Our Puffin Book Club members will remember a previous Puffin Book of the Month 2019, the incredible picture book Wildlife of Aotearoa, spectacularly illustrated and spectacularly full to the brim with exploration of New Zealand and its awesome wildlife. From the same author and author of Aotearoa: The New Zealand Story, Gavin Bishop, comes The Amazing Aotearoa Activity Book – and it’s awesome!
We’re slap bang in the middle of the school holidays so this activity book couldn’t have come at a better time! Based on Gavin’s books this activity book is a place for kids to tell their own story in words and pictures. There’s 60+ games, puzzles and activities in a fun, creative and high-quality activity book.
All about me and my whanau is where the kids get to discover and tell their whakapapa and their whanau including pets! Draw pictures or paste photos as we did, the kids will love learning about their mountain, their river, their waka, themselves.
They’ll fill in the blanks with their knowledge of dinosaurs, colour in, write a story about a god, or create their own story if they were the god of something! My 6 year old particularly liked these activities, he’s always been into dinosaurs and Gods, his superpower would be to be able to run faster than anything on Earth as he would be the God of the Moon. My niece would be a shape shifter as the Goddess of Animals. The 3 year old would have a super ability too – the power of “throwing ducks”. Yes, I have no idea what that entails or why we might need to throw a duck but if we do need to, he’s your God.
Voyage to Aotearoa through a maze, crack the Kia code and the do the Hidden Critters Word Find, discovering the names of creatures and critters of Aotearoa.
Draw an imaginary country, draw its flag and draft a treaty – this was an activity which heeded much discussion amongst the little chiefs. Many drafts were drafted and re-drafted, with many amendments and inclusions with rules, regulations, rights and privileges most certainly stacking the odds in favour of the children of the new nation!
Write a story from an illustration of pakeha visitors to Aotearoa in the early 1800s. Discuss voting or Terrific Transport, how it used to be in the past, and what it could be in the future!
There’s so much packed into this activity book. Just as Wildlife of Aotearoa is spectacularly full to the brim with exploration of New Zealand and its awesome wildlife, The Amazing Aotearoa Activity Book is packed with quizzes, mazes, colouring pages and activities designed to stimulate and educate.
They’ll- learn to introduce themselves in Maori, learn Maori words and about Maori Gods – solve puzzles and crack codes- play games- invent a superhero- draw their future home- make maps- curate a heroes wall of fame- create a menu and much more!
My kids were kept engaged for hours on end and returned to the book time and time again to do another activity or puzzle, or attempt to crack a code, or check the name of the Rainbow God again (Uenuku did you know?). If you have chatter boxes, info sponges, bright sparks and active kids with active imaginations in your family too, every page of this activity book is an opportunity for them to learn, research, discover, be creative, imaginative and engaged. It really is the ideal activity book for creative kids and we’ve been throughly enjoying our time with it. It’s a gorgeously illustrated quality book that I’m sure to be pulling out again to hash over the treaty draft and re-tell their stories!
Do your kids get stuck into hours of fun with activity books?
Written by Ronnie Swainston
Online Producer & Experiences Editor Ronnie is mum to two spirited kids who keep her on her toes. With a love for travel, film, tv, photography and food plus having a keen curiosity means she’ll give almost anything a go, making her and her family up for the task of experiencing.
Favourite place to be: On an adventure
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