International Day: Infants and Juniors Learn About India
Last Friday, Infants and Juniors turned their attention towards India during this year’s annual Heritage International Day, an annual opportunity for pupils to spend a day learning about specific countries’ customs, foods, culture, religion, art, music and more. The children looked vibrant and cheerful as they dressed in Indian-themed clothing that included the colours of the Indian flag, traditional Indian clothing, and costumes depicting Indian wildlife including the tiger, elephant and peacock.
As the day began, the parents of Year 4 pupil Olivia presented Juniors with an overview of the country of India, its people and culture. Olivia herself also gave a beautiful demonstration of Bharathnatyam, the oldest form of traditional Indian dance. Enormous thanks to all three for providing such a rich presentation.
Other activities enjoyed throughout the day included:
- Exploring spices, smelling them, and using them to paint
- Baking Nankhatai cookies in the shape of hands and decorating them in mendhi henna patterns
- Looking through a selection of library books about India and sharing interesting facts
- Learning about the peacock, India’s national bird, whose Sanskrit word (Mayura) means ‘killer of snakes’
- Writing peacock descriptions and creating lovely peacock artwork
- Learning about the religious festival, Diwali
- Using coloured sand to make Rangoli-style patterns
- Exploring Indian objects, clothing, and jewelry
- Drawing and decorating madhubani elephants
- Making mini nonfiction books on India
- Maths lessons involving Rangoli symmetrical patterns
- English comprehension lesson with interesting facts about India
- Tasting Indian food and snacks including poppadoms, onion bhajis, chutneys and naans
- Reading traditional Indian stories, including The Monkey and the Crocodile
Another big thank you to Year 2 pupil Charlotta’s mum, who made a delicious meal for the class that was thoroughly enjoyed and completely devoured.
