I am an ECE teacher in Porirua, and I work with under 2s. Tonight we had a whānau night, and shared vegetable soup all the children had helped to make. The evening finished with a lantern trail (our babies painted around 60 lanterns) with 3 stations: Pòhutakawa - where we wrote the name of our lost loved ones on a pebble and placed it on a mirror; Matariki - where we wrote down something which we were thankful for or made us happy, and hung it on a tree branch; and Hiwa-i-te-rangi - where we wrote our dream for the future and pegged it on a line, then recited the kaikòhau we learnt. All was lit with flickering lanterns and fairy lights, with Anika Moa playing in the background. It was magical!!!