Sparklers at Home

Whānau

Fun whānau activities for looking after your wellbeing and feeling good.

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TE REO MĀORI GLOSSARY

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What is Sparklers at Home?

Sparklers is normally a classroom, wellbeing toolkit, and Sparklers at Home supports this. It holds may of the same fun wellbeing activities, but for the living room or lawn!

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Welcoming Matariki and Te Mātahi o te Tau (the new year)

Learn about the importance of the Matariki whetū (star) cluster and its special appearance in the winter sky marking the beginning of te mātahi o te tau (the New Year).

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Make a Matariki tradition!

Sharing kai is a big part of Matariki, so create a special placemat to use for shared kai during Matariki with your whānau.

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Make a Manu Tukutuku (kite)

Welcome some fresh air and some sky magic by making a manu tukutuku (kite).

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Karawhiua mai ōu moemoeā Matariki - Make a Matariki wish!

Make a moemoeā (wish) upon Hiwa-i-te-rangi, and how to make a good moemoeā (wish) come true!

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Matariki Whetū (star) Bunting

Nothing says festivities like bunting! Representing all of the special whetū of Matariki - each whetū offers a whānau adventure in line with their significance.

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Face masks and superheroes!

We're seeing more face masks around, which is great, but some tamariki may find this worrying or strange - here's a way to normalise face masks.

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Our manu and what they teach us...

Our native manu have unique characteristics - pīwakawaka are playful, kea are curious and this gives us a great opportunity to explore with our tamariki how we can be too!

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What are the five ways to wellbeing?

If we're feeling tired or stuck in a bit of a rut, there are simple things we can do every day to feel good.

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Make your own Whare Tapa Whā

This activity contextualises the Whare Tapa Whā model by allowing tamariki to make their own whare and practise all the things that contribute to their overall hauora.

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All the outside activities in one handy place!

One of the best things we can do to lift our mood is have fun in the outdoors. Our friends at the Department of Conservation and Tākai have helped us develop lots of fun, bubble-friendly ways to do just that!.

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DIY home-learning planner

Back in bubble time might feel hard, but get your routine sorted and you'll soon be rocking it!

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Fill my Whare Tapa Whā... more!

Create a kete of things to do to boost your hauora and wellbeing. This might be especially important during our bubble and home-learning time when things may feel challenging sometimes.

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Learn your Pepeha!

Learning our pepeha connects us to our family and history.

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Emotional Rollercoaster

Create a mean piece of artwork and talk about emotions - Emotional Rollercoaster is a win win activity!

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Give a Bunch of Kindness

Make some paper flowers to make someone's day (and your own!)

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Everyday kindness

One of the best things we can do for our wellbeing is to be kind or give to others (our time, actions and words).

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Being a First Rate Mate!

Help your tamariki build empathy and learn the key to being a good friend.

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Can't Do it Without You

Sometimes a shared goal is a great way to change the focus and reconnect us. This will do the trick!

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There for me

When we feel connected to others it makes us, and the people we connect to, feel good. This activity for older tamariki highlights this.

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Arohaina te reo - Loving te reo Māori

Apps and tracks and great facebook pages all supporting our te reo Māori

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Whānau Poster

Capture memories of your whānau - it builds connection both to them and your family's history.

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Whakawhetai (Gratitude) O-Clock

Expressing gratitude helps us feel good, and it's got the science to back it! Give it a go, make it a habit.

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Energy Rollercoaster

Learn about energy levels and how we can match them to fit the situation.

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Sliding Emotions

Get on top of the big emotions like anger and worry with this fun technique.

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Discover Your Strengths

Support your child to learn their strengths and discover yours too - while you're at it!

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What's in a Name?

Names are important and often have special meaning or a story. Share and capture these.

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Tummy Breathing

Kids need to calm their energy or big emotions - step one, learn to tummy breathe!

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Magic Minute

Practise tummy breathing to lengthen our time relaxing and being mindful. A whānau chillax!

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Juicy, Crispy, Crunch

A super simple introduction to mindfulness using your next snack break to practice.

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Sensory Poetry

Honing in on our senses develops our mindfulness skills – and mindfulness gives our wellbeing a boost!

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Sensory Kete

Having things available that help us calm down is important at any age - start em young!

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Mandala Colouring

When we 'lose ourselves,', in a calm activity it's called a 'flow' state. AND is happiness producing!

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Favourite Spaces

We all need a favourite space to retreat to! This activity validates the need for everyone to have a calm, happy space.

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Musical Adventures

A fun activity which helps us learn about the connection between music and our moods

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Worries 101

The all you and your tamariki need to know about anxiety - sometimes understanding the neuroscience really helps.

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The Faces Game

Your whānau needs to talk about how you're all feeling (in a good way!) Here's a fun place to start.

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Sense of the Day

Mindfulness has heaps of wellbeing benefits. Here's a week of opportunities to learn to be more mindful.

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Rising Tide

Read Rising Tide, or listen to the audiobook in English and te Reo Māori as a way to connect with your child , kōrero about resilience and find active strategies to build resilience too.

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Musical Emotions

An activity to identify some of the music we feel connected to, and why.

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Game Face

This is a fave in the classroom and easily brought to home - so much fun!

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Pirate Play

This is a goodie to take to lawn, let your inhibitions go and have some dramatic, active fun!

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Hikitia te Hā

Hikitia te Hā is a simple breathing and mindfulness sequence that anyone can learn using our videos.

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Body Scan

This is a mindfulness activity where you and the kids can find some proper, inner calm.

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Wellbeing activities for the whānau

Simple whānau activities that have the added bonus of boosting wellbeing!

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Tuputupu

A fun workbook series taking tamariki through all they need to know to tuputupu (grow) kūmara (and your mental health too!)

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Chitter Chatter

Help your kids talk about how they're feeling - in a fun way!

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Help your kids love daily routines!

Having a predictable routine can help both younger and older children feel secure and happy. It also means loads less stress.

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How to support your kids with diagnoses & differences

Having a child with differences can be tricky for you, and your child. This guide shares some things to try, based on the most up-to-date research.

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How to help kids sleep

When our kids have sleep issues, it’s challenging... for everyone! Here are some tips that can help.

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How to help kids manage worries

Our tamariki mightn’t have to pay bills, cook dinners or organise carpools but just like us they face daily demands and worries, and what seems trivial to us can be important to them. So what can we do to help?

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How to help kids be grateful and kind

Being grateful and kind boosts the way we feel, and tends to make us more likeable human beings. So how can we help our tamariki learn these important skills?

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How to help kids keep calm

Experiencing frustration, disappointment, fear and jealousy is challenging, even as adults. This guide offers tips and advice for helping your tamariki understand and manage big emotions.

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Tautoko your tamariki after severe weather

If you're looking for ways to support your tamariki (and yourself!) in the aftermath of severe weather, here are some helpful tips.

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How to help kids feel good & have fun

Our tamariki need the basics – like food, warmth, shelter and clothing – but how can we foster their self-esteem and make them feel safe and loved? Here are our top tips.

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How to support our Rainbow kids

Supporting our kids to be who they truly are can make a huge difference to their wellbeing. This guide shares our top tips for staying their greatest source of support.

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Tips to support your adolescents

There's lots of expectations that come with this time - for us, and our tamariki, so here's our best tips to support you both.

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All Right Parenting & Whānau

Parenting is awesome, but it also has its moments! Head here for more parenting tips and tricks.

Check out All Right Parenting