Weka Wednesdays: Storytelling - Superheroes of the Pacific

Join storyteller Melania Siaosi for sessions in Te Taiao | Nature, Tangata o le Moana, and Mana Whenua.
Wear your cape and mask, and get ready to learn about our land and sea. Discover what you can do to protect our unique environment. You’ll also get to sing along with Melania and create some awesome crafts.

This is a free programme designed for tamariki – children, aged 7 and under and their whanau – family. Each week is different so you’ll learn something new at each session.

Wed 3 Feb, 10.15am–11am
Te Papa Hui | Backyard, Te Taiao | Nature, Level 2
Papatūānuku: Our Earth Mother
Join us for a dynamic storytelling session about Papatūānuku - Earth mother - and our whenua. Learn about our connections to our earth mother, here in Aotearoa and throughout the Pacific.

Wed 10 Feb, 10.15am–11am
Te Papa Hui | Backyard, Te Taiao | Nature, Level 2
Māui: Our Superman!
Meet a conservation superhero working hard to protect our environment. Learn how to be like Māui - Kaitiaki (guardian) of land and sea, and discover what it means to be a superhero.

Wed 17 Feb, 10.15am–11am
Te Papa Hui | Backyard, Te Taiao | Nature, Level 2
Māui: Lifting the Sky
Discover the mighty Tāne Mahuta. You’ll hear all about how Māui lifted the sky to make the trees in our forests grow tall and strong. Learn about our magnificent trees and how important they are for manu – birds, waterways, and people.

Wed 24 Feb, 10.15am–11am
Te Huka ā Tai Discovery Centre, Mana Whenua, Level 4
Māui: Slowing the Sun
Hear about how our superhero, Māui, slowed the sun and increased the growing season for kūmara.

Wed 3 Mar, 10.15am–11am
PlaNet Pasifika Discovery Centre, Tangata o le Moana, Level 4
Māui: Fisher of Islands
Discover how Māui caught a giant ika – ika, that became an island! You’ll learn about the tools people used in the Pacific to catch and measure fish.

Wed 10 Mar, 10.15am–12 noon
PlaNet Pasifika Discovery Centre, Tangata o le Moana, Level 4
Sina: Our Superwoman!
Hear the legend of Sina and the slippery tuna – eel, that travelled all the way from Fiji to Sāmoa to meet her. Follow the path of eels that swim from Aotearoa to Tonga in search of home. Learn how to get rid of the nasty weeds in our waters, and which trees you can plant instead.

Wed 17 Mar, 10.15am–12 noon
Te Huka ā Tai Discovery Centre, Mana Whenua, Level 4
Māui: Discovering Fire
Hear about how Māui brought fire into the world, and explore the tools and methods Māori and Pacific people used to make fire. Learn to be a fire-safe superhero!

Wed 24 Mar, 10.15am–11am
Te Papa Hui | Backyard, Te Taiao | Nature, Level 2
The Stargazers: Mapping the Stars
Get ready for some amazing astronomy! Learn how ancient Pacific peoples mapped the movement of the sun to mark the seasons and find the best times to make long voyages by moana – sea.