Balls, Bullets and Boots

What an amazing exhibition at the Rotorua museum which links our All Blacks and ANZAC, looking at the First World War through the eyes of 15 NZ rugby players. Taeotu One did not know that the All Blacks in 1914 were playing against Australia in Sydney and decided to instead of travel back to NZ on the big ship head to war as a unit. 13 out of the 20 All Blacks were killed representing our country. 

We tried on authentic army uniform...

The trench coats were so heavy we have no idea how they ran in these...

We looked at how the war began...

We learnt about Allies...

We compared current ABs with the ABs 109 years ago...

We were able to smell what dead bodies and soldiers breaths smelt like!!!!

We highly recommend Balls, Bullets and Boots exhibition... Lest we forget

Early Maori Games Learning Experience

Our Taeotu Whanau have been learning about Early Traditional Maori games. For each learning experience / game or instrument we needed to research the history, origins, purpose and find examples. We then had hands on sessions creating them. The Key Competency we focused on was Using Language Symbols and text to create our games or instruments and design them so that they are unique.

Creating Manu Aute (Kites)

Creating wharenui paying attention to the different parts (ancestral arms, spine).

The poi which was originally made with rocks and used by men to strengthen their arms.

Ipu storage containers designed using tukutuku patterns.

Rakau sticks help with hand and eye co-ordination, beat and creativity.

The purerehua sounds to give warning, vibrations heal the body and were also thought to open portals to other worlds.

Traditional string games were to entertain the children and were also thought to help flexibility in the hands.