MOTAT July 2026 holiday experience
04 July 2026 - 19 July 2026
Region(s): Auckland
Type(s): exhibitions, experiences
See the world differently these school holidays and explore how lenses and optics shape the way we see everything around us. Discover how you can celebrate Matariki at MOTAT.
Light, lenses and illumination
Make your own 3D glasses, draw an anaglyph image and see the world of MOTAT in 3D. Experiment with mirrors, black panels and reflective surfaces on a large-scale light installation that tells the story of Ranginui and Papatūānuku. Then get up close with flora and fauna through a range of lenses and microscopes – you might be surprised what you find.
Join MOTAT for a holiday filled with discovery and hands-on fun and experience the important role lenses and optics play a part in our world.
Related content
Explore the wide range of content – articles, activities, videos and more – under the light and colour and microscopes and telescopes topics.
Check out these collections below for more inspiration. If you sign in, you can then add it to your own collection list so you can adapt and share.
Light and colour – a collection previously created for a webinar, but useful for teachers and students working at NZC levels 1–4.
Light and shadows – is for teachers and students working at New Zealand Curriculum levels 1 and 2. It is cross curricular – linking Physical World and Planet Earth and Beyond concepts with literacy, mathematics and measurement, social sciences and Māoritanga.
How we see the world – this collection supports the House of Science resource kit – but it is also useful for anyone interested in light, colour and the workings of the human eye.
Microscopes – this collection has ideas on ways you can approach learning about magnification, microscopes and their uses.
Matariki
For Matariki, visit Wishing Star Ki a Hiwa Rā! to make a digital wish for the New Year to Hiwa-i-te-rangi (the star of wishes and aspirations) and see the beautiful artwork of Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho (Tūhoe/Ngāti Porou/Rongowhakaata/Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi/Ngāti Kahungungu). Design your own whetū (star) to take home and follow the Matariki stamp trail.
Included in General Admission.
Location: Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT), 805 Great North Road & 98 Motions Road, Western Springs, Auckland
For more information and to purchase MOTAT tickets: motat.nz/events/july-holiday-experience-2026.
Related content
For more on Matariki check out the Hub’s article The Matariki star cluster.
Explore the wide range of resources we have on Matariki in our a handy article Te Kāhui o Matariki – introduction.
Matariki (Pleiades) star cluster
Wayfinders have used the stars as a compass for millennia.
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