Culture - Day 3 grades 4-6 learning activities
These activities will help youth build awareness and learn about their country. They can be done alone, but work best with friends over a video chat such as Skype, Zoom, Facetime, etc.
Mindfulness Activity
Trivia question: Which Canadian city has the most people?
Mindfulness Activity:
- Walk around the room.
- Now walk slowly.
- Now walk normally.
- Now, walk VERY slowly.
- Walk normally again.
- Now, walk very very slowly.
- How does it feel? Which energy level is your favorite?
Cool Canada Flag
Supplies:
- White poster board
- Maps of Canada (a roadmap from a store or a printed one from online will work)
- Glue
- Double sided tape
- Scissors
- Wooden dowels (optional)
- Help your child cut the white poster board to 12 inches by 4 inches.
- Fold it in half lengthwise. This will be the background for the double-sided flag.
- Cut strips out of the maps: two strips 1 ½ inches by 4 inches, and one strip 3 ¼ inches by 4 inches.
- Trace two maple leaves on a piece of the map and cut it out.
- Glue the bigger map strip along the folded edge of the poster board so it wraps around both sides.
- Glue one maple leaf on each side in the middle.
- Glue the smaller strips along the other edge of the poster board so it looks like a Canadian flag.
- Flip the flag open and put double-sided tape around the outside edge. Don't fold it closed yet!
- Put the dowel in the crease and put double-sided tape next to the dowel to hold it in place.
- Fold the flag and smooth it as you go.
Northern Lights Craft
Supplies:
- Black Construction Paper
- Chalk Pastels
- Cotton Balls
- Paper
- Scissors
- Ask your child to cut out a mountain shape from a regular piece of paper. This will be like a stencil.
- Tape it onto the construction paper to hold it in place.
- Have your child colour on top of the mountain and onto the black construction paper. Make sure the colour goes about 1.5 inches away from the mountain.
- Continue colouring around the whole mountain stencil with different colours until the end.
- Use a cotton ball to rub the chalk to create the Northern Lights. Feel free to overlap the colours a little bit as you rub.
- Carefully pull away the mountain stencil. Enjoy your beautiful piece of art!
Stick Game
Supplies:
- Small rubber ring or any kind of ring
- Stick
- Piece of rope
This is a game played by many Indigenous groups including Mi’kmaq, Inuit and Cree. Children would traditionally gather a small stick, animal tendon, scraps of leather and small bones to make this game.
Make your own:
- Have your child tie the rope to one end of the stick. Tie the other end of the rope to the rubber ring.
- To play, hold the stick and swing the ring in the air to catch it on the end of the stick.
Review Questions
Ask your child:
- What do you like about living in Canada?
- What are some places in Canada you’d like to visit one day?
- How can we make Canada a place where everyone feels welcome?
Trivia Answers
Mindfulness Activity Answer: Toronto