Room 13: Our Tonga Study

First we needed to make a shelter.

We learned how to make 3D shapes first in Maths time then we tried making shelters using rolled up newspapers. They kept falling over and we needed to work as a team to put them together,

The pyramid shape worked the best. A triangle is a really strong shape.
Now we need to make leaves to cover them.

Alex was our expert! He finished his buildings first every time!

We tried to make the base first.

Next we used rolled up newspapers to build bigger shelters

Mrs Hewlett's sister came to talk to us about her school in Tonga and to tell us a little about what it was like to live there. She brought things to show us and dressed up one of the girls in Tongan clothes.

Today we tasted some tropical fruit.
There was coconut (Mrs Snelgar had to borrow Mrs Cave's hammer to open it!) mangoes, pawpaw and pineapple.
We are learning a dance about picking up pawpaws.

Mrs Wilks showed us a huge tapa cloth that she was given when she went to Tonga.

Can you see the coconuts and the leaves?

Marlene brought a fan from Tonga that uses some tapa cloth. Can you see the patterns of the flower?

Our Tongan girls

We drew some tapa patterns and glued them on paper to make our own tapa cloth.

In Tonga they use part of the bark from Mulberry trees. They pound it into strips which are glued together to make the mat.
When it is dry they sponge on the main colour using rags and then paint or stamp on the patterns. You can always hear the women pounding the bark as you walk around the village.
Mats are very valuable and are given as presents at weddings and funerals and other special occasions.

Today we had a Tongan Market.
We made things to sell.