Little Tui Early Childhood Centre

Happy Friday! ☀️

Our learning spaces are all set up and ready to welcome our tamariki for a day of fun, exploration, and learning. We love seeing everything organised and inviting before the children arrive—it creates the perfect start to a wonderful day! 💛

Ngaa mihi o te Tau Hou Maaori – Happy Matariki to all of our Little Tui whaanau and to the rest of Aotearoa.

What a beautiful day it was celebrating Matariki together with our tamariki, whaanau, and kaiako. We were so grateful to see such an amazing turnout and to share this special occasion as a community.

Throughout the day, our tamariki enjoyed a range of Matariki-inspired experiences, including arts and crafts, playdough, biscuit decorating, face painting, kanikani, waiata, music, and storytelling. These activities helped us celebrate the Maaori New Year while exploring the values, traditions, and meaning of Matariki together.

One of the highlights of our day was coming together for our kai hakari. We shared a delicious pumpkin and vegetable soup lovingly prepared by our wonderful kaiako Ange, using contributions generously provided by our whaanau. We would like to extend a heartfelt mihi to every whaanau member who contributed vegetables, attended our celebrations, participated in activities, and joined us for kai and mat time. Your support helped make this day so special.

A huge thank you also goes to our incredible kaiako. You are the heart of our centre and the people who create the nurturing, supportive, and loving environment that our tamariki thrive in each day. We would also like to acknowledge the kaiako whaanau who came along to support our celebrations. Your presence added to the warm atmosphere that filled our centre today.

The spirit of the day was one of aroha, manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, and togetherness. It was wonderful to see everyone connecting, sharing stories, laughing, learning, and celebrating side by side.

We finished our celebrations with biscuit decorating and ice blocks, which were enjoyed by tamariki and adults alike!

As you head into the long weekend, we encourage you to continue reflecting on Matariki with your tamariki. Perhaps they might share something they learned today, a favourite activity, or even simply the meaning of the word "Matariki."

We have also uploaded a gallery full of photos capturing the joy and magic of our day, and we hope you enjoy looking through them together.

Ngaa mihi nui ki a koutou katoa. Have a happy, safe, and restful long weekend, and we look forward to seeing everyone back on Monday.

Manawatia a Matariki.

Aroha nui,

Little Tui Team & Whaanau ❤️

🌟 “Matariki, he wā whakakotahi i te whānau, te aroha me te hapori. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa.” 🌟

Matariki is a time to bring together whānau, love, and community. A heartfelt thank you to you all.

Matariki was a huge success at Little Tui!

What a truly special day celebrating together as one whānau.

A huge thank you to our incredible teachers for creating such a memorable celebration, filled with beautiful crafts, face painting, and delicious homemade soup and buns. Your hard work and dedication made the day so special for everyone.

To all our wonderful whānau, thank you for taking the time to celebrate with us. Your presence, support, and involvement mean so much and help make Little Tui such a special place for our tamariki.

Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa! 💙

🌟 Matariki Celebration – Whānau Invitation 🌟

Kia ora whānau,

We warmly invite you to join us throughout the day for our Matariki celebrations. Whānau are welcome to come in, take part in our activities, and celebrate this special occasion alongside our tamariki.

We especially invite you to join us from 11:45am – 12:00pm for our Matariki Kai Hākari (Feast) and share kai together with our Little Tui whānau. ✨

✨ Today’s programme:

🕢 7:45am – Matariki activities begin
🎨 Arts & crafts, drawing, playdough & Hiwaiterangi Aspirations Wall

☕ 9:30am – Morning tea
🍪 Biscuit decorating & hot chocolate

🥕 10:00am – Tamariki help prepare vegetables for our Matariki feast

🎨 10:30am – Face painting, Matariki stories & creative activities

🎶 11:35am – Matariki celebration
Waiata, stories, music & dancing

🍲 11:45am – 12:00pm – Whānau join us for Matariki Kai Hākari

🍦 2:00pm – Ice blocks and farewell for the long weekend

We can’t wait to celebrate Matariki with our Little Tui whānau. 🌌✨

Mānawatia a Matariki!

Uenuku Ki Runga I Too Taatou Whare 🌈

One quiet afternoon, after the bustle of the day had come to an end and our whaanau had returned home, I stood outside our centre and looked up. Stretching across the sky was a beautiful rainbow, arching over our whare as if it were embracing us.

In te ao Maaori, this is Uenuku — a tohu of connection, hope, and guidance. Seeing it resting above our centre felt special, as though it was watching over our tamariki, whaanau, and kaiako.

Moments like these remind us to pause and appreciate the beauty around us. Through sunshine and rain, challenges and celebrations, we continue to grow together as a community grounded in aroha, manaakitanga, and whanaungatanga.

On this afternoon, Uenuku stood proudly above us — a beautiful reminder of the strength, joy, and promise that lives within our centre each day. 🌈💛

– Kaiako Rangi

Our tamariki thoroughly enjoyed participating in ngaa mahi aa-reehia with Kaiako Helen this morning, supported by the rest of our kaiako who were actively engaged alongside them.

Today, our tamariki explored tiitiitorea, a traditional Maaori stick game used to create rhythm and music. Through this experience, tamariki developed their coordination, listening skills, sense of beat, rhythm, and tempo while working together as a group.

It was wonderful to observe each child engaging at their own pace 💪🏽 watching and learning from their peers, practising new skills, and building confidence through participation. The joy, curiosity, and enthusiasm shown throughout the activity created a positive and inclusive atmosphere, with each tamaiti contributing their own unique rhythm to our circle time.

Ngaa mihi nui ki ngaa tamariki o Little Tui for embracing this learning experience with such excitement and positivity.