Kei Te Pēhea Koe?

This is a series of activities which extend tamariki knowledge of greetings in te reo. The main reason we love it is because it creates a culture where you and your tamariki care enough to ask how each other are.

This is similar to musical chairs, but when the music stops, tamariki find a partner and greet each other using te reo – kia ora, tēnā koe, mōrena, harirū (shake hands).

Extend this to stopping the music and tamariki taking turns asking, “Kei te pēhea koe?” and using one of the following replies (write these up on the board if needed):

• Kei te pai au (I am good)
• Kei te koa au (I am happy)
• Kei te hiamoe au (I am sleepy)

Continue adding more emotional adjectives as replies. We love the examples used by Te Kete Ipurangi here.

Extend this further by printing these four symbols and letting your students use them to show how they’d like to be greeted – they may choose a kia ora (and a fist-bump), awhi (and a hug), paki rima (a high five) or harirū (a handshake). This is an example we love on how to do this.

Extend checking in with each other by using an Emotional Rollercoaster.

Warmest thanks to Haeata Community Campus for suggesting this activity. We so appreciate your mahi and all it brings to Sparklers. Many times, ngā mihi.