Line of Inquiry: Exploring a variety of decorations from various cultures
Thank you parents for providing information on your child's cultural background. Today we looked at the world map and located the countries the children's ancestors are from. We will spend the next few weeks exploring decorations from the cultures of the children (form).
Adyson, Natalya, Hao Hao, Chloe and Byron's ancestors are from China. What are some common Chinese decorations? We researched this questions and the results from Google Images were picture after picture of red and gold decorations, many of them lanterns. We read about why gold and red are such important colours and learned that they represent good luck and happiness.
We read "Moon Festival" by Ching Yeung Russell and the children listened intently as the story described how lanterns were used in this festival. The story mentioned Moon Cakes and this intrigued the children. "What are Moon Cakes?" many wondered with curiosity. Adyson said she had eaten Moon Cakes before. Many of the children wished they could try them too. Does anyone know where they can be purchased?
The children used red and gold paint to decorate their own lantern which we will use to decorate the daycare. I observed many of the children exploring with patterns. After Julia's suggestion we listened to traditional Chinese music as they painted.
The Mid-Autumn Mooncake Festival is usually in September. It was on September 12 this year so the moon cakes are all sold out by now everyone will have to wait till next year on September 30, 2012
ReplyDeleteOh Darn! That's too bad. N's mom said she may know of a source. Maybe someone, somewhere still has some on hand. I love the children's curiosity and open mindedness at wanting to learn about other cultures!
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