In Term 2 of 2026, Te Tau Ihu (Top of the South) was fortunate enough to host a visit from Harko Brown, with the Whakatū/Nelson and Te Tai o Aorere/Tasman Enviroschools Teams collaborating with Sport Tasman to provide a kaiako workshop about hauora/wellbeing and whanaungatanga/connection through tākaro, or traditional Māori games.
Harko Brown sharing his expertise with the group
Harko Brown is Aotearoa’s leading expert in the field of tākaro, with a wealth of knowledge and experience gained both through growing up immersed in these traditions, and an ongoing passion for learning and sharing more about this kaupapa. Harko taught a range of simple traditional Māori kēmu, all utilising easily sourced natural materials and easily adaptable across a range of age levels and abilities. The learning was interspersed with healthy doses of tīkanga and pūrākau, whakawhanaungatanga in action and plenty of laughs! The learning was not only centred around the games themselves, but also the purpose of these games – usually based on values like whakawhanaungatanga, kotahitanga, collective wellbeing and connection, or reestablishing balance between a group of people. Each kaiako left with new tools in their kete, a sense of refreshment from the joy of a day well spent together, and a commitment around how they were going to take action through sharing their learnings with tamariki and with other staff.
Learning by doing – kaiako taking part in the activities shared by Harko
The group of predominantly ECE and Primary kaiako who attended the day responded with great enthusiasm to the learnings and activities led by Harko. The laughter and playfulness shared, and the resulting sense of connection, was a highlight acknowledged by many. Kaiako appreciated the opportunity to put aside their heavy workload for the day and have fun together.
Some kaiako feedback on the day:
“So good to be actively participating – easy kēmu to adapt to various ages and stages of development.”
“I really loved the aroha in the ruma and the willingness from everyone to participate fully throughout the day. Was such a joyous professional development!”
“I enjoyed all of the physical activity and practice using the resources. Rather than just talking about how they can be used, actually using them. The simplicity of the resources and that you can also make them at home rather than having to purchase lots of items.”
Manu weaving with harakeke was a highlight of the workshop
What happened next?
The following are a few examples of how the day’s learnings were put into action and spread into the schools and ECE centres in our rohe:
Kēmu have been shared with teaching teams at Teacher Only days and staff hui. Here are the Tāhunanui teaching team playing Tī-Kapekape.
Tamariki at Motueka Kindergarten playing Tī-uru.
Tamariki at Tāhunanui Kindergarten helping to create Mana-ki out of korari or harakeke stalks for playing Tī-uru.
Tāhunanui tamariki enjoying their new taonga tākaro
At Stoke School, learning the kēmu Tī-kapekape, which is a kumara harvesting game, was linked in with the Matariki kumara harvest.
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