ANTHRO
INTERNATIONAL
Table of Contents
Africa
Botswana
DR Congo
Ethiopia
Morocco
Central & East Asia
China
Mongolia
Middle East & South Asia
Sri Lanka
Southeast Asia & the Pacific
Australia
The Philippines
AMERICAS
ALASKA
Quick Facts About Alaska
- Capital: Juneau
- Largest City: Anchorage
- Official Languages: English & 24 Indigenous Languages
- Population: 740K
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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)
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BRAZIL
Quick Facts About Brazil
- Capital: Brasilia
- Largest City: São Paolo
- Official Language: Portuguese
- Population: 213.4M
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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/
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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/
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EUROPE
FRANCE
Quick Facts About France
- Capital: Paris
- Largest City: Paris
- National Language: French
- Population: 69.1M
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ACTIVITIES
Zydeco Two-Step
- Outdoor Activity (or indoor with enough space)
- Procedure: Students learn to dance the Zydeco Two-Step 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 zydeco dance steps​
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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.
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Pipe-Cleaner Eiffel Towers
- Indoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Pipe Cleaners
- Procedure: Groups of 3-4 students attempt to use pipe cleaners to build the tallest free-standing Eiffel Tower replica possible. The educator should show an image of the Eiffel Tower to the students so they can see what the real tower looks like.
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Pool Noodle Fencing
​- Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: 6-8 Pool Noodles
- Procedure: Students learn about the sport of fencing by learning to fence using pool noodles. The educator should show the basic footwork of fencing including advance, retreat, and lunge before explaining the target area (chest, stomach, and back), then allow 3-4 pairs of students to fence at a time. Each pair should fence until one fencer reaches 5 points, then hand off the pool noodles to the next pair of fencers waiting in line to try.
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​Trebuchet Build
- Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: 3x 6ft x 1in x 1in round pieces of wood, 6x 4ft2.5in x 1in x 1in round pieces of wood, 2x 1ft1.25in x 1in x 1in round pieces of wood, 2x 3ft x 1in x 1in round pieces of wood, 1x 1ft6in x 1in x 1in round pieces of wood, 50 feet length of 1/4in rope (and scissors strong enough to cut it), 2x 2ft9in length of 1/4in rope, 1 piece of cloth, 1 small basket (capable of holding up to 20 pounds of rope), Several rocks or other heavy objects weighing no more than 20 total pounds, 1 or more tennis balls
- Procedure: Students learn how to build complex machines using only wood and rope using lashings to construct a miniature trebuchet- a French Medieval catapult- capable of launching a tennis ball roughly 100 feet. The educator should go over important safety procedures before building including unsafe spaces near the device (within 6 feet in front of and behind the device). The instructor should then show the students how to last pieces of wood together using rope in a figure-eight pattern before allowing students in teams of two to create the lashings at each joint to create two bipods with four of the 4ft2.5in pieces, adding one 3ft and one 1ft1.25in pieces to each bipod as well as
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the last two 4ft2.5in pieces lashed to the 1ft1.25in joints. The two bipods should then be lashed to two of the 6ft pieces which serve as the "floor" of the device. To construct the arm of the trebuchet, tie one end of one 2ft9in ropes to one end of the device with a "pin" such as a pencil or nail with the other end of the rope tied to one end of the cloth. Then tie one end of the second 2ft9in rope to the opposite end of the cloth and tie a small loop onto the end of this rope to be loosely places on the arm's pin. At a distance of 1ft2.5" from the opposite side of the arm, tie the 1ft6in piece of wood whose ends will rest within the top of the top joint of the two bipods. At the end of this end of the arm, tie on the basket with roughly 4in of rope distance from the arm to the top of the basket. Additional pieces of wood can be added to brace the device, but keep the front of the trebuchet clear as the arm and its counter weight will need to be able to swing freely. From here, the adult educator should add weight to the basket and begin using the device by loading the tennis ball into the cloth, looping the string onto the pin, and pulling the cloth under the trebuchet to roughly directly under the counter weight, then holding the weight end of the arm in the air until ready to launch.
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GERMANY
Quick Facts About Germany
- Capital: Berlin
- Largest City: Berlin
- National Language: German
- Population: 83.5M
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ACTIVITIES
Waltz
- Outdoor Activity (or indoor with enough space)
- Procedure: Students learn to dance the Waltz 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 waltz dance steps
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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.
