Summer Passport: China, Korea and India
It’s super important to us that our kids are globally-minded. A couple months ago we talked about how to create a lifestyle that acknowledges and leans into the multicultural world in which we live. Today we’re starting a summer series with more specifics. While it is important to not just give kids “lessons”, engaging in kid-friendly ways to learn about other cultures is still very valuable!
This summer the kids and I are “going around the world” and we hope that you’ll go with us!
We’re doing something a little unique in that we’re coupling Focus on the Family’s 2013 Summer Adventure materials (free online!) with our own lessons on select countries, diving a little deeper into some of the geographical areas as we move along. They have us visiting a different region of the world over an 8 week period, stopping at a few specific countries along the way.
The Focus on the Family section has a short bit of information about a country, ways to pray, some activities, and some Bible passages to look at each week. While we’re not going to go way deep every week, we’re going to do some in-depth cultural lessons and activities during the “Asia” week. We’re focusing on China, India, and Korea that week since the kids have quite a few friends from these countries.
Here are some activities and resources that we’ll be using as we dive in.
**Print this giant map and hang out around it. Talk about the different countries. Color the ocean blue. Draw on it. Put stickers on it. Quiz each other. Whatever…just make it a part of the daily rhythm. It’s amazing what kids pick up over the course of a couple weeks.
China
Box of Artifacts:
- pair of chopsticks
- a tea set
- some cards with Chinese recipes and pictures of the food
- play chinese food (Melissa and Doug has a stir-fry set or you could make your own)
- my scrapbook from a summer I spent in China
- flag
- money
Stack of Books:
- Stories from the Silk Road
- Tikki Tikki Tembo
- My First Chinese New Year
- Ms. Frizzles’ Adventures in Imperial China
- Lin Yin’s Lantern
- China (DK Witness Book)
- Daisy Comes Home
- Gai See
- The Not for Parents Guide to China
Other Activities:
- Make dumplings
India
Box of Artifacts:
- flag
- money
- recipes for Indian meals
- Nahji doll (Heart to Heart)
Stack of Books:
- T is for Taj Mahal
- Mama’s Saris
- India
- Indian Tales
- The Elephant’s friend and other tales from Ancient India
CDs/DVDs/websites:
Other Activites:
- Make samosas and tikka masala
- Learn about Mother Teresa and her work in India
Korea
- Haba sushi play food set (please note that this set is for Japanese sushi– Korean sushi does not contain raw fish and typically is not served with wasabi. We will still be using this set, but will be talking about the differences during play).
- flag
- money
- recipes for korean meals
- Make cotton ball sushi (see above disclaimer about korean vs. japanese sushi)
- Make a paper fan and watch buchaechum (traditional fan dance)
- Learn some Tae Kwon Do moves
main image edited from http://store.scrapbook.com/kf-64671.html
