Have Fun with Harakeke

ArtFor EducatorsIndoor ActivitiesNature Play
Written By Kim Manunui

Harakeke (flax) is an incredibly strong and versatile natural material. You can make pieces of artwork and gifts that will stay looking beautiful for a long time. They loose their colour, but they will dry and retain their shape. It is important to follow correct tikanga when you harvest your harakeke.

Tikanga (watch the video to learn more)

  • Say a karakia before you cut harakeke.

  • Never cut harakeke when it is raining

  • Never cut the centre leaves of the ‘fan’ shape. These are the ‘rito’ and ‘awhi rito’. Cut the outside leaves. These are the older ‘grandparent’ leaves.

  • Cut leaves using a downward diagonal cut, away from the centre of the bush. This means that the water runs away from the heart of the bush when it rains.

  • Treat the harakeke plant kindly and with respect.

  • Make sure you return the offcuts to under the bush that they came from. 

Preschool Fun with Harakeke

This website has some fantastic ideas for younger children.

Challenge yourself to be creative!

Try a technology challenge using harakeke. Design your own basket, mat, rope, boat, flower, bird, kite…

We set 7 year old Kian the challenge of creating a boat with harakeke, using no glue or tape. This is what he came up with! He used the light weight dried flower stems to make the base, and leaves to make the sail. He used wooden skewers to hold everything together.

Seven year old Leela decided to try to create a mat. She had fun weaving pieces of harakeke over and under each other like she had done with paper at school. She folded the ends over when she finished and tucked them in to make the edges tidy.

Below are some other fun creations that you can make using harakeke. Be creative!

Check out our other nature harakeke nature connectors:

Create Harakeke Flowers

Make a Manu Tukutuku (kite)

Kim Manunui

Hi, I’m Kim and I work with a great team to help individuals, as well as small and not so small businesses get their message, product and services to the world using digital media and creating wonderful websites that don’t cost the earth.

I was born in Canada, and grew up around Vancouver and the mountains of British Columbia. My love of pristine environments led me to New Zealand and eventually to the mountains, lakes and rivers of the central North Island which is home. My family’s heritage is here, and it’s from here that Korio traverses the planet.

The digital world is never static and neither are we.

And I say ‘we’ because I work with an awesome group of talented people who I gather together as required to complete a project.  Whatever your business, not-for-profit or individual needs are we gather the best team to get the job done.

Collaboratively we are creative, share sustainable values and work hard for great outcomes because that’s the buzz of satisfaction that drives us.

If you have an audience and market to reach, we can make that happen. Creative design, words that work and smart behind the scenes stuff that cuts through the online noise. We’ll design your website and then build it. We’ll manage the content as well as all your hosting needs. We can handle your online advertising so you get noticed,
and we’ll manage your social media presence so you get the clicks, likes and engagement to grow your business. All within the budget you set, because none of this needs to cost the earth.  And the job doesn’t stop when your website goes live. We are your virtual business partner.

https://www.korio.co.nz
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Raranga Putiputi Harakeke