Find resources / Activities / Box sculpture – Whakairo pouaka Activity

Whakatipu booklet Te Māhuri 1, ‘Construction carpentry’, pp. 14–15.

Why do it? — He aha e mahi ai?

By constructing sculptures from boxes, tamariki can:

• be creative and resourceful using everyday household items

• have an opportunity to solve problems.

How to do it — Te tikanga mō tēnei mahi

• Choose a suitable space where it’s okay to make a bit of a mess.
• Collect some empty containers, boxes and cardboard tubes of different shapes and sizes.
• Get tape and glue for sticking the boxes and containers together, and scissors for cutting things to shape.
• Coloured paper or card, pipe cleaners and string can also be useful.
• Ask your tamaiti open-ended questions such as ‘What do you want to make?’ and, ‘How could you make a ...?’
• Offer support with suggestions like, ‘What would happen if you...?’ or ‘How can you decorate your ...?’
• Remember, the process of ‘doing’ is what matters most, not the finished product.
• Ideas for things to create could be: houses, wharenui, waka, ships, rockets, robots, spaceships, garages, animals or people.