I feel like I am always writing about the same holidays year after year, so this year I’m going to try to add in some different ones. With that in mind, let’s learn about Waitangi Day, celebrated in New Zealand on February 6.
What is Waitangi Day?
Waitangi Day marks the initial signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, an agreement between representatives of the British Crown and Maori chiefs, which happened on Feb. 6, 1840.
It is considered by some to by the founding document of the country. The first Waitangi Day was celebrated in 1934 and it’s been a public holiday since 1974.
Ceremonies and gatherings mark the occasion, which can also be a time of protest as it is a time to remember that the treaty has not fully been honored (or indeed that the English and Maori versions of the document say different things) and that equality is still a goal.
If you’re like me and don’t know a lot about this holiday, a great place to start is the Waitangi Day activity book from the Museum of New Zealand. This guide offers an overview of the day, what people do to recognize it, a timeline of New Zealand history, fact and fiction, activities about the difficulties of translation and a discussion of some of the negative effects of signing the treaty.
It includes coloring, writing and drawing activities and would be a great place to start discussions about the positive and negative effects of the treaty.
Older kids and adults can learn more about the treaty, why there are two versions, the differences between them and more from the Treaty Resource Center. The Encyclopedia of New Zealand also has a good overview.
Waitangi Day Activities for Kids
Most of the activities I found are paid resources, which is fine, but I also found these printable crowns, which are at Teachers Pay Teachers but they are free. These are from Kindergarten Matters and include words in English and Maori.
Top Teaching Tasks has a post about teaching about the treaty and Waitangi Day that includes free and paid resources. You can download a free resource to help you integrate treaty teaching into the curriculum across subjects, and there are good articles and videos linked in that guide, too.
Montessori Kiwi has a bunch of great paid activities (including this great scavenger hunt) but they also have free printable Waitangi Day principles posters that can help guide discussions around equity, protection and partnership.
Green Grubs has a set of printable activities for lower primary students including a fact sheet, word search, true or false, coloring page and more.
Primary students will also enjoy this coloring and pattern art project with a Waitangi Day theme from Suzanne Welch. Students can discuss the words they want to include on their project and then add patterns and color it in.
The Launchpad Zone has a printable booklet for ages 7-11 that includes four short stories to explore what happened before, during and after the treaty was signed. Activities include binary code cracking, games, coloring sheets and more.
And Kiwiland has a Waitangi Day themed escape room activity that can be used in grade 3-9. It includes information on the history and facts of the treaty as well as activities like code breaking and other puzzles. It includes five passages of text and five activities to go with each.
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