Last week it was Matariki, which was on 14th, July and it was a public holiday for the whole country but some people had to go to work. Last week when we came back to school we shared fun Matariki learning and activities. The first one was that we had to write down as many facts as we knew about Matariki and we only had four minutes and I learned that the name of Matariki translated in English means “eyes of god”. Many countries around the world celebrate the New Year in January but the Maori New Year is in July. The Matariki star cluster called Pleiades rises in the morning sky on the eastern horizon, before the sun comes up.
We also made a woven star, and the supplies you need are scissors, wool, cardboard circle and pencil. At first I thought it was going to be hard and when I started it was really hard because you have to cut the circle evenly. Cutting the cardboard is really hard because it’s like cutting a cement block and you really have to push down hard.
Instructions: First draw a circle and then cut it out, cut 1.5cm slits equal distance apart all the way around the circle (like on a clock.) Then slide the wool into the first slit, leaving a tail on the other side then begin making your way around the shape, passing through each slit several times, until it looks nice and thick. Use a second colour and weave a different pattern by starting at a new number.
I enjoyed making the star and the fun activities we did.
Hello Graziela, I love your guys nice art for Matariki. We didn’t do Matariki becase it was cancelled it!