In an early learning service, there were a number of whānau and kaiako who spoke te reo Māori. This enabled many opportunities for the everyday use of te reo Māori and te ao Māori practices. 

He kōrero ā-waha (understanding) te reo Māori and using it for a range of purposes, was a priority learning outcome in the service and reflected the aspirations of whānau for their tamariki. Kaiako continually reflected on how to increase the use of te reo Māori in play, care rituals, and daily routines. 

One kaiako noticed that tamariki really enjoyed co-creating new rotarota (poems/ditties) in te reo Māori to make daily routines fun. They repeated the kupu (words) over and over again and invited others to join in as a chant. The kaiako quickly noted the kupu of the new rotarota on a whiteboard as a prompt to share with the teaching team: 

“Tai-tai-taitaia ope-ope opeopea!" 

Brush, brush, brush, rinse, rinse, rinse! 

At kai tina (lunch time) the kaiako mentioned her observations to other staff and showed them the new rotarota on the whiteboard. The teaching team was excited that tamariki were responding to the sounds and rhythms of te reo Māori in physical play and agreed to look for ways to extend this learning during the day. 

A group of tamariki started a game of ‘copy me’ in front of a mirror later in the afternoon. Another kaiako noticed this physical play opportunity developing. She brought the whiteboard to the children as a prompt. She started chanting the new rotarota in time with body actions. Tamariki were quick to recognise the rotarota and repeated te reo Māori kupu/words with enthusiasm! 

The team made frequent observations of what aspects of te reo Māori tamariki were learning through rotarota and word play. They also looked at what adults did to support their language growth. Kaiako notes and videos showed that tamariki were particularly extending their word bank of kupu mahi or action words (tīkina, pākia, hurihia). By repetition, they were gaining fluency in the pronunciation of te reo Māori words. 

Kaiako used information from observations to identify what was working well. They found that rotarota and word play was an effective oral language strategy in te reo Māori. Kaiako also talked with parents and whānau. They found that adults modelling new words related to a current play activity was a key strategy for engaging tamariki in composing new rotarota. 

For more examples of word play, see the Word play and phonological awareness resource from Talking together, Te kōrerorero.