Culture - Day 4 grades K-3 learning activities

Trivia question: What is the longest river in the world?
A) Nile    B) Mississippi    C) Amazon

Mindfulness activity:

• Put up one finger and imagine that it is a candle.
• Take a deep breath in
• Then blow out the candle until there’s no air left in your lungs.

Supplies:

• Construction paper
• Yellow and Brown paint (or markers)

Africa is home to big animals like elephants, crocodiles, zebras and giraffes.

Have your child paint their own giraffe.

• Dip one hand in yellow paint so the palm and fingers are covered.
• Press their hand onto the big sheet of paper. Turn the paper upside down so the palm forms the body, the fingers form the legs and the thumb forms the tail.
• Use the side of your child’s hand to print the neck
• Add a fingerprint for the head.
• Let the paint dry.
• Use brown fingerprints to make the giraffe’s spots. Don’t forget a fingerprint for the end of the tail!

Have your child pretend they are a safari guide leading a group on a safari.

Pretend each room in your house is a different region (e.g. desert, rainforest, ocean and arctic).

In one room at a time, have your child describe what the habit looks like and what animals would live there. (e.g. Bedroom = African desert. It is dry and hot. Giraffes, elephants, hippos and tigers live here).

Supplies:

• Paper towel roll
• Crayons, markers
• Paper bag
• Tape
• Aluminum foil
• Small beans and rice

A traditional rain stick is made from a cactus that has been dried in the sun. They are typically filled with pebbles or beans. Indigenous farming tribes who lived in dry climates would use them with the hope of calling rain for their crops.

• Have your child decorate an empty paper towel roll with crayons or markers.
• Crumple a piece of aluminum foil (about 3 times the length of your tube) into a long snake. Make kinks and bends to slow down the fall of rice or beans.
• Put the foil in the tube with the rice or small beans and seal up the ends with a paper bag and tape.

Ask your child:

• Do you like learning about other cultures and traditions?
• Why do you think people in different parts of the world have different types of culture?
• How can learning about different cultures help us be better friends and neighbours?

Mindfulness Activity Answer: A) Nile​