Promoting and Practicing Diversity is an integral part of RisingOaks. With that in mind, the children in our School Age group 2 participated in Diwali celebration. Although many of them are of different religious affiliation they were provided an opportunity to experience cultural awareness of others around them whether in their childcare program or their community. First, we started by discussing what is the significance of Diwali and who are the people that celebrate Diwali. This was done by watching some videos on the iPad. We then made ‘diyas’ also known as earthen lamps. The children made these by using a homemade salt dough recipe. They measured and mixed flour and salt together then Thomas D commented, “How is this going to make the diyas that we saw in the video.” Ella then replied, “I think we have to make it like play dough then shape it like a bowl.” The children then added water to the mixture and took turns mixing it until it was transformed into dough. Each child was given a piece of the dough which they shaped into a ball and formed into a bowl. Will T. said “Oh this is like making pottery.” Then Wyatt asked, “Do we have to bake them like pottery?” The diyas were then placed into the oven and baked.
When the children saw the baked diyas, Thomas K commented, “They looked like butter tarts.” Will B. then asked, “Are we allowed to eat them?” Wyatt answered, “Well is it made will flour and salt those are thing we can eat when they are cooked, so maybe it is okay to eat.” Austin said, “I am not eating it because it is hard as a rock.” The children were given and opportunity to paint and decorate the diyas with acrylic paint and gems of their choice. While they were doing that Amanda asked, “Are we going to light a fire inside the diyas?” Lucy answered, “That is not safe, maybe we can put a candle in it.” Ethan said, “Oh we can use the battery candle that you don’t have to light.” Avery added, “We can just make a flame with yellow paper.” So, the diyas were decorated and the paper flames were added.
The following day, the group scaffolded on the celebrations as they decided to make a treat for the celebration. We made banana fritters (Gulgula), which is a treat that is commonly made in Guyana and other parts of the world with a different name. The children peeled and mashed ripe bananas, then they measured and added brown sugar. As they were doing that Ella commented, “It smell like banana bread.” Some vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and flour were added then the children took turns mixing the batter. Ella’s dad walked in the room and said, “Oh it smells like banana bread.” Ella replied, “Oh we are making banana fritters for our Diwali celebration.” Amanda then added, “We are making Gulgula.” The next day, was our Diwali celebration. The children all gathered and listened to the legends and music of Diwali. They were also able to watch how other countries celebrated Diwali and made comments of how the gifts giving, fireworks and food were just like when they celebrated Christmas. They then enjoyed their ‘Gulgula’ treat and happily took their diyas home.
