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Embracing Natural Resources to make music in September
September has been a wonderful month of exploration and investigation in the Explorers Room here at Oraha Road. Of particular note is the way ngā tamariki have thrown themselves headlong into the world of sound and music making. This interest has been percolating for a little while and seems to be at full boil at the moment. Ngā tamariki have explored many avenues—some spontaneous, like the amazing drum band that formed with large boxes, and the discovery that pots, pans, and even mega blocks can also become musical instruments.
Some avenues were planned provocations, such as exploring sounds from forest resources like pine cones and twigs—veritable forest music! Ngā tamariki also made the most of every opportunity to explore and examine 'actual' instruments, developing their working theories surrounding sound and music and how they can create it themselves. They even made instruments from bottles, lids, pie tins, bells, and pipe cleaners, which links firmly to Te Whāriki, Strand 4, Goal 4.
Importantly, whether the avenues were spontaneous or planned, all activities sat securely within our localised curriculum, which is based on our nearby Riverhead Forest. These activities also link comfortably to our intention to use recycled and natural resources, a key aspect of the Reggio Emilia philosophy to which we subscribe.
Another highlight during September was Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. Every day is a reo Māori day in the Explorers Room, with kaiako and ngā tamariki using and responding to te reo in natural and authentic ways. Of course, we wanted to celebrate the week in multiple ways. We read and sang more reo Māori pukapuka at wānanga, and set up inviting provocations to promote kōrero and learn kupu hou—particularly focusing on ngā tae, the colours. Some of the provocations also connected back to our local curriculum by focusing on ngā Atua, particularly Tane Mahuta and Papatuanuku. Through this, we combined our desire to value te reo Māori with our aim to integrate te ao Māori and ngā taiao in authentic and purposeful ways.