Hard Matariki word search
All nine stars of the cluster, the maramataka and the hautapu ceremony: twenty-eight Matariki words in an eighteen by eighteen grid, in all eight directions. For older students and adults learning the names of the stars.
- Dawn
- Hākari
- Hāngī
- Harvest
- Hautapu
- Hiwa-i-te-rangi
- Kai
- Karakia
- Kites
- Manu tukutuku
- Maramataka
- Matariki
- Midwinter
- New year
- Pleiades
- Pōhutukawa
- Puanga
- Stars
- Te Mātahi o te Tau
- Tupuānuku
- Tupuārangi
- Ururangi
- Waiata
- Waipunarangi
- Waitā
- Waitī
- Whānau
- Whetū
This is the same puzzle as on the printable sheet. Every word you find turns green and is crossed off the list.
Make your own versionMatariki, extra hard
Name
| I | P | A | N | E | H | A | K | A | R | I | E | D | D | N | N | L | N |
| H | N | W | L | W | M | L | E | S | I | O | M | E | B | A | G | P | Y |
| X | A | H | A | A | X | A | G | G | A | H | A | R | V | E | S | T | T |
| D | K | A | T | I | A | G | N | A | U | P | T | T | O | K | U | L | I |
| W | I | U | E | T | P | A | T | U | P | U | A | R | A | N | G | I | T |
| D | T | T | R | A | R | U | O | V | T | R | R | C | T | P | W | E | I |
| M | E | A | A | U | T | Y | N | I | M | U | I | C | K | O | I | C | V |
| G | S | P | R | W | S | T | I | A | R | R | K | A | A | H | N | I | P |
| D | O | U | N | E | W | Y | E | A | R | E | I | U | A | U | U | R | U |
| U | A | T | E | T | O | I | H | A | T | A | M | E | T | T | U | P | K |
| T | H | U | A | N | A | H | W | F | T | O | N | L | E | U | O | S | U |
| H | I | W | A | I | T | E | R | A | N | G | I | G | L | K | K | O | N |
| V | R | L | R | A | W | A | I | T | I | W | B | S | I | A | A | U | A |
| H | F | R | E | T | N | I | W | D | I | M | A | A | M | W | R | E | U |
| A | U | W | H | E | T | U | A | H | E | N | O | I | K | A | A | H | P |
| N | P | L | E | I | A | D | E | S | G | I | N | V | A | N | K | E | U |
| G | S | A | M | Y | D | C | C | A | S | R | A | T | S | T | I | N | T |
| I | A | K | A | T | A | M | A | R | A | M | O | E | A | N | A | W | O |
Find these words
- Dawn
- Hākari
- Hāngī
- Harvest
- Hautapu
- Hiwa-i-te-rangi
- Kai
- Karakia
- Kites
- Manu tukutuku
- Maramataka
- Matariki
- Midwinter
- New year
- Pleiades
- Pōhutukawa
- Puanga
- Stars
- Te Mātahi o te Tau
- Tupuānuku
- Tupuārangi
- Ururangi
- Waiata
- Waipunarangi
- Waitā
- Waitī
- Whānau
- Whetū
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Matariki, extra hard
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About this word search
The maramataka, the Māori lunar calendar, sets the dates of Matariki each year. One tradition is the hautapu, a ceremony in which food is cooked in an earth oven and its steam rises to feed the stars. Manu tukutuku, Māori kites, are flown, and the stars of the cluster are named one by one, from Pōhutukawa, linked to those who have died, to Hiwa-i-te-rangi, the star of wishes for the year ahead.
Te Mātahi o te Tau is the longest, with fourteen letters once the spaces and macrons go. Hiwa-i-te-rangi, Waipunarangi and Manu tukutuku have twelve. Kai is the shortest, at three letters. Waitī and Waitā differ only in their last letter, and Tupuānuku and Tupuārangi share their first five. None of the macrons appear in the grid. Words run in all eight directions in the eighteen by eighteen grid, backwards too.
Use the sheet as part of a Matariki evening: as each star is found, read out what it stands for, and let everyone write one wish for the coming year next to Hiwa-i-te-rangi.
Ways to use this word search
In the classroom
Print it as a task for early finishers, or to open a lesson on this topic. With the QR code on the sheet, students check their own answers.
At home and on the go
Pack a few printed sheets for the car, the ferry or the bach. A pen is all you need, no screen required.
Play together
Print the sheet twice and race each other. Whoever finds all the words first wins. Or play it online and see who is fastest.
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