The world is a mosaic of diverse cultures, each with its unique traditions, beliefs, and customs. It is essential to embrace and celebrate this diversity, recognizing the richness it brings to our lives. The best way to build an environment that’s culturally diverse and inclusive would be to open up children’s minds to the beauty that’s around them and incorporate other cultures traditions and festival celebration in the curriculum. Upcoming this month on Oct 31, 2024 is ‘Diwali’, also known as the ‘Festival of Lights’ which is one of biggest festival in India that’s celebrated over a course of 5 days. To spread recognition and better understanding of what Diwali is and what its significance is, the School-age 3 team gathered together and talked all about what they know about Diwali and how it is celebrated. Continuing on, the concept of henna and the role it plays in Indian culture was introduced. A lot of questions arose, contributing into the inquiry-based learning as the educator answered what Henna is made of, what makes it stain the skin to form a temporary tattoo and what its role is in Diwali. Henna in Indian-Hindu tradition, is said to bring about positive spirits and good luck and is applied by people during happy occasions/celebrations. The activity was for the children to try and use the henna cones to draw a design on a sheet of paper and it could be whatever they wanted however, the task was not as easy as it sounds because the henna cones are difficult to manipulate and it takes a lot of practice to be able to apply the right amount of pressure and squeeze the right amount of henna out while drawing at the same time. Eliora, and two of our other friends did a great job considering it was their first time even holding a henna cone! One of them wrote her name in perfectly clear alphabets, Piper drew a flower and wrote her name while Eliora tried to follow a henna design I showed her. Ignacio, Fred and Leo were hesitant at first, but when they saw the girls engaged, they thought to give it a try. Ignacio was more focused on scribbles while Leo made a stick man which he made it look like it was super easy and Fred a jellyfish. I volunteered to have them try and draw a little on my hand and everyone contributed in writing one letter each of my name on the palm and Fred wrote ‘KIDS’ to refer to all of them. The children used their fine motor skills as they tried to manipulate the cone and draw what they wanted. The process was hard and frustrating for a few as they learned to develop patience in order to be successful and kept trying until they felt they were done unleashing their creativity!
