Move Like A Kiwi!

Context

This 15-minute Physical Education session is designed for Year 1 students (approximately 5 years old). It falls under the New Zealand Curriculum: Health and Physical Education, specifically addressing Level 1 – Movement Concepts and Motor Skills.

At this level, students are expected to:

• Develop a wide range of movement skills
• Demonstrate movement and balance in a variety of contexts
• Participate in games and physical activities with care and safety

This session encourages the exploration of movement through imaginative play, inspired by the unique wildlife and natural environment of Aotearoa New Zealand. The focus is on coordination, locomotor skills, spatial awareness, and cooperative movement.

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Learning Outcomes

By the end of this session, students will:

• Move in a variety of ways to explore balance and coordination (run, hop, crawl, balance)
• Demonstrate listening and responding to movement instructions and cues
• Engage in imaginative play using movement inspired by native Aotearoa creatures
• Begin to develop confidence with personal and shared space

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Equipment Needed

• Cones to mark boundaries (or chalk if outside)
• NZ native animal picture cards (e.g., kiwi, tūī, pīwakawaka, kekeno/seal, tuatara)
• Music player (optional but recommended for transitions)
• A designated safe indoor or outdoor space for movement (hall, turf, or field)

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Session Duration

Total Time: 15 minutes
Class size: 12 students
Location: Indoor or outdoor open space

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Session Structure

🔵 1. Welcome & Warm-Up (2 minutes)

Activity: Tīhei Mauri Ora Circle

• Students stand in a circle. Teacher says: “Tīhei mauri ora!” – students echo and jump with both hands to the sky.
• While bouncing on toes or lightly jogging on the spot, students introduce themselves with their favourite colour or animal (one-word turn, quick around the circle).
• Teacher explains: “Today we’re exploring how our native animals move!”

Purpose: To centre the energy, engage students with tikanga Māori, and foster a fun, safe space.

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🟢 2. Main Game – Ngā Kararehe o Aotearoa (9 minutes)

Game: Move Like a Kiwi Critter!

Setup:

• Spread animal cards across the boundary zone, placing them face down.
• Teacher reveals one card at a time and describes the animal's movement.

Examples of movement cues:

1. Kiwi – walk low to the ground, using your arms as a beak to peck at the ground.
2. Tūī – flap arms and spin like you're fluttering and singing between trees.
3. Kekeno (NZ fur seal) – lie on tummy, wriggle forward using arms.
4. Tuatara – slow crawling on all fours, freeze like a statue!
5. Pīwakawaka (fantail) – quick side steps and jump-spins with ‘fluttery’ hands.

How to Play:

• Students begin at one end of the space.
• Teacher calls: “Ngā kararehe o Aotearoa, haere mai!”
• Teacher shows an animal and describes how it moves.
• Students then travel to a cone or boundary using that movement.
• Repeat with 3–4 different animals depending on focus and time.

Purpose: To promote imaginative movement, body control, and understanding of local fauna. These animal movements align with key locomotor skills for 5-year-olds.

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🟡 3. Cool-Down – Ngā Rākau Wiriwiri (Tree Breathing) (2–3 minutes)

Activity:

• Students stand still like trees (feet planted, arms up).
• “Imagine you’re a tall rimu tree swaying in the breeze.”
• Instruct slow breath in as arms rise; breath out as hands fall slowly like leaves.
• Repeat 3–4 times together.

Reflection Questions (Discuss while seated in a circle):

• “Which animal was your favourite to move like?”
• “Did you feel your heart beating faster when we were seals or tūī?”
• “Who remembered to stay in their own space?”

Purpose: This grounding moment helps students regulate energy and reflect on the session within a te ao Māori framework.

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Key Competencies in Action

• Thinking: Making links between animals and movement, creative expression.
• Managing Self: Moving respectfully in shared space.
• Relating to Others: Watching peers, participating safely.
• Participating and Contributing: Active willingness to try animal movements.

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Te Ao Māori Integration

• Starts with Tīhei mauri ora to ground in wairua and presence.
• Incorporates native flora and fauna from Aotearoa.
• Emphasises manaaki (care for self and others in shared space).

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Teaching Tips

🟤 Encourage expressive movement – there’s no wrong way to be a kiwi!

🟣 Reinforce cues with simple, visual demonstrations—act it out alongside ākonga.

🟢 Reinforce spatial awareness (e.g., “Let’s give our tuatara tails room to move”).

🟠 If students need support focusing, use a short pūrākau (story) about the animal before movement.

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Extending Learning

• Add simple te reo Māori for each animal name (e.g., “We are tūī – kei te rere ngā tūī!”)
• Revisit in future weeks with themes like: Beach Life, Forest Playground, or Move Like a Waka!
• Draw or colour the animals they moved like to connect with visual arts.

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Assessment (Informal Observation)

Observe and note:

• Are students able to follow movement instructions?
• Do they show spatial awareness (not bumping into others)?
• Are they confident to try new movements?
• Are they respectful and engaged in cool-down and reflection?

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Final Thought

This lesson is about joyful connection — to movement, to local ecology, and to each other. It's foundational, but it sparks wellbeing and a sense of identity through physical activity. As the PE whakataukī reminds us:

"He oranga ngākau, he pikinga waiora – Positive feelings in your heart will raise your sense of self-worth."

Let movement be the spark that lights up the learning journey of your ākonga.