People around the world Culture Concept 3 6-8

After we finished Concept 1 of 6-8 I felt like I needed to change things up a little. I always try to look ahead, what each level from both kids will be dealing with and saw that Concept 3 would line up pretty well with the third Unit from Concept 1 from 9-11 .  In 6-8 you will be learning a lot about culture with your little one and it was one of the units and concepts she was most excited about. So, I figured why not.  It matches up wonderfully with the Tall Tales from 9-11 and the Myths and Folktales from 6-8.

After a little bit more research I also found tons of books our library actually has for these. For a small library, our library had hundreds of books with Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Mexican, Native American tales. I think I spent nearly an hour going through all of them and brought home a huge stack of nearly 100 books. In my defense, our library is actually renovating and trying to empty their room while they do it 😉

When we did the little activity page of different kinds of transportation in the world, Venice came up. And when you remind your child about Venice, she will want to read the OLIVIA goes to Venice book. It’s one of her favorites. So we all hung out together and enjoyed this silly but also beautiful story of Olivia Goes to Venice.

Then we explored Mexico a little bit more, made some musical instruments and read some more in this book.

This book is from the previous year actually, but it is one I pull back out so often. It always reminds us that life around the world is so diverse and often so different, yet there are so many things we all have in common. The book does a great way of telling the stories of some of the kids that are portrayed in the book.

Also we have cooked a whole lot this week. We made a whole lot of Mexican food, bought sushi and also tried our luck with Chinese noodles. Actually it all turned out rather yummy, everyone was so inspired and excited to help  and eat that I pretty much forgot to take pictures. We also made some fun mexican instruments and listened to all sorts of music, thank you YouTube.

We had also found this Cat in the Hat book at the library and it was a great way to cover a lot of Holidays quickly. Not very detailed information but a fun intro about many different cultures, one of those books she can easily read over and over again on her own without much needed extra explanation.

Another book that worked perfectly with this lesson is

This one really does an amazing job at telling about all holidays all around the world and if you are looking for even more extra ideas and crafts this one is a must !

We ended up this lesson by researching a bit more online and also watch some more travel kids. My youngest was really in awe with Venice that day and since it is also Februrary, the time of Carnevale, we really enjoyed ” travelling” through the world a little bit more.

They have so many great video’s that give kids a fun, quick way to introduce them to different cultures. It’s one travel show my kids don’t get bored of.

I am really excited about the rest of this unit 🙂 It is full of discovery, fun crafts and lots of room for exploration !

Tomorrow we will start reading this book and I am curious what places and traditions we will discover !

St. Nicholas

Yesterday was St.Nicholas day. Such a happy day filled with wonderful memories from my childhood. I remember how excited I used to get, to put my boots out the front door and wait for St.Nicholas to fill them. I was lucky and he not only stopped at our house but also at my grandmothers ajacent apartment downstairs 🙂 I often got up super early, to take a peak before school to see what he had left. Most times St.Nicholas would bring a lot of Christmas candy together with the more traditional things like nuts and fruit. My favorites were the Christmas cookies, marzipan balls, and a chocolate Santa. Often I also received my special Christmas outfit for the year ( big festivities on the 24th of December ) , or other clothes that was maybe a little more special. Most times you would get something rather small though and not really toys, maybe a CD or a book as I was getting older.
When I was real little we lived in a very small town and there it was common that St.Nicholas would actually come to your house, read from his book and choose a gift for you. The traditional St.Nicholas looks more like the bishop and well he often also takes Krampus along. I admit it, I was a bit scared as a child, seeing those two walking through the streets. If you are curious about more of the traditions I found some cute links that explains it all a bit more.

This next video explains another story of St.Nicholas ( the corn legend) played with our favorite PLAYMOBIL toys. It is however also in German. But if you read the story here http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/who-is-st-nicholas/ you might be able to understand it and explain to the kids as you watch it.

Christmas songs are super popular and in the schools, kids often learn old and new songs. An old time favorite is of course ” Lasst uns froh und munter sein ” the #1 song for Nikolaus Tag ! Come sing along !

But back to our morning of Dec. 6th now. We were all a little surprised that St.Nicholas had chosen sleds for the girls this year, I guess with this big move and the possibility of having snow more often, was reason enough ;). Of course it has not snowed yet, and the girls are asking about every other hour when it will snow, lol. I really hope it will, as I love snow just as much or more as they do, but even if it won’t in our valley, the mountains are just a short drive away and they are pretty well covered with snow already.

We had no idea that the sleds were such a good product, but they have actually existed for along time in Austria and Germany and are super duper popular there. My family from Bavaria was quick to tell us 😉
So here is hoping that we will get some snow very soon !

If you are curious about our fun sleds here is a link ! I hope I get to post some of our own action pictures with them soon !!