Te Tangi o te Taiao (the sound of the environment), here we tune in to the sounds of the environment we live in. We capture, imagine and recreate our sound through designing our own wind chime. Wind chimes were used to keep people safe, inform about weather change and also kept bad energies away through the sounds they made.

Design and create your own Te Tangi o te Taiao wind chime. Does your wind chime sing a special tune? Does it have whakapapa? Where are the sound making objects from? What is really special about your wind chime? Being a Kaitiaki of your surroundings go for a hīkoi and pick up natural objects ideal for making your wind chime sing!

Go for a hikoi and park yourself under a tree, a park reserve, stream, bush or beach if close by, somewhere where you can just sit and listen to your surroundings and capture sounds.

Write the kaupapa Te Tangi o te Taiao in the middle of your page and write down the sounds you hear around you. Listen carefully to the sounds not the ones created by man but sounds created by your environment. Look for any small objects on your hikoi that would contribute to the design of your wind chime and add to your page.

a) Collect 3-4 different types of one-kura, earth pigments to make into kōkōwai earth paints. Ground the one-kura into a fine powder and add a little water, stirring with a small paint bush to make a paint consistency. Test the paint colours on watercolour paper then set aside to dry. Write the name of the location the one-kura was collected from onto your test watercolour paper and the container sample of one-kura. This will become the paint name.

b) On a separate watercolour paper, write down 4 places in the Natural environment you like to be a kaitiaki of. For each of these places draw a pattern or symbol using your paint you created earlier. E.g Your special place could be a river, rock, mountain, sky, land, sea, forest, sand dunes or even ski slopes.

c) Using the Niho Triangle Template draw onto stiff cardboard, coreflute or 3mm plywood and carefully cut out. Choose your favorite patterns or symbols and paint them onto the triangles. Three painted triangles can be tied together to make a 3 sided pyramid. This will be the top part of your wind chime. Drill holes in the lower part of your 3 sided pyramid so you can tie your aho (strings) for the chimes.

With all the resources supplied by your teacher or gathered on your hikoi (travels) select your objects, arrange into 4 lines 60cm long and tie your objects using aho (string). Take some time in designing where to tie your objects as they need to chime with the other 3 aho tangi you will be adding to your wind chime. Once completed hang outside to watch how it moves and test for sounds. Get creative in your exploration!

Take progress photos and a fun photo with your finished Te Tangi o Te Taiao wind chime and upload it to the miharo here!