Beginners’ te reo Māori and play activities
There are many resources and activities that whānau can use to help their tamaiti learn te reo Māori.
Starting a te reo Māori journey
If whānau are keen for their tamaiti to learn te reo Māori, talk with them about how they use the language at home and their connections to te ao Māori.
If they lack confidence speaking it themselves, assure them that there are many ways they can bring te reo into their home and whānau.
The internet is full of resources to help them build their language ability and confidence. Remind them too that their tamaiti won't judge their efforts.
Although it might feel like a struggle for adults learning a second language, the early years are a great time for children to be acquiring another language.
Pātai atu ki te whānau:
- What interests you about learning te reo?
- What would you like your tamaiti to achieve in te reo?
- Have you thought about how you might go about it?
- Where do you hear te reo spoken?
- How do you feel when you hear it?
- How might you get some help from whānau or friends?
- Have you found any children’s books in te reo at the library?
Te reo at home
There are many fun ways you can increase the use of te reo Māori in your home.
Some people stick vocabulary labels around the house to remind themselves of the names of things in te reo. The labels aren’t meant to teach tamaiti to read – rather, they are visual reminders for whānau to use the words.
The more whānau use the new words, the more likely they are to remember them. Don’t be too ambitious. It’s better to strengthen those neuron connections with a lot of repetition of a few words and phrases, rather than suddenly introducing too much. Adults may find that their tamaiti learns faster than they do!
Waiata and learning
Waiata give you plenty of repetition, which is the best way to learn. There are a number of waiata in the Songs section of our website which have links to audio or video to help you with the tune and the pronunciation.
The Whakatipu booklets provide plenty of opportunities to introduce te reo too.
Play activities
Many of the play activities in the Activities section of this website include a list of te reo Māori kupu that whānau might like to use. These are simple suggestions for using te reo Māori while having fun and participating in that most important activity – play.
Go to the home visit with an activity prepared so you can model with the whānau how to play and kōrero with their tamaiti.
Here are a couple of ideas to help whānau introduce some te reo Māori in their day-to-day lives.
Mahi kari (gardening)
Ask whānau about how they could introduce some te reo when gardening with their tamaiti. If they have little or no te reo, but would like to try, suggest they put a few words into their conversations and build up confidence and vocabulary as time goes on.
“Haere mai. Come here and look at these flowers.”
“He aha tēnei? What’s this?”
“A flower. Ae he putiputi .”
“Look at the butterfly. Titiro ki te pūrerehua.”
Some of these words, like ‘haere mai’, ‘he aha tēnei’ and ‘titiro’, are common words that whānau can use often and learn quite quickly. Others like ‘putiputi’ and ‘pūrerehua’ will be used less often.
Remind whānau of the importance of repetition and how their tamaiti has already learned so much language from them through hearing words repeated. Learning a second language is no different.
Building with blocks
You can introduce many words when playing with building blocks with tamariki.
Start off slowly with a few words and add more as the words become more familiar and both adult and child are ready for more.
“Me tākaro tāua . Let’s play.”
“He aha tēnei? What’s this?”
“Homai te ... Give me the ...”
“He whare nui . A big house.”
“Anei te matapihi . Here’s the window.”
Helpful resources for whānau
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Mā is White - Māori Colour song
Mā is White - Māori Colour song -
Te Reo Māori - Transport
Te Reo Māori - Transport -
Let's Learn Te Reo Māori - lesson 1
Let's Learn Te Reo Māori - lesson 1 -
Learn To Count in Māori
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Tēnā koe – hello to one
Tēnā koe – hello to one
