Na te kune te pupuke,
Na te pupuke te hihiri,
Na te hihiri te mahara,
Na te mahara te hinengaro,
Na te hinengaro te manako.

From the conception the increase,
From the increase the thought,
From the thought the remembrance,
From the remembrance the consciousness,
From the consciousness the desire.

Korikori has many beautiful benefits to our tamariki and is key to their development, building confidence and independence as they navigate their Āo.

Uninterrupted and unstructured organic play enables a tamaiti the freedom to process their environment without the constraints of time. It empowers the tamaiti to explore their creativity and evolve intellectually.

While we live in a world where advertisements of the latest toys are appealing to the eyes, these items are hardly appealing to the inner creator of the tamaiti, furthermore they often lack the imagination to flow naturally.

Here we have an example of some Kete Resources that you can introduce into your whare.

• Kete Tāiao: Many tamariki enjoy the outdoors, there are many kōrero pertaining to our Atua (environmental deities) that you can share with your tamariki that connect to our own innate values as He Atua, He Tangata. Take a kete (basket) or bag you can carry in the car. With this, you can gather taonga (rākau, kōhatu etc) from the Tāiao (environment) for your tamaiti/tamariki to play with at home.

• Kete Kai: Having resources available for our tamariki to have a unique experience while dining enables you to observe how they interact with kai. You can share karakia mō te kai and kōrero pertaining to the Atua Rongomatane. Set their dining experience up in a way that aligns with the tikanga of your marae or whare and share a conversation about the kai they are consuming. Does it nurture their Atua within?

• Kete Horoi: Bath time can often be a task for parents trying to manage a household. Create your own unique bath time kete with bath salts, taonga from the Awa or Moana and a candle. This is an important ritual to settle the inner Atua of a child.

These are but a few examples you can use to build unique experiences for our tamariki. You may want to explore creating seasonal Kete that are aligned with seasons and behaviours of our tamariki.

Tamariki thrive on experiences. These healthy experiences also nurture our tamariki unique tuākiri (identity) and Whatumanawa (emotional experiences).