July 4-8 Day 1

Today was Asia Part 1. We talked about Diwali (the Indian festival to celebrate the victory of light over dark) and how it relates to the folktale "Rama and the Demon King". In celebration of Diwali we did Rangoli sand art and Henna tattoos. Next we had snack and discussed characters and a plot for their original play. Then we went to the obstacle course for awhile. Back at the art studio, we discussed the Ring of Fire and why volcanoes erupt. We also labeled the parts of a volcano before taking a model outside to "erupt" with Diet Coke and Mentos. I also showed them how the Kawah Ijen volcano in Indonesia has blue lava because of burning sulfur. Then we talked about how Batik is made (an ancient form of resist dyeing) and started the first step in a Batik Art Project (creating a design and using glue rather than wax as the resisting agent). Tomorrow will be the next step to paint over the dried glue. Then we played Aankh Micholi (one kid tries to tag others while blindfolded).

After lunch, we hiked to the creek. We saw 3 Banded Water Snakes (non-venomous), tiny frogs and water beetles. Lastly, we did some archery practice with targets and Badminton (a national Chinese sport that originated in Siam, China before making its way to England in1870s).