Social Bookmark #3

http://wilderdom.com/games/MulticulturalExperientialActivities.html

This is a fun site that has several activities that help to bring social awareness to children and adults alike. I thought that this was a good site as I plan on being a Children's/Youth Librarian and many of the activities can be done for or with children.

The first activity they suggest is to get a group and ask how many different ways they can say 'hello'. I think that'd be fun as many different languages and cultures can be represented. Children learn to say 'hello' from their parents, relatives, T.V. programs (such as Dora the Explorer) and through many other mediums. It'd be fun to see how much they remember and if they can say both the word hello and what country the language is from. For instance 'Hola, Spanish!' or 'Bonjour, French!'. Either way, it sounds like a good way to introduce more cultures to children.

Another activity mentioned is to have each person explain their name. Why are they named _____? What does it mean? Who named them? Where they named after a relative? What does their name mean? For instance my name, Amanda, is Latin and means 'worthy of love'. My first name is a name that both of my parents happened to like. My middle name is Jane. It is Hebrew and means 'grace'. It was my mother's middle name, and my grandmother is named Janet. I have an aunt with the middle name Jane as well.

My last name is Finnish. It is the Finnish word for beach, actually. I married a Finnish man and took his last name. Taking his last name is a cultural thing to do. Also just telling someone about my name, and its heritages, imparts many different layers of culture. I have a Latin name and a Hebrew name, and a Finnish name! In addition, being named after a relative -or more than one, in my case- is also cultural.

Another activity listed is The World Meal. It is explained as such:

A World Meal consists of a limited amount of rice and beans. This is the average meal for the average person on the planet. Cook this for a group of others and encourage them in turn to cook a World Meal for others. (Neill, 2005)

Children especially may take it for granted that there will always be enought to eat. This is a good thing in that they can feel secure, and not worried. However, showing them that not everyone is as nourished as they are may be helpful. The webpage I linked to shows an interesting chart listing the average number of calories people in many countries eat. Ethiopia tops the list of malnourished nations with 1,667 calories per person while Austrians consume 3,495.