ANTHRO
INTERNATIONAL
Table of Contents
Americas
Alaska
Brazil
Europe
Africa & the Middle East
Botswana
DR Congo
Ethiopia
Central & East Asia
China
South Asia
Southeast Asia & the Pacific
Australia
AMERICAS
ALASKA
Quick Facts About Alaska
- Capital: Juneau
- Largest City: Anchorage
- Official Languages: English & 24 Indigenous Languages
- Population: 740K
​
ACTIVITIES
Oil Spill Clean-up
- Indoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: 1 1-5 gallon clear plastic container per group of 4-5 students, canola oil, baking cocoa, water, blue food coloring, 1 8-20 ounce cup, several options for cleaning the oil out of the water (yarn, small sponges, etc)
- Procedure: Introduce the students to oil spills and go over the activity before distributing the plastic containers filled half-way with water. Drop food coloring into the water to color it blue. Mix baking cocoa and oil in a separate bowl or cup, then pout it into the water to create the oil spill. Then let students find a way to clean the oil out of the water.
​
Reading Rainbow
- Indoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: 1 children's book
- Procedure: Reading Rainbow is an activity in which an educator reads a children's book to the students and can optionally give students some activity to do while the adult is reading- like coloring sheets related to the book the adult is reading.
​
Build a [Fat] Bear
- Indoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Brown, white, and black sheets of felt, pencils, markers, stapler(s), scrap paper
- Procedure: Introduce students to the bears of Alaska before distributing the supplies. Students will need 2 sheets of felt per student to draw the outline of a bear on one sheet, then cut out two copies of the bear outline (one for the front of the bear and one for the back). After decorating their bear, the students can begin stapling the edges and adding shredded paper to stuff their bears.
​
Bears & Salmon​
​- Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: None
- Procedure: Inform the students the game is similar to sharks & minnows, but with bears instead of sharks and salmon instead of minnows.
​
Native Youth Olympics
- Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: String or yarn, 1 tennis ball
- Procedure: Introduce students to Alaska's Native Youth Olympics before describing three specific events: 1-foot high kick (students stand on one foot and jump off the foot to use that foot to kick a ball suspended from above, then land on the opposite foot), seal hop (students hop on their stomachs across a short distance), and knee jump (students jump from a kneeling position onto their feet)
​​​
BRAZIL
Quick Facts About Brazil
- Capital: Brasilia
- Largest City: São Paolo
- Official Language: Portuguese
- Population: 213.4M
​
ACTIVITIES
Samba Dancing
- Outdoor Activity (or indoor with enough space)
- Procedure: Students learn to dance the Samba with the educator showing basic footwork, then showing the students how to match steps to the rhythm, then allowing students to dance with partners to learn basic turns.
Link to Samba Steps: https://www.dancing4beginners.com/samba/
​
Reading Rainbow
- Indoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: 1 children's book
- Procedure: Reading Rainbow is an activity in which an educator reads a children's book to the students and can optionally give students some activity to do while the adult is reading- like coloring sheets related to the book the adult is reading.
​
Santeria Doll Craft
- Indoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Felt Sheets, Scissors, Googley Eyes, Glue
- Procedure: Students learn about the nature spirits of Brazilian Santeria by creating dolls personifying aspects of nature such as the forest, the ocean, or wild animals.
​
Amazon Explorers
​- Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Paper, Pencils, Colored Pencils or Crayons, a Compass (Optional), a Spyglass (Optional)
- Procedure: To learn about how teams of scientists explore the Amazon, students will go on a wildlife expedition around their school by electing an expedition captain (to select where to go to look for wildlife), quartermaster (to carry supplies), navigator (to determine how to get there), and explorers (to draw what animals and plants they see along the way).
* The educator can additionally allow each of the three officers to appoint an assistant or "mate" to help them with their unique jobs, and- with larger groups- the captain may elect a "Marine Lieutenant"to keep the other explorers on task during the expedition.
