Time Travel Stories

Overview

This 150-minute session with 40 preschool children will immerse them as time travellers, exploring the life stories of key Māori and Pākehā ancestors through interactive storytelling and costume play. This approach fosters empathy, connection to New Zealand’s history, and cultural and language understanding, strongly aligned with the New Zealand early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki.

Learning Objectives (Aligned with Te Whāriki)

Mana Reo (Communication): Children will engage in oral storytelling, role-play, and language use to explore narratives from Aotearoa New Zealand’s history, developing oral language and narrative skills.
Mana Tangata (Contribution): Children will collaborate through group activities and role-taking, learning to respect different perspectives and strengthen social skills.
Mana Whenua (Belonging): Foster children’s sense of identity and connection to New Zealand histories, both Māori and Pākehā.
Mana Aotūroa (Exploration): Encourages curiosity about the past, historical figures, and cultures.
Mana Atua (Well-being): Support children’s emotional connection and empathy through experiential learning.

These strands correspond to key competencies such as relating to others, participating and contributing, and using language, symbols, and texts .

Resources Needed

Simple costumes or props representing traditional Māori attire (korowai, flax weaving, taiaha replicas) and early Pākehā settler clothes (hats, shawls, aprons).
Story cards for key ancestors’ life stories (e.g., Kupe, Whina Cooper, Captain Cook).
Visual aids: pictures, illustrations of scenes/stories.
A “time machine” prop (e.g., decorated cardboard box) for immersive transition.
Puppets or artefacts to support storytelling.
Recording device (tablet or smartphone) for optional story playback.

Detailed Lesson Plan

1. Introduction & Setting the Scene (20 minutes)

Goal: Build excitement and set context as "time travellers."
Gather children in a circle; introduce the concept of time travel.
Show the “time machine” and invite children to imagine visiting the past.
Briefly explain the importance of learning about both Māori and Pākehā ancestors to understand New Zealand's history.
Use simple, engaging language and visual props to introduce two key ancestor stories — one Māori, one Pākehā.

Te Whāriki links: Encourages identity building and language development through storytelling (Mana Whenua, Mana Reo) .

2. Storytelling & Role Play – First Ancestor (40 minutes)

Tell a story of a Māori ancestor (for example, Kupe, the navigator).
Use expressive intonation, gestures, and visuals.
Invite children to wear simple costume pieces and enact parts of the story in small groups.
Support children to use new vocabulary and sentence patterns related to the story (e.g., waka, ocean, stars).
Rotate roles so all children experience different parts.

Te Whāriki links: Developing oral language, narrative skills, and role-taking (Mana Reo, Mana Tangata); children try behaving and speaking as someone else (role-play) .

3. Storytelling & Role Play – Second Ancestor (40 minutes)

Repeat the process with a Pākehā ancestor (for example, Captain Cook or a settler like Whina Cooper, highlighting bicultural New Zealand history).
Emphasise empathy by encouraging children to think about how the ancestor might have felt.
Use costume play again with props.
Encourage children to work in pairs or small groups to retell parts of the story or improvise dialogues.

Te Whāriki links: Building respect for different perspectives and cultural understanding (Mana Tangata, Mana Whenua); support language use in imaginative contexts.

4. Creative Expression & Reflection (30 minutes)

Children gather to share what they learnt or performed.
Use drawing or simple craft to design their own ancestors or time-travel costumes.
Encourage children to use sentences like “I was a navigator who...” or “My ancestor helped...” to foster oral language replay.
Group reflection: ask children how it felt to be a time traveller; what they liked.

Te Whāriki links: Supporting communication, identity expression, and belonging; connect personal experiences to learning (Mana Reo, Mana Whenua) .

5. Closing & Whānau Engagement (20 minutes)

Invite children’s families/whānau to a short sharing session.
Children present their favourite part or story (in pairs or small groups).
Teachers share resources or ideas for further home exploration of New Zealand history.
Encourage families to discuss the histories and stories at home in Māori and English.

Te Whāriki links: Strengthens family and community connections; values home language and cultural identity (Family and Community principle) .

Assessment & Evidence

Observation of children’s participation and communication during role play and storytelling.
Informal assessment of oral language development through children’s storytelling and vocabulary usage.
Photographs or audio/video recordings of story enactments to review narrative skills and role engagement.
Children’s creative drawings or crafts as evidence of connection and understanding.
Teacher notes on children’s empathy and comprehension expressed in reflections.

These assessments align with formative principles of Te Whāriki, which prioritises holistic development, emergent literacy, and culturally responsive pedagogy .

Innovative elements to 'Wow' Teachers

Use of a "time machine" prop to fully immerse preschoolers in the experience.
Multi-sensory storytelling combining visual props, costumes, expressive voice, and movement.
Integration of Te Ao Māori concepts alongside Pākehā stories to authentically reflect dual heritage.
Recording children’s storytelling to enable reflection and boost confidence.
Close links to Te Whāriki weaving cultural identity with oral language, social skills, and empathetic understanding to foster lifelong learning dispositions.

This lesson plan honourably brings Aotearoa’s shared histories alive for young learners in playful, culturally rich, and deeply engaging ways consistent with Te Whāriki principles and strands.

Would you like me to create supporting story scripts or prop lists next?

Teaching Instructions