To celebrate Tongan Language Week at Sunnyvale Kindergarten we asked the Tavalu family to share some of their Tongan heritage with us and they enthusiastically agreed.

Mum Nancy brought in a lovely Tongan basket filled with tapa cloth, kahoa (necklaces), and rope handmade from coconut husk for tamariki to explore. We smelt, touched and looked closely at these beautiful artefacts.

The following day she came with a bag of items to make ‘otai’, a traditional Tongan drink with the children. Tamariki got busy peeling and grating apples, mixing crushed pineapple, mango puree to make delicious otai. This gave them a wonderful hands on cooking experience and the drink was delicious to taste.

Then the next day the family returned: kindy siblings Jordyn-Reign and Jireh along with their older siblings (and former kindy kids) Shakina and Riley-Sima. They performed a beautiful Tongan song choreographed by their aunty. It was was about returning home after moving away. They had created it for their father’s 30th birthday, and it evoked strong emotions from the audience. Adults and tamariki watched spellbound as their 2 young friends with older siblings dressed in wonderful handmade traditional clothes told the story, using their hands and bodies in an amazing dance.

Afterwards we all enjoyed a morning tea of panikeke, which the family had made for us.

We thanked the Tavalu family for generously sharing their cultural treasures and a very memorable moment to see our past students performing with their younger siblings.

It is such a valuable learning experience for tamariki and kaiako when whānau respond so enthusiastically to our invitation to share their culture. It also wonderful to see these children growing up in a family dedicated to keeping their language and culture alive.

Malo ‘aupito to the Tavalu family for this rich learning opportunity.