Bilingual Story Cards
Ignite imagination and improve literacy with our bilingual story cards for tamariki.
Each card in the pack has an image and the word in te reo Māori and English (60 cards per pack). What a great way to learn and practise your te Reo! Players use their cards to create a story together.
Play alone or with a group of any size. Work together to support players who feel less confident. There’s no winner, and there’s no right or wrong!
This game celebrates creativity and improvisation – all ideas are welcome.
Story cards are available at libraries for $19.
Whaea Justice shows you how to use the story cards
Ways to Play
On your own
Choose as many cards as you like and place them face up. Try to create a story using as many of the cards as possible. Can you write it down? Can you tell your whānau your story?
In a group
Players form a circle and each has the same number of cards. The oldest player starts the story, then each player takes a turn to add to the story, using the
cards as inspiration.
As the story is being told line the cards up in order so that everyone can remember the order of events. Can you write it down? Can you tell your whānau
your story?
Example game:
Player 1 starts the story. They have the beach card. “One summer, I was at the beach with my grandma/kuia. It was a very hot day and lots of people were
swimming, when suddenly …”
Player two continues the story. They have the shark card “… we heard people screaming and saw them running out of the water. One person ran past us
screaming ‘There’s a mangō in the water!’
Player 3 continues the story. They have the dinosaur card. “When I heard there was a shark in the water I thought ‘if only we had a dinosaur with us too…”
Other ways to use the cards
Instead of spreading the cards out face up, grab a handful and rearrange them to create a story. Stack up the cards. Take one card at a time and take turns building up the story. How high can you go? Try to use the te reo Māori words in your story.
Use these as flashcards to learn the language. Have Fun!
