Please enjoy the February blog, full of rich and diverse cultural explorations!

Asia

As the largest continent, Asia comprises 48 countries, each with different cultures, languages, and people of varying skin tones. We emphasized that our introduction is just a glimpse and cannot fully represent the vast diversity of Asia.

Taiwan

This year marks the Year of the Snake! To celebrate, we explored traditional Chinese foods, customs, and arts through engaging, hands-on activities.

The children practiced using chopsticks by transferring yarn “noodles” between Chinese to-go containers, experienced the aroma of real tea leaves, and took part in a traditional tea-serving activity. We also learned the story of the Chinese New Year and how the zodiac sequence was established.

For our art activities, the children created snake crafts and delicately crafted cherry blossoms using tissue paper. As a special treat, we prepared and enjoyed a delicious rice noodle dish together. The festivities culminated in a lively Chinese New Year celebration in the yard, where the children explored various interactive activities, immersing themselves in the rich traditions of the holiday.

 

India

Ayah’s mother Sumaiya launched us on a sensorial journey through India. On a map we noticed how the shape of India resembles an upside-down pyramid or a triangle whose southern peninsula is surrounded by water – the Indian Ocean – making it a very wet region. We learned that India’s population is roughly 4 times that of the United States on land which is only ⅓ the size of the US.  We experienced this by having a few children standing on the carpet with relative space between them, and then adding more and more people, to sense what a dense population might feel like. Continuing on with our senses: we listened to a bit of music from India with the instruments Sitar and Tabla drumming. Honoring Ayah’s grandmother who worked in the fabric industry, we looked at and touched Ayah’s beautiful dress with jingling and sparkling bits, and bracelets that jingle as well. These are worn on special occasions such as the Eid al-Fitr, celebrating the end of Ramadan. Finally, we tasted fresh Mango grown on Ayah’s grandpa’s Mango farm and smelled some of the many fragrant spices used in Indian cuisine: fennel, cinnamon, cardamom, and coriander just to name a few. Thank you Sumaiya for ending the visit with the fun exploratory elephant decorating project.

 

Iran

From Tehran, Iran, Layla’s mother Samira took us on a journey through Iran – the land of many mountains, a high-altitude plateau, a salt desert, to the narrow fertile lowlands along the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and the Caspian Sea. We looked at the borders of Iran, only to discover it’s shape resembles a cat. But not just any cat, a Persian cat, “the fluffy kind’. We also learned that elaborate wool and silk rugs are woven in Iran. Each state in Iran has a particular design style typical for their region. We saw and touched a small Persian rug and a beautiful tapestry. Some large rugs can take many years to be woven by hand, compared to ones woven more quickly by machines. The kids counted from 1-10 in Farsi – having practiced many times with Noushin too. We learned that the written language is read from right to left, the opposite of English. Samira kindly printed out each child’s name in beautiful Farsi lettering for them to explore and color in. Foods and spices commonly eaten in Iran are fresh pomegranates, pomegranate syrup, pistachios, cherries, and all sorts of dishes that use Saffron. Ask the children if they remember the name of a sweet desert from Iran- made with mulberry and marzipan that we tried in class. Answer? “Toot”. We ended our time together with typical music from Iran – as the Iranians love to dance. 

 

Japan

We explored various aspects of Japanese culture, starting with its national flag, writing system, and traditional clothing. We learned about the iconic Mount Fuji, which remains snow-capped throughout the year. The children were fascinated by Japan’s unique holidays, such as Girls’ Day (Doll’s Day) on March 3rd, when families display traditional dolls, and Boys’ Day (Children’s Day) on May 5th, celebrated with samurai armor displays.

We also discussed Japan’s national sport, sumo wrestling, where two large wrestlers compete in a ring. The children learned about Japanese customs, including bowing as a form of greeting instead of shaking hands and kneeling while sitting, a tradition influenced by their attire.

Food was another exciting topic—we explored popular dishes like sushi, ramen, udon, and soba.  Japanese traditional sweets are intentionally lovely to complement the bitterness of matcha tea. To enhance their learning experience, they engaged with hands-on materials and, as a final treat, we made and tasted Inari sushi together.

 

Birthday Celebration

We celebrated Belle’s  3rd birthday.

 

Friendship Day

We celebrated Friendship Day on Valentine’s Day with a variety of heart-themed activities for the children to explore. Each child decorated their own friendship bag and received handmade artwork from friends, expressing love and appreciation for their friendships. Together, we also made a sweet and healthy cake, reinforcing the joy of collaboration and kindness.

 

Black History: Art with Julianne & Daniela

 In honor of Black History Month, we covered two celebrated artists and used their stories and ideas as inspiration to create our own unique works of art.

Alma Thomas (1891-1978) was an art educator her whole life. She came into her own right as an artist in her 70s and was the first African American woman to have a solo exhibition at the New York Whitney Museum. She used dabs of color to form patterns and abstract images inspired by her memories of how nature and light play together. We used color stickers in the shape of dabs to create our patterns and memories of nature and light.

William H. Johnson (1901-1970) was an American artist who studied art abroad and returned to the US in 1938 where he worked as a teacher in the Harlem Community Art Center supported through the Federal Art Project. His style evolved from realism to expressionism, to a powerful folk style of his own. In this folk style, we used chalk pastels to draw a still life of a vase with flowers using our observation skills. We explored the materials using the pointed and broad side of the pastels and used our fingers to smudge the chalk just so. 

Here is the document from Julianne.

 

Inside Outside Time