Media Release

Friday 4 March

Toddlers Day Out & the Great Parenting Fair a major draw card for thousands of Waitakere families

Waitakere's annual child and parenting fair - Toddlers Day Out - is expected to attract more than 18,000 parents on children this week-end.

"The event started seven years ago and has just mushroomed," says one of the Toddler Day Out Coordinators, Elaine Dyer.

"We wanted to create an event that celebrated children and parenting. So there are a huge range of store-holders providing information about everything from positive parenting to miriri (traditional Maori massage and healing).

"We started off attracting a crowd of around 1,500, and last year more than 18,000 family members attended the event. It was just phenomenal."

Maori healer Atarangi Muru will be at the event, profiling Maori massage and healing.

"An important part of what Atarangi does is listen," says Toddler Day Out spokesperson Togia Lanefale.

"She listens to people and their history. Smells are also important, they tell her different things about what is going on for people. Kaumatua taught her the depth she has to go to in order to liberate people."

Togia says that Toddlers Day Out is an important event for Maori whanau in the West.

Early Childhood Education lecturer, Drina Paratene agrees.

"If we can get our tamariki excited about learning when they are young, it will carry them forward into successful lives. And many parents don't realise just how accessible these opportunities are for them. There is a large interactive learning area and many ECE centres being featured at the event on Saturday.

"We get a lot of whanau attending, they love the atmosphere and appreciate the information about parenting. At the end of the day this is about focusing on our tamariki."

Ends

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