Rotorua police urge anyone who owns explosive materials to make sure they are secure and out of children's reach.
On March 26 a member of the public saw a group of children in the Koutu area playing with a stick of Power Gel which is an explosive typically used in the construction of roads and quarry work.
That person then handed it in to police.
The stick was estimated as being at least 10 years old and in its current state the explosive was not going to cause any harm to the children, said Rotorua prevention manager Inspector Stu Nightingale.
But as police don't know who the children are, or where they found the stick, they don't know if there are other items that children could get access to that might be dangerous.
