At Howick Kindergarten we love to celebrate festivals! Kaiako thought about how to prepare tamariki for the Waitangi day. We started by introducing the history with our audiobook, The Treaty of Waitangi, and had pretend play with the korowai.  

We invited two tamariki who put their hands up to be the ‘Māori king/chief’ and the ‘England King’. They talked about how Māori people got to New Zealand in the waka/boat and how the captain from England came later after them. 

Tamariki learnt that the English people wanted to live in New Zealand with the Māori people, and the Māori people asked, “Will you look after the land with us? Will you speak our language? Will you protect the bird? Will you look after the river?” The English people said yes, so they signed a treaty – an agreement to be friends and look after New Zealand together. Kaiako then invited tamarki to sign their names on a piece of paper before they read the sing-along book together.