Kids Kai Trial at Flavours of Plenty: A Fun, Hands-On Adventure for Youngsters to Explore Food Resilience

While most events at the Flavours of Plenty festival are designed with adults in mind, there’s one exciting exception: the Kids Kai Trail, happening on April 5, hosted by the Te Puke Kai Resilience group and Colab.

Chris Johnstone, Colab coordinator, explained, “While Flavours of Plenty mainly targets adults, we wanted to do something special for tamariki. After all, they’re the ones we need to educate about food security and resilience for the future.”

The trail kicks off at the Te Puke Community Garden, where Troppo will be providing tote bags for kids to collect and carry any treasures they pick up along the way starting with a cool fruit wristband from Troppo. From there, the trail moves on to an event hosted by Comvita at Harvest Church, where participants will have the chance to engage in hands-on, practical learning. Beekeeper Noelani Waters will lead a fascinating session, diving into the world of bees – from understanding their vital role in pollination to taking a peek inside a beehive, while also learning how we can help protect these important pollinators.

The Kids Kai Trail is designed for children aged 5 to 12, and families can register for just this part of the trail if they prefer.

Along the way, children will also experience seed sharing from the Garden to Table initiative and learn about how this program supports school gardens.

The trail continues with a visit to Giggles Te Puke Early Learning Centre, where Troppo will treat the kids to delicious, gluten free, dairy free, low sugar real fruit sorbet ice creams made from fruits gathered at Troppo’s urban food forest in Te Puke.

It’s a day packed with adventure, learning, and fun, all while nurturing the next generation of kai-conscious kids!

Maara kai
For the past three years, the centre has been cultivating a maara kai (food garden), featuring vegetable beds, a variety of plants, and a kiwifruit vine. This garden serves as an outdoor classroom where children learn about sustainable growing, harvesting, and cooking practices. The garden is not just for the children and teachers at the centre—it’s a valuable resource for the whole community, hosting workshops and providing fresh produce for whānau and local pataka kai (food banks).

As part of the Kids Kai Trail, children will have the chance to taste delicious treats, plant vegetables, create seed balls to take home, and learn about edible wild weeds with Linda-Mary Barrett. Centre owner Shona Ua-Marsh explained that participating in the trail is just one way Giggles is sharing its commitment to kai resilience with the wider community.

Since the garden initiative began, Shona has noticed a significant increase in the number of families with children at the centre who are growing their own produce, furthering the centre’s mission to inspire self-sufficiency and sustainability.

Culture of Sharing

Many families contribute their surplus fruit and vegetables to the centre’s pataka kai, while other excess produce is used to make chutneys and preserves.

“Children are learning the values of sharing, manaakitanga (care and hospitality), and whakawhenua tanga (connection to the land), fostering a strong sense of community spirit and kindness,” said Shona Ua-Marsh.

In this spirit of sharing and community-spirited generosity, Troppo has contributed a variety of plants to the Giggles Te Puke Maara Kai, including banana varieties, cherimoya, guava, Japanese raisin tree, sugar cane, white sapote, black mulberry, dragonfruit, and more.

After visiting Giggles, those on the trail will make their way to the final stop, The Daily Café, where they’ll enjoy a pizza party featuring pizzas made from the fresh produce gathered along the trail. There, they’ll also have the opportunity to learn more about food forests with Kris Edgington.