akagboy;266558I have been asked by my son's kindergarten teacher to present India to the students in the class. It is going to for an hour. I have some stuff planned, In addition to geography/culture and languages, I am going to have them look at some Indian dresses, taste some Indian food and show them some photgraphs
Please share any other ideas that can make it interesting for kids or any resources that might help.
One hour is quite a long time to keep KG students occupied. DM's suggestion of having things for the kids to hold and see is a good one. Some assorted suggestions:
1. Ask teacher for suggestions. This must have been done in previous years and by parents from diff. countries. She/he will have good ideas.
2. Rather than a regular introduction to India and talking about various aspects like food, culture, language etc. maybe try something different.
3. Try to connect most things you talk about to what kids know. Examples- Pledge of allegiance to the "India is my country and all Indians are ..." pledge, states in U.S. to states in India, flag of India/U.S., national anthem, national animal, bird, father of nation to founding fathers of U.S.
4. Items to take along. The list is endless - globe (explain timezones), doll with Indian clothes (my kid had a Barbie in saree, but you can take any Barbie and add a saree, for LOL most of them need more clothes anyway), Diwali lamps, stamps, Indian money. Basically look around the house, and also check out Indian grocery store.
5. Ask teacher if kids will be sitting at their desks or on the rug. Have three or four activities planned. Like:
-making Indian flag out of pre-cut white/green/orange construction paper strips and chopsticks,
-print out symmetric Rangoli designs from the web, and have them color them in a pattern
-Cut out construction paper in huge circles, distribute and have them draw the lines for Ashok Chakra
-Take enough Indian coins, and have them trace them ( put coin under paper and shade with regular pencil to get coin impression)
- printout picture of a girl or her face, and have them place bindi on her. Explain the significance of bindi.
- peacock feathers from Dollar Store or Michael's Arts & Crafts store to talk about India's national bird.
If you don't have enough supplies for the activities to use for 20 kids, you can ask teacher for help in doing the activities by rotation. i.e. kids divided into 3 or 4 groups, and activities rotate after 5-10 min.
6. Ask teacher if you can get a CD with Indian songs, instrumental music or the national anthem.
7. If you take any items, try to take multiple. KG kids are not very patient.
8. Maybe wear an Indian outfit for the presentation.
9. Often pause and ask them question or invite opinion. You will be so surprised. I once did something like this - and one kid raised hand to share that another kid in class has parents from two countries (India and another one). I was truly at a loss for words other than "oh, that is nice". The teacher kindly stepped in. : )