Ko te ahurei o te tamaiti arahia ō tātou māhi – Let the uniqueness of the child guide our work.
Whiti Ora have been collaborating with Sport New Zealand, Healthy Families East Cape and Innovation Unit to explore, with the community, why play is becoming an increasing priority across Aotearoa.
Play in Tairāwhiti is similar to that experienced across Aotearoa but we have some differences and influences that are unique to our region.
- We have three unique play catchments in the region- town, rural and coastal that each offer different play opportunities and experiences.
- Play in Tairāwhiti has historically centered around survival especially gathering kai and this continues today especially hunting, fishing, eeling, shellfish harvesting and gardening.
- Play ‘back in the day was outdoors’, in nature, about taking risks with little adult supervision. Play today is more structured, influenced by technology, more supervised and with less time for families to play together.
- Our play is strongly centered around our communities’ strong connections to te taiao and Te Ao Māori with easy access to low-cost nature play, play through mahi and a strong sense of local pride.
- Looking forward the community hope that play in Tairāwhiti will be child-led, nature based, freely available, for the whole whānau, balanced between safety and risk, part of holistic wellbeing and embedded in Tairāwhiti Te Ao Māori.
You can view the Power of Play Report here.
We would like to thank the stakeholders, whānau and tamariki who shared their play memories with us and helped shape this mahi.