Fragrant Herbal Bags

06/06/2008 (Friday)

a) Playground
The kids woke up and drank their water. They marched down to enjoy the breeze at the playground. Some were on the slides, some on the see-saws while some chasing one another. I then gathered the kids to inform them that we would later sail our Dragon Boat in the fish pond! They were thrilled!

b) I can sail the Dragon Boat!
We marched to the classrroom. We continued with the colouring of Dragon Boat, as they didn't finish it in the morning class.
Next, I demonstrated to them the steps of folding. Then, we did it together. I discouraged the kids form saying, “I don't know”. It was quite simple. They just needed to ensure the foldings were neat. In fact, YZ, WY, YP guided their friends. That was so helpful.
Then, they placed the coloured origami boats on the table. We did another folding using the recycled paper. After that, names were written on them. Then, we went downstairs to sail the recycled boats. The kids are supposed to bring home the coloured boats.
At the pond, the kids were not suppose to climb over the fence. They passed their boats to me individually. I stretched my hand and sailed them. The blowing wind just made everything look even more beautiful. Then, they sang the song, “Row row row your boat”. Take a look at our new version of the song:

"Row row row your boat,
Gently down the stream,
Merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.”

"Row row Dragon Boat,
Gently down the stream,
Merrily, merrily, merrily,
We must save Qu Yuan.”

c) Fragrant Herbal Bags
Many thousands of years ago before Qu Yuan was born, people had actually celebrated “The Dumpling Festival”. However, they used “fragrant herbs tiny bag” instead. On the 5th day of the 5th month is the hottest day of every year. Thus, poisonous crawlies would crawl out from the bushes. These included scorpions, centipedes and spiders. Thus, people of China would wear a tiny bag as neckalce around their necks. These tiny bags consisted fragrant herbs to chase these crawlies away. In fact, the herbs are good for our bodies.
I introduced 4 types of herbs to the kids. They were
(i) The Apple Flowers: to improve a person's digestion system.
(ii) The Lavender: to make a person feel more relaxed.
(iii) 'Dai dai Hua” : to reduce the body's heat.
(iv) Rose buds: to make a person feel happy.
Then, the kids chose their favourite coloured bags. I placed those herbs into the bags. Then, they were given a thread. They tied a knot and then hung around their neck.

d) Glittering The Solar System
Finally, we took a look at out almost complete “Solar System” craft. I asked them for opinions to make it look more interesting. EG suggested that we use glitters to paint the background. I was impressed because that was what I had in mind.
Thus, I introduced the kids some vocabulary: glue, palates, brushes and glitters. There were 3 colours. Silver, red and blue. The kids chose their favourite colours and painted on their craft. They enjoyed themselves very much especially YW and WY. Then, we hung the Solar craft at the window and on the ceiling.