Te Whāriki · Strand 5 of 5
Mana aotūroa | Exploration
Exploration | Children are critical thinkers, problem solvers and explorers.
Mana aotūroa | Children see themselves as explorers, able to connect with and care for their own and wider worlds.
In plain words: children learn by exploring: playing, moving, testing ideas and building working theories about how their world works. It has 4 goals for kaiako and 4 learning outcomes.
Updated 6 October 2026 · StoryLoop, Ōtautahi Christchurch
Learning outcomes
The 4 learning outcomes
Over time and with guidance and encouragement, children become increasingly capable of:
| Learning outcome | Te reo Māori |
|---|---|
| Playing, imagining, inventing and experimentingte whakaaro me te tūhurahura i te pūtaiao | te whakaaro me te tūhurahura i te pūtaiao |
| Moving confidently and challenging themselves physicallyte wero ā-tinana | te wero ā-tinana |
| Using a range of strategies for reasoning and problem solvingte hīraurau hopanga | te hīraurau hopanga |
| Making sense of their worlds by generating and refining working theorieste rangahau me te mātauranga | te rangahau me te mātauranga |
Wording from Te Whāriki (2017), pages 24 and 25.
Goals for kaiako
The goals
Children experience an environment where:
- Their play is valued as meaningful learning and the importance of spontaneous play is recognised
- They gain confidence in and control of their bodies
- They learn strategies for active exploration, thinking and reasoning
- They develop working theories for making sense of the natural, social, physical and material worlds
The strand as a whole: The child learns through active exploration of the environment.
In everyday play
What it can look like
Testing what sinks in the water trough, climbing a little higher than last time, repeating an action to see what happens, explaining why the worms come up after rain.
StoryLoop's examples, not curriculum text. Every child shows this learning in their own way and time.
From a real draft
How a real StoryLoop draft linked this strand
The note:
Mere (8 months) on her tummy on the mat. Reached for the wooden rattle just out of reach, rocked forward and grabbed it on the third go. Shook it and looked at me. Babbled 'ba ba'. Rolled onto her back and kept shaking it.
The link StoryLoop wrote in the draft, unedited:
This links with Mana aotūroa | Exploration, especially children using movement and active exploration to make sense of the world. Mere reached, rocked, grasped, rolled, and tested the rattle through her body.
What StoryLoop does with a note
A rough note in, a learning story out.
A real note an educator typed, and the start of the draft StoryLoop wrote from it, unedited, with the Te Whāriki links, learning and next steps to follow.
Aroha tried to put her shoes on before going outside. Velcro kept folding over. Asked 'help me' then pushed my hand away and did the second one herself. Stood up and stomped both feet.
Putting on her own shoes
Before going outside, Aroha tried to put her shoes on by herself. The Velcro kept folding over, making the job trickier. Aroha asked, "help me", letting us know clearly that she needed support.
When help was offered, Aroha pushed the adult hand away and did the second shoe herself. Once both shoes were on, she stood up and stomped both feet. This looked like Aroha checking that her shoes were on and feeling the result with her whole body.
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Questions kaiako ask
What does Mana aotūroa mean?
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