17/09/2026
Kaiapoi Toddler Room
🎶 Waiata, poi, actions and kupu… oh my! 🌿💚
Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori has certainly been a busy one in our Toddler Room!
Our days have been filled with music and movement, with our tamariki getting stuck into poi, moving their bodies to the rhythm of waiata and giving new movements a go. There has been lots of challenge, concentration and persistence as tamariki practise their poi skills — and plenty of smiles when they get it just right! 👏
Our te reo Māori action songs have been another favourite. We have been learning the actions, listening carefully to the kupu and joining in more and more as the songs become familiar. It has been wonderful hearing tamariki repeat kupu back to their kaiako, join in with familiar phrases and sometimes even beat us to the next word! 🎶
And we can’t forget our pukapuka waiata! 📖 These fun, interactive books have given us another way to hear and learn te reo Māori, with repeated phrases and kupu making it easy for tamariki to join in. A little singing, a little talking, a few actions and lots of repetition — the perfect combination for our busy toddlers!
Our kaiako have been learning right alongside our tamariki too. We have been picking up new phrases and challenging ourselves to use more te reo Māori throughout our everyday moments. During pukapuka time, we have been seeing how many kupu we can weave into familiar stories, turning story time into another opportunity to hear and use te reo.
**Hear it. Sing it. Move with it. Say it. Repeat it.** 💚
That’s how we have been celebrating te reo Māori together this week!
