Mānawatia a Matariki
Whakanuia te tau hou Māori, 11 ki 22 o Hōngongoi 2023
Nau mai, haere mai!
Join us as we celebrate the Māori New Year.
Matariki is a time in the year where our tīpuna prepared for the winter. They would take stock of what the harvest has brought in, and use that to identify how to approach the coming months. It would be an opportunity to reflect and to prepare
He wā tau, he wā tiro whakamuri, he wā tiro whakamua
Our tīpuna knew that there was a time for everything; a time for planting, and a time to harvest, a time to work, and a time to rest, a time to act, and a time to reflect. They knew that all our gifts on earth and in heaven were given from God and they would give thanks for all the seasons under the sun.
Over this Matariki time, as you rest and reflect on the seasons that have passed this year, may you continue to feel thankful and use this opportunity to rest and prepare for the upcoming year.
Our rauemi for this year include:
- Bible readings
- A service template
- Activity ideas
- Waiata ideas
- Īnoi
Print out resources below:
You can click on the images below, right-click to view your options to download and save to/ print from your device.
To create your own lesson/service for Matariki, you can print off the template below and fill in the blanks with your ideas.
We have provided options for readings, īnoi, activities and waiata on our page.
Kenehi 1: 14-19
Ka timata te panui kei te pukapuka o Kenehi, te 1 o ngā upoko, ki te whiti 14
31 Nā, ka mea te Atua, “Kia whai mea whakamārama te kiko o te rangi, hei wehe i te awatea, i te pō; hei tohu anō aua mea, hei tāima, hei rā, hei tau. 15 Hei whakamārama aua mea i te kiko o te rangi, hei whakamārama i te whenua.” Ā, ka oti. 16 Nā, ka hanga e te Atua ngā mea whakamārama nui e rua; ko te whakamārama nui hei tohutohu mō te awatea, ko te whakamārama tuaiti hei tohutohu mō te pō: i hanga anō hoki e ia ngā whetū. 17 Ā, whakanohoia ana aua mea e te Atua ki te kiko o te rangi, hei whakamārama mō te whenua, 18 hei tohutohu i te awatea, i te pō, hei wehe hoki i te mārama, i te pōuri. Ā, ka kite te Atua, he pai. 19 Ā, ko te ahiahi, ko te ata, he rā tuawhā.
Kori tinana
Everyone is in a circle. Say to the tamariki “at the count of 3, I want everyone to sing their names” – Count to 3
Next instruction – go around the circle and each person will sing their name and show us a dance move. As we move around the circle, we add an extra sung name and a dance move to the one before. By the end of the game, we should have a really cool dance created out of our names!
Koe, Au, Matau, Mauī
A good activity to learn peoples’ names. Everyone stands in a circle with one person in the middle. Ask each person in the circle to find out the name of the person to their taha mauī (left) and their taha matau (right).
The person in the middle can point to anyone in the circle and say the following words. Instructions about what to do when they say those words are with them
- Koe = the person being pointed at says their name
- Au = the person being pointed at says the middle person’s name (the person pointing)
- Matau = the person being pointed at says the name of the person to their taha matau (right)
- Mauī = the person being pointed at says the name of the person to their taha mauī (left)
Keep going till everyone has had their name said, so the leader and other tamariki get the idea of everyone’s names. The game is ‘out’ if the person being pointed at takes longer than 5 seconds to say a name.
He hū tāu?
Ask tamariki to gather in a circle and take their shoes off and put them in the middle. They then return to their circle.
The aim of the game is to run to the middle and get as many shoes back to where you were standing
Extensions:
- Tamariki are only able to take shoe one at a time
- Tamariki are only able to take shoes from the middle
- Tamariki are able to take shoes from their friends houses
- Tamariki have to play the game on hands and knees
- Tamariki have to play the game hopping on one leg
- You can think of any other extensions if you like.
He aha tō whakaaro?
Tamariki are sitting in a group and you can have a sheet of paper in your hand. You ask tamariki ‘would you rather’ questions and they move depending on what their answer is.
Example: ‘would you rather have a pet dog, or a pet cat?’ tamariki who would rather a pet dog move to one side, those who would rather have a pet cat move to the cat side.
This is a great way to identify similarities and differences between tamariki.
Other examples of ‘would you rather’ topics:
- Go on holiday to a beach, or to the snow?
- Eat hangi or boil up?
- Eat lollies or chocolate?
- Enjoy summer or winter?
- Swim in the awa or in the moana?
- Come up with your own ideas
Matariki Service Template:
Pānui/ Readings:
Īnoi:
Activity Ideas for Matariki:
Hei whakanui i a ...
- Our waterways are important to the way of life for many of us.
- Find out why wetlands are climate heroes.
- Measure the change in water quality in your area
- Plastic is one of the biggest killers of sea life.
- Make a plastic pledge to reduce your plastic waste and reduce plastic ending up in the moana
- Climate change affects our water supplies in different ways.
- Measure rainfall over a week. See if your area becomes a drought area in summer, or has enough water supply for the hot season.
- Try to come up with ways that you can preserve water in times of drought.
Make use of food waste
Draw out a plan for a sacred garden or a food garden and start to gather the seed and seedlings.
- Learn a prayer for food
- Plant food
- Harvest food
- Give away a food gift – to elderly people, to your community, to the foodbank,to members of your pariha, or to a stranger
- Hold a sacred or ceremonial fire
- Learn which plants you can eat and which help to heal
- Play in nature, e.g. take tamariki to a natural reserve or walk
- Get a map of the stars and create your own shapes for a star chart, or look for existing patterns
- Protect/plant a native tree
- Learn the names of trees and plants in your local forests and reserves
- Explore wind power
- Create your own climate action sign
- Create a goal for the new year
- Start something new
- Cut out stars and get people to write their goals/aspirations/prayers on them and hang them up
- Have a karakia together and bring photos of those who have passed on over the past year
- Cut out stars and write names of people you want to remember on them. Put them up in your Church/whare
- Identify Aotearoa’s endangered animals
For further ideas, see:
Matariki resources
matariki.net.nz
Official Matariki website
.
eventfinda.co.nz
Matariki events 2023
.
kauwhatareo.govt.nz
Ministry of Education
tepapa.govt.nz
How to celebrate Matariki at Home
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tepapa.govt.nz
Matariki Activity Book
.
kcc.org.nz
Kiwi Conservation Club