• Ask tauira/students to sit with someone they don’t usually hang out with for the duration of the class.

• Think of five people you're grateful to be connected to and why. This can be your biological whānau, the whānau you live with, caregivers or whāngai/foster whānau, circle of friends, school or wider community, or even your fur whānau!

• Run the Fruit Salad icebreaker game, which encourages diversity, with tauira. 

• Share your favourite recipes to make a cookbook with your hoamahi/colleagues!

• Ask staff to talk about someone they feel a connection to outside of work. Draw a tree and add photos of everyone’s connections to it. Share it online with #MHAWConnectionTree

• Hold a DIY sandwich competition kanohi ki te kanohi/face to face (or over Zoom).

• Reconnect with whānau you haven’t talked to in awhile via text or by kanohi ki te kanohi/face to face.

• Investigate your whakapapa/family history and learn your pepeha.

• Offer your time to help whānau in need of tautoko/support. It could be looking after their tamariki or taking their rubbish bins out.

• Start your day with mindfulness – check out these Māori mindfulness or videos on YouTube.

• Make and share a playlist of songs that make you feel good. 

• Celebrate different cultures or language weeks – e.g. Te Wiki o te Reo Māori in September!

• Identify someone or something that has helped you through the last six months and find a way to express appreciation.
  

• Ask your team to share a song that makes them feel good to create a playlist that uplifts and inspires! Share a link so you can listen through headphones.

• Go for a walk in nature and take notice of your surroundings – the birds singing, leaves rustling and clouds moving.

• Sing a waiata/song that makes you feel good.

• Set some goals and think about the things you are proud of, challenges you’ve overcome, people who are important to you and what you hope to achieve in the future.

• Start the class with a karakia acknowledging the whenua. Here’s an example:

Korihi te manu - The bird sings 

Tākiri mai i te ata - The morning has dawned 

Ka ao, ka ao, ka awatea - The day has broken

Tihei mauri ora -  Behold there is life

• Ask tauira/students to take care of the whenua by picking up rubbish each day.

• Spend time in your own backyard with your tamariki, and remind them that the whenua is where our kai comes from! Find activity ideas here.

• Ask your team to bring in a photo of a place they are connected to that gives them strength. Put the pictures up on a wall or create an online space where you share the photos.

• Go outside and see how many native plants you notice! Can you spot any harakeke/flax, pūriri, tōtara or rengarenga/native lily?

• Get your team to draw a ‘must see taonga’: a local map of places that make them feel good!

• Sit in your backyard and watch the world go by. Take your shoes off and feel the grass under your feet.

• If you’re not from where you live, discover the name of the local iwi/tribe, hapū/sub-tribe, maunga/mountain, awa/river and moana/sea.

• Cook and share kai you love or you’ve grown in your garden with your whānau.

• Be grateful for your tinana. Ask tauira/students to write a letter to your body (e.g. thank you arms for helping me hug!).

• Adjust your classroom with books, mindful colouring and beanbags so it's a calmer space for tauira. Sensory activities can help to reduce anxiety and stress.  

• Challenge tauira to set a goal related to their tinana. It could be to do with mindful breathing, swimming, or waka ama – whatever makes them feel their best.

• As a team, design a wellbeing space that will help people relax. If you work remotely, discuss what this looks like at home, and how you balance work and lifestyle in a confined area.

• Take five and check-in with yourself to see what your body needs – stretching, mindful breathing or a walk around the block. Challenge your colleagues!

• Been to the doctor lately? Consider visiting your local GP or hauora for a general check–up.

• Kai nourishes your body. Why not cook one of your favourite meals this week? You could hold a whānau MasterChef competition!

• Make a commitment with your whānau to improve your physical wellbeing. E.g. Support one another to quit smoking or drink more water.

• Ask tauira/students to take five to think of five positive thoughts or good things that have happened this week.

• Create a compliments jar and ask tauira to write compliments or notes of aroha to their classmates. Kaiako/teachers and other staff can do this too! It’s a nice idea to read these aloud at the end of the day or week.

• If tamariki or tauira are feeling restless or over–energised, head outside for five minutes and encourage them to take deep, slow breaths and listen to the sounds of nature.

• Reflect on the challenges you overcame as a team and what what strengths you discovered.

• Map your daily energy levels – when do you feel most energy? Morning or afternoon? 

• Try something new or rediscover an old interest (e.g. the guitar!).

• Share your thoughts and feelings with someone you trust. Expressing our emotions can help us to understand them better, and to feel less alone in what we're going through.

•  Practice gratitude and write down three things you’re grateful for.

• Read books that talk about feelings and emotions. Buy them online or head to the library!