Kōkiri Learn

Week 1 of 5

Patterns all around us, and what they mean

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Session 1 · CREATE: Connect

Pattern hunt

  1. 10 minHook: a mystery bag of patterned things (a tea towel, a lavalava, wrapping paper, a leaf, a shell, a lace doily). Where do these patterns come from? Which were printed?
  2. 20 minPattern hunt around the school: crayon rubbings of textures (bark, drain covers, bricks, leaves) and photos of patterns. Collect at least five.
  3. 15 minSort your finds: made by nature / made by people / made to mean something. Talk about which ones might belong to a particular group of people.
  4. 5 minWrite one sentence about a pattern that matters to you or your whānau.

Session 2 · CREATE: Respond

Printmakers and pattern-makers

  1. 15 minLook at prints by Frank Weitzel, Hokusai and a New Zealand printmaker from Te Papa's collection. What was carved away? What was printed? How many colours?
  2. 20 minPacific barkcloth: learn how Tongan ngatu is made (beaten bark, layers, designs rubbed from kupesi pattern boards, then painted) and why its designs carry meaning. Listen to a guest or watch a short clip if available.
  3. 10 minRespond in your diary: describe one print and one cloth, and write what each might say about the people who made it.
  4. 5 minClass agreement: we learn from cultural patterns; we design our own motifs.

Getting started

Complete three rubbings and label where each came from.

Stretch

Interview a family member about a patterned cloth or object in your home: where did it come from, and what does it mean?

Checkpoint

Five collected patterns, one artwork response and a shared understanding of the class agreement.

Activities for this week

Useful this week