A Wairarapa toddler who set herself on fire on Monday is being treated for critical burns in Auckland.

The three-year-old girl, who lives near Martinborough, south of Masterton, was playing with matches or a lighter at her home when her clothes caught fire.

Her father burned his hands as he tried to put the flames out but she suffered third degree burns to 50 percent of her body, Fairfax reports.

She was taken to Hutt Hospital and later flown to Auckland's Middlemore Hospital, where she was in a critical but stable condition.