A māra kai of creativity grew at Motueka Kindergarten recently, with the tamariki taking part in a national Westpac food garden competition.
Held in June by the Westpac Cultural Employee Action Groups as part of the Matariki celebrations, the competition aimed to support local schools or early childhood centres with their aspirations to grow, maintain or prepare their māra kai (food garden).
Kaiako/teachers rallied the children to create a video showing how their garden connects with Papatūānuku, promotes healthy kai, and follows the rhythms of the Maramataka (Māori environmental calendar).
Though not selected as national winners, their effort wasn’t overlooked. On Thursday, Motueka Westpac’s Louise Busson visited the kindergarten to present a $50 Mitre10 voucher, praising their creativity and the message of growing both kai and young minds.
Judges were especially charmed by the “awesome three little bees” who provided pollination and said the video beautifully captured how tamariki are learning to care for their environment and community.
Kaiako Joeline Jones says the voucher will be used to “purchase plants for the māra kai to continue to grow the minds of our tamariki”.
