Tag Archives: kids

Kids’ Poetry Competition – Discover Love Festival

5 February 2013 – 9.56am

Do you like writing? Are you aged between 5 and 12 or do you know someone who is? Could you write a sonnet like Shakespeare or a limerick of love?

Te Papa’s Discovery Centres are holding their first ever poetry competition!

There are two age categories: 5 to 8 and 9 to 12.

Prize: The best three poems from each age category will feature on the Te Papa blog and website. The winner from each age category will receive a mystery prize from the Te Papa Kids’ Store!

What you need to do: Write a poem about love (up to 20 lines). It could be about a person (like your mum or dad), a thing (like a hobby or pet), or a place (like Te Papa!). Anything, as long as you love it!

Your poem can be funny, serious or soppy. We’re looking forward to reading them all!

Email your love poem to ruth.hendry@tepapa.govt.nz or pop a paper copy into the red box in Inspiration Station, Level 4.

Remember to include your name, age, and a parent’s email address or telephone number.

Please ask your parents’ permission before entering.

Closing date: 13 February 2013, midnight

Entry is free!

Discover Love Festival

It’s all about love at Te Papa from 5 to 14 February! We have a great kids’ Valentine’s Day programme for you.

Click on the links for more information about the events.

Love bugs: craft a cuddly bug – Use felt to craft fun, cuddly bacteria.

Join a junk orchestra – Make an instrument out of junk and parade through Te Papa with our musical junk orchestra.

Myths and legends of the Pacific – Lose yourself in love-themed myths of the Pacific, with storytelling and craft activities.

15-minute Shakespeare – Enjoy Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet as you’ve never seen it before. Suitable for adults and children, but expect audience engagement!

By ruthbhendry | Posted in Kids | Also tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Name our monarch butterflies!

6 December 2012 – 2.29pm

NatureSpace has an exciting new display – monarch butterfly caterpillars! Watch them grow from a caterpillar to a butterfly.

We need your help. The caterpillars don’t have a name! What should we call them? Put your suggestions in the comments, tweet them to @tepapa or email ruth.hendry@tepapa.govt.nz.

We’ll pick the best two names and let you know what you’ve named them.

Send in your pics!

There’s a community display in NatureSpace where we’re putting up your images of New Zealand monarch butterflies from egg to adult. We’d love to see your pictures!

You can email them to ruth.hendry@tepapa.govt.uk and we’ll put them in the display so everyone can see them.

Male Monarch butterfly: scent pocket on vein of hind wing. Sharell, Richard. Gift of Mrs L. Sharell, 1987. © The Estate of Richard Sharell. Te Papa

Male monarch butterfly: scent pocket on vein of hind wing. Sharell, Richard. Gift of Mrs L. Sharell, 1987. © The Estate of Richard Sharell. Te Papa

Did you know…

Monarch butterflies in America and Canada migrate over 3,000 kilometres each year. It’s the longest insect migration.

In New Zealand, monarch butterflies don’t migrate. Perhaps they’re lazy!

Visit our caterpillars

We’ll be releasing them once they turn into butterflies, so catch them whilst you can.

You can find out more about monarch butterflies by checking out the books in NatureSpace, visiting the ARKive website or visiting Te Ara, the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

By ruthbhendry | Posted in Kids | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments (4)

Hey Museum kids… meet Kahu the Kea!

30 September 2011 – 3.22pm
Kahu meets the kids from Tai Tamariki Kindergarten

Kahu meets the kids from Tai Tamariki Kindergarten

Kahu the Kea is making his big debut tomorrow at Te Papa. He’ll be emerging from his secret nest behind Te Papa’s Kids Store at 2pm Saturday and Sunday. Your kids will love Kahu!

Kahu’s on  Facebook too. And if you Like him  you can go in to win a $200 prize pack from the Kids store.
Win with Kahu on Facebook

Kahu also has a bookclub – sign up to the bookclub and find out Kahu’s top picks for kids books. There’ll  be special offers for educational books, toys and gifts from time to time.
http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/kahu/

It’d be great to see you this weekend – it has been fun watching how little kids are mesmerised by this cheeky parrot. At his rehersal yesterday, a wee fella couldn’t help himself and just ran up and gave Kahu a huge hug. It was gorgeous to watch!

