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Matariki was celebrated with a warm, cosy and sociable Whanau Evening at Coast Kindy in Whangaparaoa on July 7.
Around 100 people joined in what organisers describe as “a beautiful illustration of families and kindergarten working together in partnership to create a fantastic evening”.
Families worked on crafts such as weaving, kite making, painting korowai (cloak) feathers and beading. The children performed a drama and waiata before the hangi was served.
The kindergarten’s families contributed vegetables and meat for the hangi and parents shared in the food preparation, with one grandfather preparing the hangi.
As well as a way to mark Matariki, the event was the official launch of a new name – Coast Kindy, located in the lower level of the Whangaparaoa Baptist Church, was formerly known as Whangaparaoa Baptist Community Kindergarten.
Another focus was recycling and sustainability – the children had been machine sewing recyclable shopping bags and making beeswax wraps (a reusable plastic wrap substitute). These were given to the families with a suggested donation to Brya Bickford, an ex-Coast Kindy child who has leukaemia.
Coast Kindy assistant supervisor Raewyn Meikle says the goal was to produce as little waste as possible and in the tidy up, almost everything was washed, recycled or bokashi composted.
