On Sunday 23 February VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai held an event for tamariki atawhai and their caregivers to connect and have some fun together at Chipmunks Ōtepoti. The event was pitched at an age range between 1 and 12 years, and we had an impressive turn out on the day with 44 children attending with their trusted adults. Chipmunks was absolutely buzzing with the kind of bubbly and enthusiastic energy that only children having a great time can create!
It was awesome to see all the smiling faces of the children running around and playing together and the caregivers watching the fun with a coffee in hand. This event also provided a fantastic opportunity to connect with caregivers and tamariki and explain the work that VOYCE can do alongside them. The response was overwhelmingly positive.
One of the highlights of the day was seeing our VOYCE youth leaders embracing the chance to play and interact with the younger children. It was beautiful to watch the tuakana teina relationship in action – Mā te tuakana e arahi i te teina, mā te teina e arahi i te tuakana (From the older sibling the younger one is taught the right way to do things, and from the younger sibling the older one learns new things). Many of the caregivers commented on how wonderful our youth leaders were with their tamariki.