matariki ahunga nui

Matariki has many admirers, Matariki brings us together -

Māori whakatauki

Here at Preschool, we celebrate the many beautiful cultures that we have in New Zealand. Matariki is a special occasion in the New Zealand calendar which marks the start of the Māori New Year. The term Matariki is a shortened version of Ngā mata o te ariki o Tāwhirimātea, or 'the eyes of the god Tāwhirimātea'. It is a time to reflect on our place in the world and the world around us, celebrating with family and whānau the year that has been as well as focusing on our aspirations for the year ahead. This festival is all about celebration, and spending time with family and friends.

Through celebrating Matariki, children had the opportunity to explore and discover the tastes, sounds, language, and stories from the rich Māori culture. They enjoyed listening to Matariki stories, dancing to Māori songs, participating in art experiences and exploring Matariki provocations that were beautifully set up throughout the Preschool. We talked about Matariki and the seven stars during mat times and investigation times as the children showed a lot of curiosity around them. Throughout the month of June the tamariki were encouraged to learn about Māori culture through discussions at hui times, story telling, singing songs and through making their own creations. Through these opportunities our tamariki were able to gain a deeper understanding of this beautiful culture, have opportunities to experiment with different resources where they were able to extend their own individual creative confidence and artistic appreciation. Overall, our tamariki were being presented with a wide range of different situations where they had opportunities to broaden their awareness of their own and other cultures, that helped develop their confidence through speech, language, communication and their creativity.

We were also very fortunate this year to celebrate this special festival with our Preschool friends, families and community after all of the lockdowns and Covid restrictions. At our celebration one Thursday afternoon our Preschool families spent time with us, enjoying many Matariki experiences as well as having delicious hot soup, which was much needed as it was a very cold day. Another special thing about the soup was that it was made out of the vegetables donated by all the children, parents and the teachers. It was a very special time for us to gather around as a community, enjoying each other’s company and learning more about the Māori culture.

In the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum, Te Whāriki, it mentions that children learn to make connections between people, places and things. It has been awesome to see so much enthusiasm and eagerness from the children through learning about the Māori culture.