Te Taiao Whānau Day: All About Plants

Drop in with the whole whānau for a day of activities in our Te Taiao | Nature exhibition zone. This school holidays we’re celebrating Aotearoa’s native plants, with a day focusing on all things botany!

Meet some of Te Papa’s botanists, start your own plant collection by creating a pressed plant specimen, take a walk in Bush City, catch a puppet show about invasive weeds, and learn all about Aotearoa’s incredible native plants.

Programme:
Botany Craft: Start Your Own Plant Collection!
See how botanists collect and preserve specimens for Te Papa’s herbarium. Then start your own plant collection by making a specimen to take home.
Where: Te Papa Hui | Backyard, Te Taiao | Nature, Level 2
When: Drop in, 10am-4pm
Suitable for ages 7+

Quiz: What Native Plant Are You?
Take our interactive quiz and find out, then take a walk in Bush City to locate your plant.
Where: Bush City Kiosk, Level 2 and Bush City, Level 1
When: Drop in, 10am-4pm
Suitable for the whole whānau

Ask an Expert: Te Papa’s Botanists
Ask our scientists your plant-related questions during ‘ask an expert’ sessions. Get up close with our diverse native plants, learn how botanists describe new species, and how they collect and preserve them for future generations. The second session (1.30-4pm) of ‘Ask an Expert’ will be NZSL interpreted.
Where: Bush City Kiosk, Level 2
When: Sessions 10am-12noon & 1.30pm-3pm (NZSL Interpreter present)
Suitable for the whole whānau

Puppet Show: Tree Friends
Join Anna Bailey of String Bean Puppets for a Te Taiao themed show. Kererū and Millie are best friends. When a baby kohekohe tree is left orphaned in a storm they work together to protect him from invaders. An interactive puppet show for all ages about the struggle against invasive weed species.
Where: Amphitheatre (Entrance to Bush City, Level 1) Wet weather: Te Marae, Level 4
When: 2pm-2.30pm
Suitable for the whole whānau

Image credits: Te Taiao Whānau Day: Backyard Birds and Bugs, 2019. Jo Moore/Te Papa 2019.