Ākonga explore future opportunities at Te Matapihipihi Discovery Days across Massey campuses

Te Wānanga Nohinohi ki Te Kunenga Children’s University Massey hosts on-campus Discovery Day events every year, inviting young learners to explore new skills, have new experiences, and discover where their strengths, interests and curiosity can take them.

Manawatū

The Manawatū campus Te Matapihipihi Discovery Day was the first of 2026 and brought the year’s largest turnout, with 144 ākonga attending. Kura were welcomed onto campus with a pōwhiri at Te Pūtahi-a-Toi School of Māori Knowledge, surrounded by the Toioho ki Āpiti 30-year anniversary exhibition, which amazed them as they walked into the building.

Activities run by Te Pūtahi a Toi School of Māori knowledge included explorations of tātai whetū (Māori astronomy) with Hemi Whaanga, learning karakia with Te Rā Moriarty, reo games with Matenga Baker and tukutuku mahi toi with Awarangi Nicholls. Ākonga also created their own 3D artworks with Karangawai Marsh and Erena Arapere inspired by artist Reweti Arapere and got hands-on with taonga pūoro with Rereao Taite.

Activities that followed encouraged ākonga to follow their curiosity in unexpected ways, including a food technology wero (challenge) to design a new flavour of Dr. Bugs popcorn – a product line founded by Massey food technology alumni. The challenge gave them space to be inventive, with flavour ideas such as ‘birthday party’, inspired by classic party treats like fairy bread.

Across the day, ākonga moved between a range of hands-on experiences. They examined animal skulls and insect collections with Zoology, explored rocks and Minecraft materials with Earth Sciences, learned how to care for soil and plants with the agriculture team and tried character design and game design skills with the GRAIL Lab.

Tāwharau Ora School of Veterinary Science was a favourite for many, giving future veterinarians the opportunity to step into the world of practice by listening for heartbeats and trying clinical procedures on cow and dog models. The final stop was the Recreation Centre, where ākonga ended the day participating in fun physical activities.

Ōtehā Auckland

At the Ōtehā Auckland campus, nearly 130 ākonga were immersed in a practical day of making, testing, moving and imagining. A highlight was the return of Massey alumnae from Fonterra and Whatu Creative who brought industry experience and creative practice into activities designed for young learners to try themselves.

In the tukutuku activity, ākonga worked surrounded by panels created by Te Aho Tātairangi alumna Awhina Murupaenga, Ngāti Kurī, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāpuhi, which created a powerful backdrop as she guided the room through the kaupapa. With the team from Fonterra, ākonga explored food science in a practical way, shaking and making their own butter from scratch.

Fonterra’s General Manager of Product and Process Innovation and Massey alumna, Esraa El Shall says, “Hopefully it was memorable, so when the time comes and they’re wondering what they want to do with their lives, they say, ‘I want to make butter for a living’.”

Across the day, ākonga also imagined future library designs, worked as a team on the basketball court and played a form of ‘LED pictionary’ with the School of Built Environment. New additions included a negotiation activity with Foundation Communications Te Tumu Whakatipu, alongside an edible nutrition-focused activity from the School of Sport, Exercise and Nutrition, who have been involved in Discovery Days since the 2024 pilot.

Pukeahu Wellington

Pukeahu Wellington Discovery Day was the final of the three, bringing 110 ākonga into a city campus buzzing with students. Held during semester, the day gave ākonga the added experience of seeing the campus in motion.

Local organisations including New Zealand Police Museum, Wheako Pōneke and Zealandia joined Massey kaimahi (staff) to help create a varied, hands-on programme.

Across the day, ākonga designed digital games, learned about Matariki and weaving tukutuku, invented new flavours of popcorn with Associate Professor Nicola Brown and Dr Sarah Golding from the College of Sciences, learned about fingerprinting, designed predator traps and tried creative printmaking.

A new activity this year invited ākonga to explore non-verbal communication with Professor Elspeth Tilley, challenging them to think about how people connect beyond words.

The impact was clear, with one student commenting, “I think it should've gone for longer because it was so much fun and all the teachers and staff were really kind and helpful. I would want to visit again if I could.”

Programme Coordinator Asha Scott-Morris, Ngāti Mutunga, Moriori, says, “This was my first ever Discovery Day and it was such an amazing experience to be a part of. Everyone was buzzing afterwards. It was an incredible day.”

Across all three campuses, one of the strongest themes was the impact of simply being there: stepping into new spaces, meeting new people and seeing learning come to life in different ways. Tamariki described the campuses as feeling like their own cities, especially the Manawatū campus which is the largest of the three.

Teachers also left with new ideas to take back into their classrooms, including one who planned to build on the day’s learning through a follow-up art activity with her senior students.

Programme Manager Janet Van Jenkins says that ripple effect is what makes these events such a powerful part of the Children’s University experience – not only for ākonga, but for the Massey kaimahi, students, alumni and partners who help bring them to life.

“Te Matapihipihi Discovery Days work because everyone brings something different. For Massey staff, they are one of the most rewarding forms of academic citizenship – a chance to share knowledge, creativity and inspire the future generation. Our industry partners bring real-world experience and role modelling, and our ākonga bring their own ideas and curiosity. Time and again, our volunteers tell us they leave just as inspired as the young people they meet.

That is the strength of these days – they create moments of connection and inspiration that keep growing long after ākonga leave campus."