Culture - Day 2 grades 4-6 learning activities

Trivia question: Which tire doesn’t move when a car turns right?

Mindfulness Activity:

• Find your pulse on your neck or your wrist.
• Count how many times your heart beats for 15 seconds (You can use a clock or have your family or friends count down for you). Now breathe fast 10 times.
• Take your pulse again.
• Which one was higher?

Supplies:

• Paper Sheet
• Blank paper
• Markers
• Pencils

• Have your child write down as many special places in Calgary as they can think of. They can choose rivers, hills, parks, historical sites, buildings or other attractions.
• After 5 minutes, add a few places of your own.
• Have your child draw their own map of Calgary that includes all the places they think are important.

Supplies:

• Empty paper towel rolls or toilet paper rolls
• Bouncy ball
• Ladle or tongs
• A bucket or large cup
• Pillows or couch cushions
• Broomstick
• Marbles
• A bandanna or scarf

The Calgary Stampede is an event that celebrates the heritage of Calgary. For more than 100 years, Calgarians have watched rodeo events and learned about the farming industry that feeds us. Today, we are going to create our own Stampede!

Find different spaces in your house for your stampede. Have your child create 4-6 areas with different fun activities based on the equipment/materials you can find. Each area should have a different challenge. Some ideas could be:

• Balance a broomstick between two chairs to make a limbo station.
• Stack some pillows to 'mountain climb' over.
• Put a small bouncy ball on the floor. Try to pick it up with your toes and drop it into a cup.
• Try to roll a toy from one area to another area with your nose.
• Put some marbles or small toys on the floor. Use the ladle or tongs to move each toy or marble to a bucket or bowl in another area. For an extra challenge, use a bandana or piece of cloth to make a blindfold.

Make new activities that you think your child will like, or have them their own activities!

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Supplies:

• Blank paper
• Markers, pencils
• Ribbons, felt
• Glue sticks/ white glue
• Glitter glue, scissors
• Western stencils/ideas
• Other fun decorations

Every year, there is a new poster for the Calgary Stampede. At first, they were a way to promote the event, but now they celebrate western art. 2019 was the first year the Stampede poster was created by a youth artist.

For this activity, have your child make their own Stampede posters.

• Put different supplies on the table.
• Give your child a piece of blank paper.
• Have your child decorate it however they like.

If they need help, show them the Stampede logo. They can also use the slogan "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth".

You can also use past Stampede Posters for ideas.

Supplies:

• Construction paper
• 11X17 paper or canvas
• Glue sticks
• Scissors
• Sample portraits

John Ware was an African-American cowboy who was born into slavery. He migrated to Southern Alberta after slavery became illegal in the United States. He was a talented horse rider and trainer, and brought the first cattle to Southern Alberta. Later on, he ran his own successful ranch.

Even though he wasn’t really a Calgarian, John Ware was well known in Calgary. He has a junior high and a building at SAIT named after him.

For this activity, have your child make a portrait of John Ware using magazine strips and/or construction paper.

*this image is taken from the Glenbow Archives, file number NA-263-1. - Magazines

Supplies:

• Paper (4/participant)
• Pencils
• Markers

Mayor Nenshi asked Calgarians to do three things that make their streets, neighbourhoods and city better.

Give your child 4 pieces of paper. Have them write each of these questions on one piece of paper:

• What am I good at?
• What do I care about?
• What do I have to say about my community?

On the last piece of paper, have your child think of 3 things they could do: one for their street, one for their neighbourhood and one for the city.

Ask your child:

• What do you like about living in Calgary?
• What do you think are the most important parts of Calgary’s culture?
• How can you make Calgary an even better place?

Mindfulness Activity: The spare tire.​