​
Carnival Masks
- Indoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Carnival Mask Cut-outs, Markers, String, Glue Sticks, Glitter, Feathers
- Procedure: Students learn about Carnival in Brazil by making Carnival masks.
Link to mask templates: https://123kidsfun.com/free-printable-masquerade-masks-template/
​​​
EUROPE
AFRICA & THE MIDDLE EAST
BOTSWANA
Quick Facts About Botswana
- Capital: Gaborone
- Largest City: Gaborone
- National Language: Tswana
- Population: 2.4M
​
ACTIVITIES
Tswana Basket Weaving
- Indoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Construction paper (preferred colors: brown, black, & white), scissors, glue
- Procedure: Introduce the students to Botswana's Tswana culture and the woven baskets they are famous for before distributing supplies and showing students how to weave a basket made from paper. Link to how to create woven paper baskets
​
Reading Rainbow
- Indoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: 1 children's book
- Procedure: Reading Rainbow is an activity in which an educator reads a children's book to the students and can optionally give students some activity to do while the adult is reading- like coloring sheets related to the book the adult is reading.
​
Kalahari Animal Face Masks
- Indoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Face Mask Print-outs (see link provided), scissors, string, glue
- Procedure: Introduce students to the wildlife of Botswana's Kalahari before distributing supplies to students to cut out and assemble. Link to Kalahari animal face masks
​
3-D Okavango River*​
* Special Note: This activity is a bit too advanced for grades K-1
​- Indoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Blank white paper, scissors, pencils, colored pencils (or markers or crayons)
- Procedure: Introduce students to the wildlife of Botswana's Okavango River before distributing supplies. Students will create a 3-D Okavango River scene by folding a piece of printer paper accordion style into 8 segments (or 4 "hills"), trace a scene of a river onto the "hills" then cut out the sky on the front three "hills" to create a 3-D safari scene. Students can then color in their scene. Make sure students leave space on the sides of each "hill" (at least 1 inch on either side) that is never cut as those enable the entire scene to remain held together.
​
Constellation Creation
- Indoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Printout of the Night Sky Star Map for the Southern Hemisphere
- Procedure: Explain the importance of stargazing in Tswana culture before distributing supplies and having students create their own constellations on their map and creating a story to go with their constellations.
​​​
DR CONGO
Quick Facts About DR Congo
- Capital: Kinshasa
- Largest City: Kinshasa
- National Language: French
- Population: 114.4M
​
ACTIVITIES
Ornithology Explorer
- Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Paper, colored pencils
- Procedure: Students learn what it's like to explore the wildlife of the Congo by going on a nature walk to bird watch and sketch the birds they find along the way. The Instructor should walk the students around their school or other location and stop every 5 minutes- or whenever they spot a bird- and point out birds they see to the students and have students sketch the bird(s) they see throughout the walk.
​
Bokwele
- Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: 2 hula hoops, 4 handkerchiefs or other items that can be used as "flags."
- Procedure: Students learn about the Congolese playground game of Bokwele- a version of Capture the Flag in which each team has 2 flags (located inside of a hula hoop) instead of 1 and a team can only win a game by capturing all 4 flags. Students may be tagged anywhere in the playing area, and students holding a flag who get tagged must surrender their flag to the student who tagged them. Additionally, any student who gets tagged must remain standing where they got tagged until a teammate comes to tag them to bring them back into the game.
​
Reading Rainbow
- Indoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: 1 children's book
- Procedure: Reading Rainbow is an activity in which an educator reads a children's book to the students and can optionally give students some activity to do while the adult is reading- like coloring sheets related to the book the adult is reading.
​
Ding-Dingo
​- Indoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Several hula hoops
- Procedure: Students learn about the Congolese playground game of Ding-Dingo by playing a game in which several hula hoops are laid out in a maze pattern on a playing field. Students line up and attempt to navigate the maze. If they complete the maze, they may move 1 hula hoop anywhere they'd like. If the next student cannot complete the maze, the student who moved the hula hoop is knocked out of the game- meaning each students wants to make the maze easier to complete instead of harder in order to remain in the game.