By lucyhoffman | Posted in Birds, Events, Kids | Also tagged , | Comments (0)

our giant kākāpō

3 August 2010 – 2.32pm
the Words on a Wing kakapo in NatureSpace | (c) Te Papa 2010

the Words on a Wing kakapo in NatureSpace | (c) Te Papa 2010

Look at NatureSpace’s newest visitor! This stylish mesh and steel kākāpō is two and a half metres long, a metre and a half tall, and is wearing a fashionable set of paper feathers covered in conservation-related messages from children. It ‘s part of the Words on a Wing campaign being run by the Department of Conservation, and it’s been a rather busy bird.

don't let the kakapo die! A filled in feather on the words on a wing kakapo | (c) Te Papa 2010

don't let the kakapo die! A filled in feather on the words on a wing kakapo | (c) Te Papa 2010

At the start of the year, somebody Very Important at DOC made a list of places for it to travel. It’s from Wellington, right? So it should go to Wellington Zoo. Check. Zealandia, check.  Te Papa? Check. The Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya, Japan….check. Well, why not? It’s not like any other kākāpō is going to get the chance to go flying any time soon.

But there’s a hitch. A flaw. A kink. One that could keep the poor Kākāpō grounded at Wellington airport, sadly looking out the window as the plane to Japan takes off without it. See, we can’t get kākāpō a passport until Kākāpō has a name. This is serious stuff, and we need your help.

one of the feathers filled out by New Zealand children for the Words on a Wing project | (c) Te Papa

one of the feathers filled out by New Zealand children for the Words on a Wing project | (c) Te Papa

Come into NatureSpace on level 2 between today and when Te Papa closes on August 23. Fill out a feather and inform some powerful people what your views are on conservation and kaitiakitanga (looking after the planet). Then grab an entry form and tell us what you think we should call Kākāpō. If our bunch of esteemed bird experts likes your name best of all, then we will send you and your family for a day surrounded by gorgeous native creatures in Zealandia. For free!

Not only that, but world-famous New Zealander Sirocco Kākāpō will announce the choice to the world every which way as fast as he can type (and he’s getting pretty good). The most famous kākāpō in the world is going to make you famous too!

Besides Te Papa, Kākāpō can be found in peaceful forest settings and on the

Discovery Centre host Keryn puts a feather onto the Words on a Wing kakapo | (c) Te Papa 2010

Discovery Centre host Keryn puts a feather onto the Words on a Wing kakapo | (c) Te Papa 2010

internet. Here are some peaceful electric glades you can find a Kākāpō or two:

1. This quiz about kākāpō that the Kiwi Consvervation Club put together.

2. The Words on a Wing page at DOC. It comes with photos so you can see where Kākāpō has been. There’s also a kit so you can make your own kākāpō in two or three dimensions. Astounding!

3. The hard-working men and women of the Kākāpō Recovery  programme have their own website. They’re based out of Whenua Hou-Codfish Island, which is off the west coast of Stewart Island. You can read about everything they do, and even follow it on their blog.

4. We in the Discovery Centres are not just pretty faces, though many of us are pretty, and those that aren’t pretty are quite handsome. If you go to our website, you can see what we have to visit, and maybe check out some of our cool school art projects, like the work that Te Kura Māori o Porirua did for Te Huka ā Tai. Definitely worth coming in for!

By discoverymike | Posted in Birds, Events, Kids | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (7)

Sphenodon punctatus

12 July 2010 – 4.15pm
At the halfway point of the school holidays already, and it’s time to bring out the big guns. We need to keep the kids entertained, and what better way than with a real life sphenodon punctatus? Great idea, and luckily for us, there’s several real ones, just up the road at Victoria University. Even luckier for us, they don’t mind dropping by Te Papa and showing them off.

So it was that several of us were all in NatureSpace at the same time to see our own repitilian ripsnorter.

Charley and Spike in NatureSpace | (c) Te Papa 2010

Charley and Spike in NatureSpace | (c) Te Papa 2010

 His name was Spike, and he was very gracious, sitting in his box waiting for a cameo while his handler Sue gave us a full and thorough rundown of the world of a tuatara.

Sue and Spike from Victoria University at NatureSpace, July 2010

Sue and Spike from Victoria University at NatureSpace, July 2010 | (c) Te Papa 2010

And interesting? Boy was it! Did you know these amazing things?

