Annyeonghaseyo, Chingu! ("Hello, friend" in Korean)

International Month Spotlight:

South Korea

      ~“Put your hands on your head, SABAE! Bend your knees and come on down, SABAE! Take a big giant bow as you bless everyone, put your hands on your head, SABAE!” ~

     We are delighted to be virtually visited by C’s mom, S, who shared with us some fun facts about her country, South Korea!

     Before we welcomed S, two beautiful outfits were shown to get us ready for what’s coming next. These outfits were said to be worn by people from a country that is geographically close to Japan.

     Everyone was in awe when S showed a picture of C wearing the exact same hanbok. She taught us how to do a proper “SABAE” which is a tradition done to welcome the new year in South Korea. Aside from learning greetings and words in the Korean language, we also got to try our hand in making Korean sweet dumplings during Free Play!

 Here are other activities that we did during Free Play period

Drawing and Stamping on Polka Dotted Table Cloth

     Our recycled polka dotted table cloth has been of big help in developing our  cognitive, fine motor, gross motor, and social skills. This morning’s focus was enhancing our hand grip when holding an oil pastel crayon, which gave us a different sensory experience compared to just using a colored pencil. Our older friends thought of matching and only stamping on the dots which is of the same color of the dot marker that they were holding.

Working on our Canvas

     Together with John, we continued working on our class’ big canvas. It was nice to feel the texture of dried paint and the “rough” surface of the canvas with our fingers and palms. Working with oil pastel crayons is a rather new experience for us so we were guided and encouraged to scribble. Most of our scribbles consisted of circles and curvy & zigzag lines. We are looking forward to see how everyone’s creativity and ideas will blend together to create a beautiful finished masterpiece.

Korean Sweet Dumplings Making

     S prepared for us batches of play doughs made out of rice flour/powder which scent reminded us of mochi! We kneaded, pinched, and rolled the “yummy smelling” play dough to make small round shaped dumpling wrappers. We then placed a piece of red bean in the middle of it before folding and pinching its side to “close” the dumpling. We are excited to try this out again tomorrow with Goh San.

The Lovely Weather calls for Park Time

     Yesterday’s rainy weather gave us the opportunity to be cozy and warm with our Valentine’s Day celebration. With the sun shining out so nice and brightly this morning, we went for a lovely walk and greeted the passersby a cheerful “Hello!” or “Good morning!” which we hoped made their day a little brighter.

We hope you all had a wonderful day!

                                                              Love,

                                                   Buds Class Children