​
3-D Congo River*​
* Special Note: This activity is a bit too advanced for grades K-1
​- Indoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Blank white paper, scissors, pencils, colored pencils (or markers or crayons)
- Procedure: Introduce students to the wildlife of the Congo River before distributing supplies. Students will create a 3-D Congo River scene by folding a piece of printer paper accordion style into 8 segments (or 4 "hills"), trace a scene of a river onto the "hills" then cut out the sky on the front three "hills" to create a 3-D safari scene. Students can then color in their scene. Make sure students leave space on the sides of each "hill" (at least 1 inch on either side) that is never cut as those enable the entire scene to remain held together.
​​​
ETHIOPIA
Quick Facts About Ethiopia
- Capital: Addis Ababa
- Largest City: Addis Ababa
- National Language: Afar, Amharic, Oromo, Somali, & Tigrinya
- Population: 135.5M
​
ACTIVITIES
Mega-Mancala
- Indoor OR Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: 1 long piece of cardboard with two large ovals drawn on either end with six large circles drawn on either side OR 14 paper plates (but beware of wind), 24 paper balls (or any other small objects)
- Procedure: Students learn how to play the game Mancala on a large board with students divided into two teams to learn about the board game popular throughout Indian Ocean nations.
​
Reading Rainbow
- Indoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: 1 children's book
- Procedure: Reading Rainbow is an activity in which an educator reads a children's book to the students and can optionally give students some activity to do while the adult is reading- like coloring sheets related to the book the adult is reading.
​
Ethiopian Steles
- Indoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: 1 piece of (stiff) construction paper per 4 students, tape
- Procedure: Students learn about Ancient Ethiopian architecture by attempting to work in teams of 4 to create the tallest free standing stele they can build with just a single piece of construction paper and tape.
​
Food Chain Musical Chairs
- Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Several notecards with the following labels and descriptions
-- 1 "Lion" card with description: "Food: Giraffe, Warthog, Antelope, Zebra, Wildebeest"
-- 1 "Vulture" card with description: "Food: Any Animal"
-- 1 "Cheetah" card with description: "Food: Warthog, Antelope, Zebra, Wildebeest"
-- 1 "Hyena" cards with description: "Food: Warthog, Antelope, Zebra, Aardvark, Wildebeest"
-- 1 "Giraffe" card with description: "Food: Tree"
-- 1 "Elephant" card with description: "Food: Tree"
-- 1 "Warthog" card with description: "Food: Grass"
-- 1 "Antelope" card with description: "Food: Grass"
-- 1 "Aardvark" card with description: "Food: Bugs"
-- 1 "Zebra" card with description: "Food: Grass"
-- 1 "Wildebeest" card with description: "Food: Grass"
-- 1 "Bug" card with description: "Food: Grass"
-- 3 "Tree" cards
-- 5 "Grass" cards
- Procedure: Students learn about the food chain of Ethiopia by playing a game in which they must create human chains connecting top predators all the way to the grass or trees at the bottom of the food chain. In this game, each student receives a card with 1 plant or animal on the food chain and must find another student who holds card listed under their animal's listed food (for example, the student with the Giraffe card needs to find a student with a tree card). Students with grass and tree cards do not need to find any other students to remain in the game, but any student with an animal card who is not able to find a student with a card they need to "eat" is eliminated from the game and becomes a "Grass" for future rounds. Students have 5 minutes to form a human chain, so if the Cheetah forms a chain with the Warthog, no other player can form a chain with the warthog.
After each round, the instructor eliminates one tree or grass player from the game to simulate deforestation or drought to show how these phenomenon impact the food chain of the African savannah.
