Te Reo Māori Adjectives Activities | Ngā Tūāhua Cards & Worksheets

Your students may know Māori words for familiar animals and objects—but can they describe what those things are like?

Vocabulary learning can easily become a list of words that children repeat for one lesson and then forget. Learners need to see, say, match and use new kupu in meaningful contexts before the language becomes familiar.

This Te Reo Māori Adjectives Activity Pack introduces 19 useful ngā tūāhua, or describing words, through Montessori-style three-part cards, sentence-building activities, grammar symbols, drawing and differentiated colour-by-code work.

Children move from recognising individual Māori adjectives to using them in short descriptive sentences.

Move Beyond Memorising a Vocabulary List

Children encounter the same adjectives in several connected formats. They can:

• match Māori words with clear pictures;
• check their work against complete control cards;
• connect each kupu with its English meaning;
• use adjectives in short Māori sentences;
• analyse sentence structure with Montessori grammar symbols;
• draw their own visual examples; and
• consolidate vocabulary through differentiated colouring activities.

Ngā Tūāhua Included

• roa – long
• poto – short
• tāroaroa – tall person
• teitei – tall, not for a person
• koi – sharp
• māmā – light
• taumaha – heavy
• mākū – wet
• maroke – dry
• nui – big
• iti – little
• paru – dirty
• mā – clean
• tere – fast
• pōturi – slow
• wera – hot
• makariri – cold
• mārō – hard
• ngāwari – soft

The resource distinguishes between tāroaroa, used for a tall person, and teitei, used for something tall that is not a person.

What Is Included?

Montessori-Style Three-Part Cards

Children match separate pictures and Māori labels with the complete control cards.

The visual contrasts make the vocabulary easier to discuss. Examples include long and short, wet and dry, clean and dirty, fast and slow, and hard and soft.

Teacher Presentation Notes

The included guidance explains how to introduce the cards as a group activity before placing them on the shelf for independent matching.

Follow-up suggestions include an active “find something that is…” game and making individual adjective dictionaries.

Māori–English Glossary

A compact vocabulary reference lists all 19 adjectives and their English meanings.

Sentence Translation and Writing

Children work with short descriptive sentence patterns such as:

He kiore iti.

The worksheets ask learners to:

• translate Māori sentences into English;
• write a Māori sentence for a picture;
• select an appropriate adjective; and
• apply the repeated sentence structure independently.

Montessori Grammar-Symbol Strips

Two completed sentence pages show the article, noun and adjective with Montessori grammar symbols.

This connects te reo Māori vocabulary with familiar parts-of-speech work and helps learners notice the adjective’s function within the sentence.

Separate Word Cards

Nineteen individual adjective cards can be used for oral games, matching, sorting, sentence construction, vocabulary displays or movable-alphabet work.

Drawing and Vocabulary Reflection

Children record adjectives they know in English and Māori, then draw their own pictures for selected kupu.

Six Differentiated Colour-by-Code Pages

Two mystery pictures are each provided at three levels:

• Easy: Māori adjective clues with English colour names
• Medium: English adjective clues with English colour names
• Hard: English adjective clues with te reo Māori colour names

You can therefore use the same motivating activity with learners who have different levels of confidence.

A Flexible Teaching Sequence

1. Introduce contrasting words orally. Begin with a small group such as nui and iti.
2. Match pictures and labels. Use the three-part cards and control cards.
3. Add movement. Ask children to find something that matches a named adjective.
4. Build simple sentences. Use pictures, nouns and adjective labels.
5. Analyse the sentence. Add the Montessori grammar symbols.
6. Record the language. Complete translation or picture-writing work.
7. Consolidate independently. Use drawing and differentiated colour-by-code pages.

Perfect For

• Te reo Māori vocabulary lessons
• Ngā tūāhua and describing words
• Montessori language shelves
• New Zealand primary classrooms
• Mainstream and immersion environments
• Mixed-age classes
• Homeschool te reo Māori
• Sentence-building lessons
• Grammar and parts-of-speech work
• Independent literacy centres

Created for Aotearoa Learners

I’m Lisa—an NZ registered teacher, Montessori-trained educator, school principal and former homeschooler.

I create practical resources for mixed-age classrooms and diverse learners. This pack gives children repeated opportunities to see, say, match, read and use te reo Māori rather than encountering each word only once.