This school holidays will be very special for two Invercargill pupils.
Zara de Souza (9) and Jessie Atley (11) have been best friends since they were very young.
As Zara will be moving to Christchurch with her family at the end of the school year, they were committed to spending as much as time possible together.
Both girls took part in a workshop to learn how to make and play with rākau as part of the South Alive’s school holiday programme.
"It is our first time to play and make it," Zara said.
They used newspapers which were then wrapped with colours and drawn on to make the rākau.
"It is a lot of fun," Jessie said.
South Alive project co-ordinator Stacey Materoa said the activities were great for children to learn as it was something cultural, education and fun to do.
"So they’ve learned heaps of skills today and rākau is a hugely beneficial game.
"It promotes hand-eye co-ordination and lots of wrist movements," Ms Materoa said.
Maori warriors back in the day used to do it as part of their training, she said.