​​​
CENTRAL & EAST ASIA
CHINA
Quick Facts About China
- Capital: Beijing
- Largest City: Gaborone
- National Language: Shanghai
- Population: 1.4B
​
ACTIVITIES
Silk Road
- Indoor OR Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: 5 Hula Hoops, 5 Pieces of Paper or Notecards with the word "Gold", 36 Pieces of Paper or Notecards with the word "Food", 7 Pieces of Paper or Notecards with the word "Silver", 7 Pieces of Paper or Notecards with the word "Spices", and 5 Pieces of Paper or Notecards with the word "Silk."
- Procedure: Students learn about what it was like to trade along the Silk Road by competing to see which station along a mock Silk Road can obtain at least 1 of each resource card. From one end to the last, stations represent Rome, Persia, Bactria, India, and China. The instructor divides the students into 5 teams who must stand with their team at their respective station. Teams must negotiate with neighboring teams (meaning Rome can only trade with Persia, Persia can trade with both Rome and Bactria, etc) in an attempt to get at least 1 of every resource card.
Starting resources are as follows
- Rome: 5 Gold, 10 Food
- Persia: 7 Silver, 3 Food
- Bactria: 10 Food
- India: 7 Spices, 3 Food
- China: 5 Silk, 10 Food​
​
Reading Rainbow
- Indoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: 1 children's book
- Procedure: Reading Rainbow is an activity in which an educator reads a children's book to the students and can optionally give students some activity to do while the adult is reading- like coloring sheets related to the book the adult is reading.
​
Great Wall Build
- Indoor OR Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Jenga blocks (or any kind of wooded blocks)
- Procedure: Students learn about the Great Wall of China by working as teams to build the longest "Great Wall" they can with limited supplies. Working in teams of 3-4, each team must attempt to assemble the longest wall which must include at least one gateway and at least two towers which must be free standing and survive the instructor shaking the table gently for five seconds.
​
Tao of Recess
​- Outdoor Activity
- Procedure: Students learn about the philosophy of Taoism by learning to clear their mind. The instructor should sit their students under a shaded tree or any shaded area and tell them to close their eyes, focus on their breathing, and clear their mind- focusing on the feel of the wind or sound of nature around them.​
​​​
SOUTH ASIA
SOUTHEAST ASIA & THE PACIFIC
AUSTRALIA
Quick Facts About Australia
- Capital: Canberra
- Largest City: Sydney
- National Language: English
- Population: 27.8M
​
ACTIVITIES
Swing Dancing
- Outdoor Activity (or indoor with space)
- Supplies Needed: None
- Procedure: Introduce the students to swing dancing and go over the basic footsteps either with students paired off as partners or as individual dancers, then play some east coast swing music and let the students show their footwork before adding turns. Link to East Coast Swing Dance Steps
​
Reading Rainbow
- Indoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: 1 children's book
- Procedure: Reading Rainbow is an activity in which an educator reads a children's book to the students and can optionally give students some activity to do while the adult is reading- like coloring sheets related to the book the adult is reading.
​
Kangaroo Hop Relay Race
- Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Several hula hoops
- Procedure: Create 2-3 rows of hula hoops with 25 feet between each hula hoop in line (to be relay stations for the relay race). Explain to the students how kangaroos can hop up to 25 feet in a single jump- and why that's the distance between each hoop. Then let students form 2-3 teams with 1 student in each hula hoop in their team's line. Students must hop from their hoop to the next to tag their teammate who then hops to the next station, etc until one team finishes the race.
​
Boomerang Disc Golf​
​- Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Construction Paper (regular printer paper is too flimsy and card stock is too stiff)
- Procedure: Introduce students to boomerangs, then show them how to create a boomerang by folding construction paper. Students then attempt to throw their boomerang to posts along an instructor-designed disc golf route. Link to how to create origami boomerangs
​
Gravity Lab
- Outdoor Activity (with access to an elevated platform such as a 2nd floor balcany)
- Supplies Needed: Balloons, water, tennis ball (or similar object)
- Procedure: Introduce students to Australia's Gravity Discovery Centre and how gravity affects objects the same regardless of their weight. Each student will make a water balloon and guess if- when dropped at the same time as a ball- it will hit the ground at the same time, earlier, or later.
​​​