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Wandergeselle Bird Houses
- Indoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Bird House Print-outs (see link provided), scissors, string, glue
- Procedure: Students learn about Germany's Wandergeselle- wandering craftsmen- by constructing paper birdhouses. Link to bird house print-out
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Krampus Cards
​- Indoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Krampus Card Print-outs (see below), crayons (or colored pencils)
- Procedure: Students learn about Krampus from Alpine folklore by creating Krampus cards, writing jokes in their card for a teacher or adult leader. Link to Krampus Card print out
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Gummitwist
- Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Yarn, thin rope, or exercise band
- Procedure: Students learn about Germany's Gummitwist game. Similar to double dutch, two students stand roughly 6 feet apart with string, yarn, or an exercise band wrapped around them to create two lines on either side of their lags over which a student must jump without touching the string to the beat of a song.
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AFRICA
BOTSWANA
Quick Facts About Botswana
- Capital: Gaborone
- Largest City: Gaborone
- National Language: Tswana
- Population: 2.4M
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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DR CONGO
Quick Facts About DR Congo
- Capital: Kinshasa
- Largest City: Kinshasa
- National Language: French
- Population: 114.4M
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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ETHIOPIA
Quick Facts About Ethiopia
- Capital: Addis Ababa
- Largest City: Addis Ababa
- National Language: Afar, Amharic, Oromo, Somali, & Tigrinya
- Population: 135.5M
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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MOROCCO
Quick Facts About Morocco
- Capital: Rabat
- Largest City: Casablanca
- National Language: Arabic, Tamazight
- Population: 37.5M
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ACTIVITIES
Akseltag
- Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: 1 wiffle ball, 1 half-length pool noodle per student
- Procedure: Students learn about the Moroccan sport of akseltag by playing the game. Similar to field hockey, players attempt to get a small ball into a goal by using "sticks" (in this case pool noodles). The adult leader should inform students the ball must remain on the ground throughout the game and the pool noodles must not be raised above the user's head. Additional safety measures the leader can add if the number of students exceeds 4 per team is to require some players to remain on "defense" (their team's half of the field) to prevent students from hoarding around the ball.​
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Pool Noodle Buhurt
- Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Pool Noodles (some full-length, some half-length)
- Procedure: Students learn about the Medieval wars between the Moroccan Moors and the Spanish knights by learning Medieval combat. Using pool noodles, teams of players attempt to survive a mock battle. Whenever a student's arm gets hit by the pool noodle of another team's players, that student must put their arm behind their back. If they lose both arms, they can no longer carry a pool noodle. If a leg is hit, they must lift the leg and hop on their other foot. If they lose all four limbs, they are eliminated from the game which goes until only one team remains.
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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.
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Desert Triage
- Indoor OR Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Several cards or pieces of paper with different injuries or ailments a person can sustain in the desert (see below) including the severity of the ailment and the appropriate 1st aid response (1st Degree Sunburn - Priority: Low; 2nd Degree Sunburn - Priority: Priority: Medium; Dehydration - Priority: Low; Heat Exhaustion - Priority: Medium; Heat Stroke - Priority: High; Scorpion Bite - Priority: High)
- Procedure: Students learn about how to treat injuries and ailments that may occur while in the Sahara (or any desert) in a game that tests how students are able to prioritize treating several injured people under time constraints. The adult leader should select one student to be the "doctor" who is responding to several people who are injured and must identify what victims should be treated first, second, and last based on the severity of their injuries as well as provide the appropriate 1st aid. The instructor can add a timed element in which high priority victims "die" (are eliminated from the gamer) if the "doctor" does not save them by a certain time threshold. The "doctor" should try to save as many lives as possible under the time constraint.​
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Magic Carpet Loom
- Indoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Two wooded bars or rods roughly 3 feet long, yarn
- Procedure: Students learn about Morocco's famous rugs and carpets by learning how to weave a carpet using yarn and a hand-made loom. With two bars placed six feet apart, yarn is tied to one end of one rod, then stretched across the length of a table to the other end, looped around the second rod, then stretched back to the original rod; then repeated several times to create the horizontal threading. Students then receive a piece of yarn to weave over/under through the horizontal threads, then pulled down to one end to slowly assemble a carpet. Once shifted to one end, sets of three vertical yarn pieces can be tied off to prevent them from coming undone.
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CENTRAL & EAST ASIA
CHINA
Quick Facts About China
- Capital: Beijing
- Largest City: Gaborone
- National Language: Shanghai
- Population: 1.4B
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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​
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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.
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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.
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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.​
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MONGOLIA
Quick Facts About Mongolia
- Capital: Ulaanbaatar
- Largest City: Ulaanbaatar
- National Language: Mongolian
- Population: 3.5M
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ACTIVITIES
Yam Relay Race
- Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Several Hula Hoops, Measuring Tape (Optional), Stopwatch (Optional)
- Procedure: Students learn about the Mongol Empire's Yam road network by competing in a timed relay race mirroring the relaying of messages across the Yam. The instructor should set out one hula hoop per 30 feet representing the 30 miles between each post on the Yam, then have 1 student at each station. Students are then timed by how quickly they can run to high five the hand of the student at the next station until the last student receives a high five. * An alternative version of the game can pit two teams against each other to see which team can complete the relay fastest.
