Nau mai haere mai ki wāhanga tuawha.
Term 4, 2023
Nau mai, hoki mai ki te wāhanga tuatoru!
This term has a lot of stories by or about Jesus. This is a choice term because we as Māori love stories and figuring out what they mean for us today.
We do this with all our stories. We are also using some whakataukī to understand concepts this term, because whakataukī also help to convey meaning.
What are your favourite ones that you would like to share with tamariki?
Use them!
Please note, the reflections are incredibly brief. For more information, or if you would like to know more about the context of the story, follow this up with your parish priest. We have provided some contact details on our website for the different Amorangi offices.
The pātai for tamariki are what we suggest you can talk about with the tamariki.
Lastly, the activities have been provided to support the message of the day. You can follow the activity that has been set out, or do your own. We won’t be offended by either.
We have started putting the WHOLE reading into the lesson plans for the leader to read. However, the readings for this term seem to be quite long!
Consequently, if you are worried about caring for Papatuānuku and all the printing, we suggest you don’t print these pages and instead:
- Find an online Bible, like biblegateway.com or bible.com
- Find a Bible app, there are heaps, like YouVersion which comes in different languages or read your own at home
Where necessary, we have indicated which parts of the reading you might like to focus on. In addition, unless otherwise indicated, the Bible used for the English version is the New Revised Standard Version-Anglicised.
The introduction line that has been put before each reading is the introduction line that comes from the Anglican Prayer Book that we use. This has been intentional so that tamariki and whānau can learn from the get-go how to present the Gospel reading for the week. This way, if whānau transition to wanting to do readings in Church, they are already prepared for it ☺
Just remember, if you change where you start the reading from, you need to change the verse number in the introduction line. And you DON’T need to provide an ending verse – because the Gospel is never ending!
Because these lesson plans are a new initiative and are broadly available, we would like to know how you are going. If you have any feedback, we have a 2023 evaluation form available. Feel free to mention everything; the good, the bad, and the crazy. We do take this feedback on board and try to improve our lessons. The more we can understand how tamariki ministry works in the different rohe, the more we can help you, and the Pihopatanga, grow our whānau in Christ.
Nga manaakitanga
Te Aka Team 🙂
I am going to throw this ball/balloon/squishy/teddy/anything soft, to one person who
will catch it. When you catch it, I want you to tell us something cool that you did over
the holidays/weekend. It can be anything – doing the dishes, going for a swim,
hanging out with different whānau, whatever.
● If there are new tamaiti, get the tamariki to say their names and ages first to
help everyone get to know each other
3 and 1 game…
A natural disaster is about to hit and you have to evacuate your house.
What are three (3) things that you would definitely take with you, and one (1) thing that you would definitely leave behind?
Give everyone an opportunity to answer this question.
As tamariki come in, they must write their names on a piece of paper.
The leader mixes these pieces of paper up and puts them all over the room. Tamariki have 3 minutes (or it’s up to you how long you use) to find their names and come back.
See if tamariki can stick their names onto their tinana and one person can go around and read the names, or tamariki can introduce themselves. They might like to add something cool about themselves too.
● Again, this is helpful if there are new tamariki
Pēnei, pēna
This game is ‘Simon Says’ but the Reo version. In the game of Simon Says, when
the leader says “do this”, the audience follows. When the leader says “do that”,
those members of the audience who copy you are out!
In a similar way, the leader says “Pēnei” (do this) to get the audience to follow. If the
leader says “Pēna” (do that) and anyone follows, then they are out. Keep going until
there is one person left. They are the winner!