Manaakitanga is a pou (an important value in our learning and play) here at Milford Kindergarten. Alongside our Rangatira roles where tamariki prepare kai spaces and provide manaakitanga to one another on a daily basis, within our local curriculum we encourage tamariki to take a broader view of manaakitanga and to aspire to small acts of kindness and caring toward one another, their whānau and the wider community.

Inspired by the Carol McCloud book ‘Have you filled a bucket today’ last year we introduced a kete or bucket filling kaupapa. Tamariki are introduced to the concept of everyone in the world carrying an invisible bucket whose only purpose is to carry your good feelings and thoughts about yourself. At Milford Kindergarten tamariki are noticed or notice others filling one anothers kete during their play and they wear a tohu aroha (heart) for the day. They are acknowledged at our hui whakakapi (end of session hui) and share how they filled someone’s kete or bucket that day. We celebrate our kete aroha filling acts in our tamariki portfolios and in displays throughout the Kindergarten. Tamariki are eager to share with whānau why they are wearing a tohu and whānau are supporting and extending the value of this loving mahi in their homes.

Using the concepts of the book and our own tamariki images we have begun creating our very own Milford Kindergarten kete filling story. Now we are extending the kaupapa to support tamariki in developing deeper understandings of social and non-verbal language, especially facial expressions and body language. We look for a menemene (smile) to light up peoples faces to know we have filled their kete. We seek opportunties to notice when someone’s kete might be a bit empty, they might look sad, or lonely and tamariki actively seek to fill them up, knowing that by doing this they are filling their own kete aroha too. It’s only a small kaupapa but we are quietly delighted that it speaks so elloquently to tamariki of manaakitanga and caring kindness. Aroha atu, aroha mai.