  • Tuatara metabolism is so slow that they can survive for maybe five years without food.  
  • A tuatara is born with a third eye. It’s a sensory organ that helps the newborn monitor its melatonin levels. Melatonin is a chemical that people and other animals have to help their bodies maintain circadian rhythms, which are the routines programmed into our (and a tuatara’s) brain. The third eye closes over as a tuatara gets older (and by old we mean OLD, because the oldest alive that we know of, Henry from Southland Museum is 110, and they could possibly get as old as 250).
  • A tuatara can hold its breath for nearly an hour. And, if that’s not enough, they can grow their tails back, if they’re careless and lose it under the fridge. And if you’re looking for more interesting information, how about this one, which I found care of the Ngati Koata trust,who look after Tuatara on Takapourewa Island in Cook Strait: A young tuatara will hunt during the day, to avoid being eaten by an adult tuatara at night.
After Sue had give her most excellent talk, the children set about to make their own tuatara. Ours were crafty cardboard creations, and there were some pretty fine and imaginative examples, such as the leopard print, or the one with the big black bushy eyebrows. And then there was the more realistic examples, as shown below:  two pictures are examples of classic tuatara behaviour: sunbathing on rocks and devouring insects.  And the bottom picture is the one I think sums it up: Xandi with his own rockstar reptile - the perfect end to a perfect day.
A tuatara crunching into a nice juicy waterbug in NatureSpace | (c) Te Papa 2010

A tuatara crunching into a nice juicy waterbug in NatureSpace | (c) Te Papa 2010

three tuatara sunbathing on a "rock" in NatureSpace | (c) Te Papa 2010

three tuatara sunbathing on a "rock" in NatureSpace | (c) Te Papa 2010

Xandi in NatureSpace with his fantastic creation | (c) Te Papa

Xandi in NatureSpace with his fantastic creation | (c) Te Papa

By discoverymike | Posted in Kids, Reptiles | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (3)

a weevil the size of a football that I shall mention at the end

1 July 2010 – 7.59pm

Rest assured, we in the Discovery Centres are working very, very hard for you. We know that for most children, two weeks away from the blackboard is a thought not worth thinking, and we have a whole slate of great diversions to take your mind off THE THING WE WON’T MENTION. You know, the two weeks without sch…nothing.

And when we say that there is a whole barrel of interesting things going down, we’re not kidding. More than a barrel, there is a fridge stored inside a tanker being hauled by two helicopters, one piloted by a dragon, the other by a fairy princess. One of our holiday highlights has to do with this bro’Town interactive that our hard-working hosts Herbert and Jessica have magicked into being. Have a look:

The new bro'town laughter lines interactive being installed in Inspiration Station (c) Te Papa, 2010

The new bro'town laughter lines interactive being installed in Inspiration Station (c) Te Papa, 2010

Look at it! Isn’t it magnificent? It looks even better now, because it’s fully operational, wall-mounted and ready for your artistic hard work. Doesn’t that make you feel better about your school-less fortnight? Not enough? How about all the activities we’ve got planned for you? Four Discovery Centre  hours covering a whole range of activities, everything from tī rākau (playing sticks) to Samoan tattooing, to the very important visit of some Very Improtant People, in this case, the cast of bro’Town! A Very Important Reptile will also drop by: a real life, living breathing tuatara. Surely, that’s got to take the edge off the 336 hours you have to endure waiting to be let back into a classroom.

Still not enough? Craft yourself into a frenzy! That will make the 20,160 minutes pass that much more sweetly. You can pick from one of over a dozen craft activities. You like Japanese dolls? Be here on July 3, and we’ll make one together. Maybe you’re like Bruce Wayne – more of a pekapeka person. Well, you’re sorted too. Just be here on July 8, and you can shimmy up a  short-tailed bat mask. What else could you want? Tongan drums? Jandals in July? A completely classy and cleverly cool  Tīpare? A perfectly pretty but perhaps perplexing thaumatrope? Done.

Now, on to the weevil. The New Zealand Schools’ Photographic Competition winners are out and up onto our Discovery Centre walls: brilliant work done by kids who came up with a way to meet the challenge of capturing one of two tricky themes – “Celebrate” or “From the Paddock to the Plate”.

Bryce McQuillian's photographs in the Discovery Centre offices

Bryce McQuillian's photographs in the Discovery Centre offices

And to do this, we had to somewhat relectantly take down the astounding close-up photography of Bryce McQuillan. As you can see from what is clearly also a photographic masterpiece here, they have been keeping a low profile in our office.  But even that’s not a problem (unless you don’t like bugs and work in our office, then I suppose it could be a problem).  If it’s close up bugs you want, then just take a trip to NatureSpace on level 2, because we have 28 of them waiting for you to put them under the microscope. Maybe we’ll see you at Te Papa for a few of the 1.2 million seconds you’ll have free this July?

