Surrounding the holidays, Adley and I squeezed in some country activities whenever we had the chance. Here are the two countries we learned about in December and January:
KENYA
To kick off our studies, Adley and I always look up the new country on a map, watch a brief video about the country, and read several books set in that country. Several of the books we read about Kenya, as well as the video we watched, mentioned The Big Five game animals in Africa (the lion, leopard, rhio, elephant, and the African buffalo). These five animals are very prominent in Africa, are often seen on safaris, and are apparently the most difficult animals to hunt on foot. Talking about these animals reminded Adley of the safari hunt we did when she learned about Uganda back in the fall. Thankfully, we still had the supplies from this activity, so Adley went on several hunts around our house. This activity is obviously a keeper!
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Then, we watched a brief video that showed footage of popular African animals. Adley especially enjoyed listening to the various sounds these animals made.
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Another day, Adley made an African lion out of a paper plate. I think it turned out so cute!
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We learned a couple new games that are popular in Kenya. The first is a basic three-in-a-row strategy game called Shisima. The rules of play were very easy for Adley to pick up on, so we played this game quite a few times.
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We also tried out mancala, referred to as "bao," in Kenya. The strategy on this game was a little trickier for Adley, but she still enjoyed moving the rocks around. :)
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My favorite Kenyan craft Adley did was this African hut. She asked me to draw the designs for her to color in. Adley took such careful time completing her coloring, which made the hut turn out so beautifully!
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She added raffia to emulate the thatch roof...
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...and viola! What a gorgeous hut!
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Another day, we tried out these African masks made out of toilet paper rolls, paint, and playdough.
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The playdough facial features made such a neat 3D effect.
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Through our studies, Adley and I learned about the Maasai people, a famous semi-nomadic tribe in Kenya, known especially for their fierce warriors and their colorful tribal dress. After looking at photos of the Maasai people online, Adley decorated this fancy Maasai necklace.
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Kenya is one of the most successful African countries at Olympic track and field events, so Adley and I practiced our sprints outside. She loved trying to beat her time for each down-and-back race across the yard.
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The Kenyan food we tried was ugali, a porridge-like cornmeal recipe. It's traditionally served with meat and vegetables, but we just tried it as a solo side dish. Apparently I still need to work on perfecting my African cuisine (or perhaps we all need to fine-tune our African taste buds), as no one in our family was a big fan of this dish. I'm happy all the kids were willing to try it out, at least!
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The last craft we did was to make an African drum out of an empty oatmeal container.
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It made a fun sound and was especially entertaining to play along with a track of African drum music that we found on youtube.
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Here is some of the great literature we found for Kenya.
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SWEDEN
In January, Adley and I learned about the country of Sweden! We started by reading this ebook, The Tomten. I had never heard of a tomten before, but apparently it's a popular creature in Scandanavian folklore. Even though it looks like a little Christmas elf, this gnome-like creature is seen as a guardian of the Swedish home and farm.
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After reading this short tale, Adley made a tomten garland. She started by using my circle cutter, which she loves!
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The next step was adding on hats and beards.
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Then, Adley got creative with drawing faces.
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The final step was taping the garland to a string.
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Ta-da! What a cute post-Christmas decoration! Adley was so proud. :)
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Here's a close-up of the faces Adley drew. Love it!
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Of course, we can't talk about Sweden without learning about the Dala Horse! I loved the 3D nature of this craft.
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I joined in the fun and colored an orange horse. These horses bring back great memories for me of my great-aunt Marian, a full-blooded Swede, who lived with her husband Don in Lindsborg, KS, aka "Little Sweden." Don and Marian made sure my siblings and I were familiar with the Swedish culture by cooking us authentic Swedish food and having us paint our own dala horses. Adley enjoyed hearing that she has some Swedish blood in her too!
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Watercolor paints worked well for decorating the Swedish flag.
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These woven hearts are traditional Christmas decorations in Sweden. Sometimes they're even made into baskets and hung on the tree. We made ours a bit larger so it would be easier to weave.
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Sweden is home to the Arctic fox, so we found a cute craft to honor this hardy animal that can endure some crazy cold temperatures!
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Sweden is also home to a very unique piece of architecture-- an ice hotel in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden. This amazing hotel, designed by artists from around the world, is rebuilt each winter and hosts guests during the months of December through April. After looking at some online photos of the Ice Hotel, Adley designed her own ice hotel room out of "blocks of ice." I love that she even decided to include a fan!
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St Lucia's Day is an important holiday celebrated on December 13 in Sweden. The day honors Lucia of Syracuse, a 4th century woman who, according to tradition, brought food and aid to persecuted Christians hiding in Roman catacombs. Lucia put a wreath of candles on her head to light her way through the dark tunnels and to enable her hands to be free to carry as much food as possible. On this holiday in Sweden, young girls wear white gowns (and sometimes wreaths of candles on their heads too!) and deliver coffee and baked goods to their family members. Adley enjoyed hearing this story and then creating a wreath of her own to wear.
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One evening for dinner, our family tried some traditional lingonberries.
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Adley and I also took a trip to the Swedish-born company of Ikea! It was a good excuse for me to walk around this store, and Adley and I were able to sample their delicious Swedish meatballs, too.
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Many of the books we read were stories written by Swedish authors, not necessarily books set in Sweden. We enjoyed some of these humorous tales and noticed the tomten appearing in several of the books too.
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The Pippi Longstocking books were written by a Swedish author, Astrid Lindgren. They are a bit too long for Adley's attention span, so we chose to watch the Pippi Longstocking movie instead. After watching the movie, we tried to fix Adley's hair in a Pippi-like style. Too funny!
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Both of us continue to enjoy our pseudo trips around the world!
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