The Voices of Children is a global initiative that gathers and shares children’s perspectives to help inform thinking and decision-making around sustainability and the future of our world. It positions tamariki as active contributors to global conversations, recognising that their ideas, questions, and insights offer valuable direction for long-term change.

As part of this work, children from both Torbay Kindergarten and Orewa Beach Kindergarten have been engaged in exploring issues that matter to them. Through rich discussion and creative expression, they identified ‘he taonga te wai’ water as a treasured and essential source of life, as their key focus.

Their thinking highlighted a powerful shared understanding: water connects all people across place, time, and generations. It is not only vital for survival, but also a thread that links communities globally. From this perspective, tamariki expressed a clear sense that caring for and protecting te moana is a collective responsibility that belongs to everyone.

In response, the children have created a series of artworks that reflect their ideas and relationship with water. These pieces will be included in international exhibitions designed to share children’s voices with a global audience and elevate their messages within broader sustainability conversations.

This work offers a compelling reminder that when children are given genuine opportunities to express their thinking; and when kaiako carefully support, listen to, and extend their ideas, they become powerful contributors to change. Far from being future voices, tamariki are already shaping how we understand and respond to the world today.