Whānau Play

Come along (on Zoom) to a fun morning of movement and play, stretching and connecting, challenge and silliness.

Whānau Play was born from the need for movement – for both adults and children, that satisfied all ages – whilst being a space of connection and delight. It takes elements of yoga, theatre sports, contact improvisation, games, and free improvisation to invite adults and children to enter into a space of physical activity and joyful silliness. It aims to provide space and tools for children and parents to find new ways of interacting through principles of respect, loving boundaries, play as learning, listening for needs, and making room for mistakes.

What will you do in a session?

Games and Objects!
You can expect to play a range of games designed to get you moving your body in new and enjoyable ways; stretching, getting your heart rate up, challenging your balance, developing co-ordination, using and finding more strength. Use objects commonly found around the house, such as pillows/cushions, toys, balls, paper and blankets, and find different ways in which these become obstacle courses, problem solving and co-ordination challenges, spaces of transformation and creative imagining.

Movement to Activate the “Older Kids”
We offer ways into movement for adults that might allow for a more interesting experience, by adding in layers of somatic awareness, novel movement problems, ‘adult challenges’, and generally creating a space for adults to move in ways that feel enjoyable and meet their physical needs. Kids are hopefully always going to move in ways they want to, but we offer some guidelines for interacting that keep themselves and each other safe.

Partner Work
A large part of our sessions involves moving with each other, specifically touching, rolling, climbing, sliding, jumping and playing on and around each other’s bodies. This has come from years of doing so ourselves with our own kids, but also from a solid base of dance, martial and other movement arts – including contact improvisation, contemporary dance, capoeira, and gymnastics. We will be teaching safe ways to lift each other, interact with each other’s body’s respectfully, and generally how to think a bit more broadly about moving in relation to another body. This is kind of like intentional and focussed rough and tumble. Kids LOVE this part.

To come along, email rachel.r.m@gmail.com to book a session.