Play Week Aotearoa 2023

Play Week Aotearoa 6-12 November 2023

Play is Everywhere!

The theme of Play Week 2023 is - Play is Everywhere!

We’re encouraging everyone across Aotearoa to find play – it’s everywhere. Whatever you have nearby – a box, a hose, a tree – then you’ve got play! Play is a fun and easy way for tamariki and whānau to get together and stay active.

Play Week Aotearoa 2023 is all about celebrating the value play brings to tamariki, whānau and communities across Aotearoa. Play gives us freedom and chances to take risks. It’s how our tamariki learn to problem solve, get creative, make mistakes, create new friendships, learn skills and build a life-long love of being active.

You can be part of it too. Play is Everywhere!

Te Wiki Tākaro o Aotearoa 2023

Kei ngā Wāhi Katoa te Tākaro!

Ko te kaupapa o Te Wiki Tākaro 2023 ko tēnei – Kei ngā Wāhi Katoa te Tākaro!

E akiaki ana mātou i ngā tāngata katoa huri noa i Aotearoa ki te rapu i te tākaro – kei ngā wāhi katoa. Ahakoa he aha kei tō taha – tētahi pouaka, tētahi ngongo wai, tētahi rākau – anā, kei a koe te āheinga ki te tākaro! Ko te tākaro tētahi ara whakangahau, tētahi ara māmā ki te whakakotahi, ki te whakakorikori hoki i ngā tamariki me te whānau.

Ko te tino ngako o Te Wiki Tākaro o Aotearoa 2023 ko te whakanui i te painga o te tākaro ki ngā tamariki, ki ngā whānau, ki ngā hapori huri noa i Aotearoa. Mā te tākaro e wātea ai tātou ki te tū mātātoa. Mā te tākaro hoki e ako ā tātou tamariki ki te whakatika raru, ki te mahi auaha, ki te hapa, ki te whakawhanaunga atu, ki te ako pūkenga, ki te waihanga hoki i tētahi aroha taumano ki te tākaro.

Ka taea hoki e koe te toro mai. Kei ngā Wāhi Katoa te Tākaro!

Play Week events around the motu

Regional Sports Trusts, councils and schools have organised events and activities for their communities to come together and play. Check out play events happening in your town or city and head along and join the fun!

Play Week 2023 events

Tākaro Māori

Tākaro Māori allows tamariki to experience joy and fun while giving them the opportunity to make sense of their culture, whakapapa, and the world they live in. The Tākaro Māori video series profiles stories that provide a window into Māori play in Aotearoa.

Tākaro Māori

Play tips and resources

Play is easy! It’s fun and gets tamariki and whānau active and doesn’t have to cost you anything! Take a look around your house, garden and neighbourhood and see what you turn into play. It’s as easy as turning a box into a robot or sliding along the grass on it like a sled. Check out some tips to kick off some creative play ideas.

Play tips and resources

Play Streets

Get together with your neighbours and have fun by holding a Play Street. With activities and a BBQ, it's a great way to for kids to play, make new friends and explore their local environment safely. Working with your local council makes it easy restrict traffic in your street - so find out more and plan a Play Street!

Play streets

Play in Schools

See how Sport NZ is supporting teachers and schools to create play-friendly and quality physical activity, including ideas to embrace and promote the value of play within education settings.

Play in schools

Play stories from around Aotearoa

The power of unstructured play at Onehunga Primary School

Onehunga Primary School has been changing the way it fosters playful opportunities, as a result of the collective effort of the school’s leadership team, teaching staff and importantly – the tamariki.

The power of unstructured play at Onehunga Primary School

Play has big impact on neurodiverse tamariki

Dunedin-based neurodiverse tamariki are now more comfortable engaging in play at school thanks to ‘Tauparapara/Play Dates with Mates’. The initiative helped the tamariki develop their emotional regulation, social skills and confidence in a play setting.

Play has big impact on neurodiverse tamariki

Play projects benefit students and their school environment

The Enviro Club at Helensville Primary School, Auckland has seen students take on projects around the school grounds to both engage them in play and help the environment at the same time.

Play projects benefit students and their school environment

Lifting ākonga and whānau wellbeing through Mau Rākau

A Mau Rākau programme has had a positive impact on students in Palmerston North through a collaborative approach and te ao Māori practises promoting fitness, confidence, and well-being.

Lifting ākonga and whānau wellbeing through Mau Rākau

Learn more about play

The Neighbourhood Play System

Find out about this exciting approach to urban play design that places tamariki at the centre of the process. Schools and kura, local organisations and community groups are working together to bring to life play projects for their communities.

The Neighbourhood Play System

Play e-learning modules

Learn more about play through free e-learning modules.

E-learning modules

The importance of play

Play is one of the four ways Sport NZ supports New Zealanders to get active, alongside physical education, active recreation and sport.

The importance of play

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