Pack Your Bags

Pack your bags and gather up your passport as we prepare for a trip around the world.  Follow along on our art adventure as we learn about customs and traditions of various countries.  On our travels we will create artwork that is linked to the countries we learn about.  The artwork we create throughout the 2010-2011 school year will be featured in our end of the year art show in May.  The artwork we learn about opens up the eyes and hearts of the students.  No matter how young, they learn that people have different ideas and beliefs around the world, but that they also have some similarities.  Hopefully this will  make them more accepting of others and open to new ideas.

Feliz Navidad, Boun Natale, Joyeux Noel , these are all holiday greetings from around the world.  Over the past couple of weeks the students have been learning about how different countries celebrate the holidays

Kwanza

Children in Holland leave their shoes filled with hay and carrots for the reindeer.  The hay and carrots are replaced by little gifts in the shoes of the children.

Spin Dreidel Spin

Each of these projects focused on a specific country or holiday.  Information was gathered from a great resource Christmas Around the World.  This book focuses on how different countries celebrate the holidays.  It highlights customs and traditions, food, decorations and much more.  It even had suggestions for activities.  The students really liked learning about the traditions of the different countries.  A special thanks to my fourth graders and some fifth grade helpers for their help painting the textured design onto the trees.