The Home Within Me

This activity offers opportunities for children to rediscover their sense of place by connecting to self and community. This lesson offers a simple sharing circle to incorporate into daily practice to support children to rebuild their sense of place in response to losing their home/community due to natural disaster. There are options for how to…

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Dictionary of Emotions

This activity supports children through a variety of mediums to connect and explore as they build their emotional literacy in the creation of a dictionary of emotions. This unit of work was created by Claire Coleman, Katy Pérez, and Amanda Wallace. View Lesson PLan

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Matariki for Tamariki

In this activity, the teacher provides provocations to prompt the children’s curiosity in exploring the influence of Matariki within their lives. This experience would ideally be offered after Matariki and the seven other stars have been introduced to the children, and is more suitable for a small group of maybe six children (maximum) at a…

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Worries Are Like Clouds

This unit works with the picture book: Worries Are Like Clouds and supports children to explore what worry is, how it feels in their body, and how they can express worry in a healthy way.   The first learning experience in the Worries Are Like Clouds unit is called Jar of Joy. The second learning…

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Visiting the Star Family

This learning experience takes the children on an imaginary trip to Space where they meet with a Star Family, exploring the topic of caring for families, having dreams and wishes, and navigating change. Check out the professional development video (link below) for an example of how the learning experience was facilitated. This unit of work…

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Ka ora te whenua, ka ora te tāngata

When the land is well, the people will be well. This learning experience offers opportunities for tamariki (children) to explore their individual and collective relationship with te taiao (the beyond human world) as a means to support wellbeing and the wellbeing of te taiao. This unit of work was created by Emma Parangi, Yasmine Slater,…

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Settling Stones

Children will be introduced to a practice of settling themselves through selecting a stone with their teacher who guides them on how to take care of a special item. This activity is offering you the opportunity to set a daily ritual with your children to help them settle. This ritual can be particularly helpful when…

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Scared Stuffy

This learning experience is designed to support children to understand what being scared is and how to help someone who is scared. Check out the professional development video (link below) for an example of how the learning experience was facilitated. This unit of work was created by Katy Pérez. View Lesson PLan Professional development video

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Ku Kulu Pilina (Building Connections)

Students have the opportunity to connect with self and also a partner to cultivate a relationship with emotions of self and also trust with another person. This learning experience helps students build pilina (connection) through yoga. This unit of work was created by Kilihune Ka’aihue, Makalani Franco-Francis and Christy Chadwick at Maui Arts & Cultural…

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Finding Something You Lost

This activity explores what it feels like to lose something precious to you. In this activity, the facilitator acts as the rainbow caretaker who has lost the rainbow. The children then help the caretaker to find fabric pieces of the rainbow and stitch it back together. This unit of work was created by Peter O’Connor.…

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