Creative ID: 774
My arts or creative practice (including details about my specific focus within that art form/practice and my strengths)
Using Matariki as our focus, we will bring hands on science activities to your school that all children will participate in. Children will learn about sowing and harvesting crops, scintillation of stars, constellations and clusters, navigation with stars, lunar phases and be challenged to create a waka that floats. A full on, hands on, fun and interactive way to celebrate Matariki.
My track record of experience and success - or the track record of experience and success of the creative or artist that I will partner
Thanks for considering us! We have been bringing science into schools and Early Childhood centres for several years and have developed our "Science of Matariki" as a unique way for students to engage with science via our newest national holiday. We have had great feedback from schools and would love to engage with more tamariki and kaiako.
Describe the experience you have had working with children or young people, teaching or facilitating creative processes
Our aim is to bring science alive for young children. We have worked with children for 8 years, first at our science-based holiday programme, and then through ECE's and schools. All of our sessions have multiple experiments on a particular subject, and each child gets to run each experiment, from beginning to end. We find this hands-on approach really ignites the children's imagination. They understand more, working with their hands, they question more, and they comprehend more. Science can be like art, creating, changing, storytelling. Our age groups are 3 to 12 years. We have 40+ different topics we can bring to schools, but our passion lies with our Matariki module. Children will sow seeds and harvest, study the stars, learn about navigation, and build their own outrigger (through junk play). No sitting and listening with us! It's all hands-on.
Why I want to be part of the Creatives in Schools programme and how my involvement will link to my creative practice
Creatives in Schools will allow us to bring our experience to more schools. Each school will get a programme tailored to their needs. This helps us stay fresh and relevant and teaches us about the growing and changing needs of a particular area.