China
Well, not really China, but the next best thing. We were fortunate this year to get annual passes to Disney. One of our favorite places is Epcot. It is better than the best science museum, in my opinion. It really is so educational. We attended Epcot's food and wine festival in November and while we were tasting all of the different dishes from around the world I thought it would be fun to use Epcot's world showcase to enhance our learning towards countries and cultures.
The first thing we did to help us with our studies was to print out a huge map of Asia. Have you seen this great site? You can print up huge maps and piece them together like a puzzle. As we "journey" to a new country we color in the country and write any interesting facts, post pictures, etc.
Books we are using for each country:
Material World by Peter Menzel
Children Just Like Me by Anabel Kindersley
The Usborne Internet Linked Encyclopedia of World History by Jane Bingham
For China:
Look What Came From China by Miles Harvey
China (A to Z) by Justine Fontes
Moonbeams, Dumplings, and Dragon Boats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities & Recipe by Nina Simonds and Leslie Swartz
We made:
Chinese Flags
Notebook page of the animals of China (Asia)
Notebook page of Great Wall of China and Clay Army
Chinese calligraphy
Talked about the Martyred Saints of China
We made paper (also courtesy of Epcot)
Epcot China:
360 degree movie of China- This was really cool. You really felt like you were standing on the Great Wall and floating down the Yangtze river. It gave a great picture of what China looks like. The scenery was beautiful.
Replica of Xi'ian, China- "Tomb Warriors Guardian Spirits of Ancient China" This is a great little "museum" of the excavation site of Xi'an"s Terracotta Army. They have some great pictures also.
We ate dinner at the Lotus Cafe and then walked around the store. Fun. Fun.
Our next stop is Japan.