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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.
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Marco Polo
- Outdoor Activity
- Procedure: Students learn about world famous explorer Marco Polo and his exploration of the Mongol Empire by playing the also world famous pool game Marco Polo, but on land.
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Great Khan
​- Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: Several Hula Hoops
- Procedure: Students learn about how the Ghengis Khan united the tribes of Mongolia by playing a game of conquest. The instructor should place several hula hoops in a field or playing area in a number less than the number of players. When the instructor says "Go!" all students start as a 1-person team all attempting to get as many hula hoops as they can. If another student challenges them to "battle" the two students play "Rock, Paper, Scissors." The loser must surrender any hula hoops they have to the winner AND join the winner's team. The game continues until all players and all hula hoops are on one, singular team with the player who founded the team earning the title of "Great Khan."​
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MIDDLE EAST & SOUTH ASIA
SRI LANKA
Quick Facts About Sri Lanka
- Capital: Colombo
- Largest City: Colombo
- National Language: Sinhala & Tamil
- Population: 23.3M
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ACTIVITIES
Cricket
- Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: 1 youth-sized cricket bat, 1 tennis ball, three small hula hoops (or other device to mark bases and bowler's mound
- Procedure: Students learn about the sport. of cricket by playing the game. Depending on the age of the students, the instructor should place three hula hoops in a line with roughly 20 feet between each hoop to mark the two bases and the bowler's mound (center hoop). The instructor should begin as the bowler for both teams and divide students into two teams. After the instructor serves as bowler for a few times, they may allow students to try bowling.
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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.
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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.
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Elephant Memory Game
​- Indoor OR Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: 1 paper ball (or other small ball), 3 cups
- Procedure: Students attempt to test their skill at memory and concentration to see if they have as strong of memory as an Asian Elephant. The instructor places the ball under one of the three cups, then shuffles the cups around on a flat surface before asking the students to pick which cup they believe holds the ball.
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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
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SOUTHEAST ASIA & THE PACIFIC
AUSTRALIA
Quick Facts About Australia
- Capital: Canberra
- Largest City: Sydney
- National Language: English
- Population: 27.8M
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ACTIVITIES
Swing Dancing
- Outdoor Activity (or indoor with space)
- 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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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PHILIPPINES
Quick Facts About the Philippines
- Capital: Manila
- Largest City: Quezon City
- National Language: Filipino
- Population: 112.7M
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ACTIVITIES
Straw Hut Typhoon
- Outdoor Activity (or indoor with space)
- Supplies Needed: Empty 8oz milk cartoons, glue sticks, scrap paper, pipe cleaners, fan or wind-simulation device, water
- Procedure: Students learn about city planning and preparing Filipino villages for natural disasters by working together to create a miniature village out of empty milk cartoons. The instructor should give the students 15 minutes to construct a village capable of surviving a typhoon before hitting the model village with a fan and water to simulate a typhoon. Afterwards, the instructor should assess how flooded the village became and how damaged the village's houses are from the simulated storm.
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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.
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Pool Noodle Eskrima
- Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: 8-12 Pool Noodles (ideally 4-6 pool noodles each cut in half)
- Procedure: Students learn about the Filipino sport of eskrima by learning to compete using pool noodles. The educator should show the basic footwork of eksrima before explaining the target area (chest, stomach, and back), then allow 2-3 pairs of students to fence at a time. Each student should receive two pool noodles and each pair should compete until one student reaches 3 points, then hand off the pool noodles to the next pair of students waiting in line to try.
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Tinikling Dance
​- Outdoor Activity
- Supplies Needed: 2 Pool Noodles per 3 Students
- Procedure: Students learn the tinikling dance game by attempting to dance to the beat of the tinikling music. The instructor should pair off students into groups of three with two students holding either end of two pool noodles (like jump ropes in double dutch) and the third standing in the middle. Students holding the pool noodles should follow the rhythm of two beats against the ground then one beat against the pool noodles so that the student in the center must avoid having the pool noodles hit their ankles on the third beat. The student in the center should hop on each beat and should switch out with another student in their group whenever the pool noodles hit their ankles.
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Cross Crocodile Pond
- Outdoor Activity
- Procedure: Students learn about the Philippines' crocodiles by playing a game similar to sharks and minnows. For every 8 students, 1 student is a crocodile who stands in the middle of a play area while the other students line up along one side. When the crocodile announces "cross crocodile pond," the other students attempt to cross the play area to the safety of the other side. If the crocodile tags a student, that student becomes the new crocodile and the old crocodile can join the other students.
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