Today, we traveled to Africa!
After some lovely playtime in the garden, we came in to hear cultural stories about Africa. Once we identified Africa on the globe, we talked about Serengeti National Park, Sahara Desert, the Masai people, African animals (elephants, lions, snakes, monkeys) and about African homes and clothing. One of the favorite stories was of the baobob tree and how it collects water in it's trunk!
Snack today was a combination of watermelon (elephants LOVE it, too!) and hummus and chips. The children also loved snack!
The first art project today was to decorate an African drum using four Adinkra symbols with a special meaning representing love (a heart), rhythm (a drum), patience (a crescent moon) and strength (a quatrefoil). These stamps are the same as the Asante people of Ghana use to decorate cloth squares. We also talked about how specific colors can hold meaning. For example, yellow can represent the sun, white can represent peace, green can symbolize growth.
The primary children also made a special hat called a Kufi out of paper. Usually it is made from a kente cloth, which is a material made in Ghana. Once we were done making our paper Kufi's, we heard the daring African tale of "Honey, Honey Lion" by Jan Brett.
Soon, it was time for water play in the garden!
After lunch, we had our very own African drum circle! (click on link to see video)
A 'wonderful' time was had by all! We hope you'll join us next week as we travel to Europe!
We are an AMI accredited Montessori school growing daily in spirit & intellect!