The holiday programme was absolutely packed with fun for our ‘tamafreakies.’ It was a pleasure to hear them laughing and screaming around our marae, they were all so pumped and ready to get into it.
For the first couple of days, they learnt a few kapa haka waiata, taught by our two kaiako, Miriama White and Te Rua Mason; and a few hip hop moves taught by our kaiako, Chantal Tumahai. A few adults got up to shake their tail feathers too. Over the next few days, the tamariki enjoyed eating games, where blindfolded tamariki had to identify food on six numbered plates. We had things like mussels, prunes, lollies, peas and sardines, and as you can imagine, there were a lot of disgusted faces. Some needed a bucket to spit in but other than that everyone had a good laugh. In a second food game, the children had to identify food by touch and smell. Another game was the gumboot throw and I think a lot of our kids were surprised by how far they could actually throw. Well done kids.
On the last day, the tamariki always put on a performance for the adults and we had a lot of parents and grandparents show up. The kids were in the limelight telling their whānau what fun they’d had for the week. It was a lovely way to spend time with all the whānau and we’re looking forward to the next one.
On day three of the wānanga, we had a Fear Factor games day; and day four was spent down the awa building our own pā. The pā had to have a wharenui, wharekai, awa, maunga and anything else they wanted to add. We all had loads of fun. Everyone was a winner.