Around The World Art & Activities

by Judy Press

This book is suitable for ages 4 to 8 years. Grab your homemade cereal-box suitcase, and plant a stamp on your newly made passport, for were about to leave on a whirlwind tour of the seven continents. And what fun it is sure to be. Kids will be kids - rejoicing in their newfound friendship and familiarity with peoples around the world, delighted by both the similarities and differences in their cultures and customs. Make a Masai necklace, craft a Greek vase, create your own Guatemalan-styled worry doll, and break some Maori bread from New Zealand! Broaden kids view of their world and see the sights. Make you own standing Eiffel Tower, construct a salt-box windmill from Holland, build a wonderful Egyptian pyramid, and craft a clever London-styled Big Ben clock. Make the Nile overflow, construct an erupting volcano, grow a pineapple plant, and create an Australian koala bear and a tissue-paper penguin (that really stands up! ) From Antarctica. Explore the seven continents of the world and their distinctive lands, waterways, animals, plants, and natural treasures on a getting-to-know-you tour - with kids in the cockpit. Whew! Whos the tour guide that can keep up with these 3 to 7 year olds? None other than award winning Williamson author Judy Press, who has an inimitable talent for keeping kids learning and laughing - and loving it.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Geography, Reference, Childrens, Cultural

128 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2000

Reviews

[Whitney Pittsenbarger · Rating 4 out of 5]

These were actually very cute and doable with simple items.

[Mary Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a variety of activities from cultures around the world in this book appropriate for ages 3-7. There's a helpful activity index in the back by skill level, and many of the activities just require materials that are easily found around the house or at a basic art store. Each craft has some related cultural facts, activity, and a book mentioned to learn more.

In some cases, the art activities are to create a model of something, so they would be better paired with a lesson about that topic. I was looking for easy to create crafts that used similar materials to the actual artifact for a cultural fair, but that is not the focus of this book. The crafts are all iconic items, but the actual making is more about representation rather than actual folkcraft (for example, the Masai Beaded Necklace is made out of a painted paper plate, with beads mentioned as an additional activity but no instructions). This may be fine for some readers; in the case of the Masai necklace, this may have the benefit of allowing younger kids to do the craft (beads can be a choking hazard).

All in all, fun craft ideas to add to a classroom lesson, though not always authentic in materials.

[Joni Fletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book! It has some of the greatest activites I have ever seen for kids! Check it out from the library and make something fun with your kids!

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty cute projects, although the only one I think I was inspired by was the Papel project from Mexico. Very easy and festive.