Playing at home
Whānau are the most important people in the lives of tamariki, and home is the place where they learn and play the most.
There's a lot of information about giving tamariki play opportunities at home on our website. Look at the following articles from the 25 to 36 months section:
And these articles for 3 to 5-year-olds:
Whānau are always the key
Although many tamariki attend an early learning service, their parents and whānau at home are still number one. Whānau will always be the most important people in the lives of tamariki. They will be their best playmates, and their lifelong guides and supporters.
As tamariki grow, learn, develop and get more independent, their behaviour may swing between confidence and fear. They need their whānau to understand that developing into a 5-year-old is a work in progress, with plenty of forward, and then sometimes backward, steps.
Whānau and other trusted caregivers are best placed to support, guide and encourage tamariki to have a go, to try again, to say ‘Ka pai koe!’ — ‘Good on you!’.
Home is a rich learning place
At home there are experiences all day and every day shared by whānau and tamariki where ākona me whakaako (learning and teaching) happen naturally as whānau go about their daily lives together.
Tamariki learn about the world, and they learn skills, language and maths ideas. They learn to share and to wait. Grownups learn to notice, to listen, to be patient, and to ask open-ended questions that lead to real conversations.
Sometimes, doing things together like this may mean chores take longer to get done. Whānau helpers are well-placed to point out how spending time with tamariki is sending them the message that they are loved and worth spending time with. It is also building their brain to enable tamariki to become happy and capable adults.
Create moments, make memories, shape destinies.