By discoverymike | Posted in Events, Kids | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (1)

When You’re Two

1 July 2010 – 3.36pm

The earliest memory I have of my youth takes me back to approximately age three. I was finishing the weekly “playgroup” session with a few neighbours my age which had been held at my house that time. My mother was getting ready to drive the other kids home when my dad returned from work. I remember being given the choice of staying with Dad or riding in the car with Mother. I had an idea that I would prefer Dad to take my friends home and I’d ride with him. Of course, that wasn’t an option. Maybe I remember the situation because of my strong emotional reaction and/or the scene I caused.

I thought back to my stubbornness yesterday when I met a two-year-old child who wanted to walk around and swing one of our new ukuleles in the PlaNet Pasifika Discovery Centre. I explained to him that he was welcome to play the instrument but that he should take good care of it so other people could play it, too.

I know it’s hard trying to figure out how the world works. I’m still searching for many answers, myself!

Ukuleles in PlaNet Pasifika Photo by Anna Sheffield © Te Papa 2010

Ukuleles in PlaNet Pasifika Photo by Anna Sheffield © Te Papa 2010

I’m relieved to report that our interaction resulted in a great singing and strumming session for longer than I would have expected a two year old to be able to focus (around twenty minutes, I think). I hope he’ll come back to play again, someday. If he does, I’ll try to entice him into doing a puzzle to change his focus before he’s mentally exhausted.

I feel grateful for good parents, like his, who manage to find that balance between honouring their offspring and respecting the products and services we provide as the national museum.

I’m really excited to be able to speak out on behalf of the Discovery Centres here at Te Papa.  In honour of the boy who gave me inspiration for my first post I have written a very short poem. 

When you’re two
Options aren’t so clear to you.
If it seems
Like choosing limits your dreams
You may find
That the world feels less unkind
With a song.
Don’t forget to sing along!
By Anna Sheffield | Posted in Kids, Pacific | Also tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Whales – school holiday fun! Number 2

17 April 2008 – 3.42pm
Colour in a cool cetacean cartoon!

Another awesome whale cartoon from Anton van Helden, Te Papa’s marine mammal scientist.

Just click on the picture, print it out, and colour however you like – spots, rainbows, stripes…!

wacky whales

Wacky whales (pdf, 426 KB)

See if you can name all the whales in the picture.

If you need help, visit the Whales l Tohorā exhibition and take a look at the whale models.

By pamelalovis | Posted in Whales | Tohorā | Also tagged | Comments (0)

Whales – school holiday fun! Number 1

16 April 2008 – 3.56pm
Colour in a cool cetacean cartoon!

Kids, go wild these school holidays with these awesome whale pictures drawn by Anton van Helden, our marine mammal scientist!

Just click on the picture, print it out, and colour however you like – spots, rainbows, stripes…!

Humpback singing

Humpback whale singing (pdf, 180KB)

Want to hear what a humpback whale song sounds like?

Visit Whales l Tohorā and play with the Sound Chamber interactive.

By pamelalovis | Posted in Whales | Tohorā | Also tagged | Comments (0)

There’s something about whales…

6 March 2008 – 4.22pm

Since Whales | Tohorā opened at Te Papa on 1 December 2007, visitors of all ages have been touched by these extraordinary mammals and their stories.

Almost 90,000 people from all over the world have come to see the exhibition – over 3,000 attended on Saturday 16 February alone! (Te Papa’s 10th birthday celebrations).

Bruce Roberts, leader of the team of Te Papa Hosts on the floor in the exhibition, gets to hear some special comments:

A heart surgeon really liked the life-size model of the blue whale heart and said, ‘if humans had arteries that size I’d be a happy man’!!

Some visitors hoped to see live whales in the exhibition – maybe in a big tank?! We haven’t worked out yet how we’d feed them … the whales that is!

Save the Whales CD artwork by the children of Toddler’s TurfRecently, we were given a special CD – a whale song made up and recorded by children age 2-5 years from Toddlers Turf Childcare Centre, Manukau, Auckland.

 

 

Artwork for Save the Whales CD by children from Toddlers Turf Childcare Centre, Auckland

Part of the money raised from sales of the CD will be given to The Great Whale Trail – a donation account with Greenpeace to help track whales and end whaling in the Southern Ocean.

Hear an extract of the song (mp3, 1.12 MB)

To buy the CD you can contact Blakelock Records (09) 263 7625 or email blakelockrecords@xtra.co.nz

These are just a few examples of how Whales | Tohorā is touching people’s lives – has it touched yours?

Write in and share a story with us!

By lucyryan | Posted in Whales | Tohorā | Also tagged , | Comments (0)
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