Picture this ... while catching his breath, in between playing a game of tag on the playground, Wiremu posed a great question. “Māmā, what if we invited our friends to come to the playground at the same time as us, and we could all play together? We could start a playground club!”

It seems like a distant memory, of times gone by, where all the kids in the streets in different neighbourhoods would play together, or go down to the local school or playground and play.

What started off as an idea enthusiastically shared from Wiremu (5 at the time) to his māmā, has turned into his very own Playground Club with friends from his community. He wanted to involve tamariki from his school, then he was more than happy to extend the invitation out to neighbouring schools, as he had friends in those schools too, who are also neighbours.

With the support of his I Have a Dream Navigator, Jessie Hedges, at Tikipunga Primary School, plus the year 0-2 Navigator team, and local friends and whānau, we have taken a tour over the last four Thursdays around playgrounds in Otangarei and Tikipunga.

We are a small crew of passionate play advocates, who simply listened to the voice of a young person, collaborated with him on putting a poster together,  and through word of mouth invited tamariki and their whānau along to enjoy their local plagrounds together. It has been a great opportunity to welcome Spring and to look forward to the longer days in Summer, which in tamariki land, equals more time to PLAY!

The first week we saw a number of tamariki with their whānau come along to Korau Road plaground in Tikipunga. Tamariki amused themselves on the playground, or participated in some backyard cricket, thanks to Rob at Northland Cricket, while parents quietly chatted to one another. Everyone who came, said they would be keen to come again. A few parents commented that it was great to come along to the park and have the tamariki engage with others the same age. “Quite often we come here and noone else is here, so it’s much more fun when they can play with others.”

The next week, greetings of “Kia Ora Whaea” welcomed us to the Taiare Street playground in Otangarei. Tamariki made great use of the playground, exploring and meeting and greeting new friends. In the distance, tamariki played basketball, while some of us had fun kicking a football over the playground from one end to the other, there were lots of fun times to enjoy together.

The week after Otangarei, we were greeted by whānau who had never stopped to play at the Paramount Parade playground. That’s what we love about the tour, getting to explore what our neighbourhoods have to offer.

To finish off the term, Potter Park was our final destination, until next term. An end of term reflection from Whaea Khinhtay-yee, Navigator at I Have a Dream is that she is “already envisioning what the playground playgroup tour can be. Although we collaboratively brought Wiremu's idea to life and we helped facilitate it, I can't wait to see whānau get involved and play a role too". For example, I would love to see older siblings all come together in a space they get to participate too. Eventually a sausage sizzle or other activities. It excites me. I LOVE being out in the community and being able to connect with our kura tamariki's whānau OUTSIDE of the kura. I look forward to the whanaungatanga with whānau and our tamariki too, not just at my kura, but all kura and in our communities."  

In addition to this, Wiremu explains with joy, “I get to play with my friends, have fun and meet new friends, and you get to talk to adults too māmā – we all get to have fun and play!”

What can we learn from this story?

If we pause to listen to the voices of our tamariki, we can bring their ideas and dreams to reality through co-construction. Tamariki develop by participating actively in the opportunities that are available to them. These typically involve collaboration with adults and other tamariki.  To contribute, tamariki need to develop responsive and reciprocal relationships with adults and with other tamariki. We can play an important role in helping tamariki initiate and maintain relationships with their peers. This is just one example.

Imagine the possibilities. When sharing this with whānau, some ideas have already sprung. Potentially a pop up tour of community basketball courts to engage our older tamariki. Who knows? What could you get started in your community/neighbourhood?

If you need support to get a project up and running, our Healthy Active Learning team here at Sport Northland, work with our schools and within our communities. Enriching lives through play, active recreation and sport, so reach out to us on 0800 ACTIVE.