In His Hands: Canada

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I’ve been promising a trip around the globe for a while now, and I’ve just never had time to plan appropriately.  So we’re gonna jet off anyway – zigzag it wherever our nose takes us – and hopefully we’ll be able to buy toothbrushes and anything else we forgot along the way due to our lack of planning…

First stop on our virtual journey this year:  Canada!

National Anthem.  To get in the right frame of mind, we watched this version of O Canada from the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games on YouTube.  Amongst other things, it triggered discussion of Olympics, RCMP, some boisterous singing, and the Canadian flag.

Lapbook.  Since it was our very first stop, we spent a bit more time on it than we plan to on other countries, starting off with a lovely free Canada lapbook from Homeschool Share resources.

Flag.  The back of the lapbook became the flag.  Using a red background, tape to make straight lines between the red and white, and a maple leaf cutout that was removed after painting, I showed Esmé where to paint white.

She, of course, decided to create her own smiley-faced variation of the flag.  Nothing is sacred… :)

Food.  We decided to make a maple-themed plate – with pierogies cut into a maple leaf shape and a ketchup maple leaf drawn on a veggie-chicken patty.  Forgive my terrible artistic skills!

The grand finale:  Nanaimo bars – a 3-layer sugary chocolaty concoction. 

Esmé set the trend by eating graham crackers instead of smooshing them,

and then sampling things every step of the way.

We travel through Nanaimo every time we visit my parents, so there’s a slight bit of heritage there – but I must admit these bars bring on terrible guilt feelings.  Not something we’ll make every day.  

Craft.  A frequent sight in the Pacific Northwest – even more so in British Columbia – is the totem pole.  We decided to make one with a paper towel roll, using some of the totem printables here.  After discussing how animals on the totem poles have specific meanings, she chose the fox and the monkey for her pole.  I somehow find both VERY appropriate for her!

And that concludes our journey into Canada!  Who knows where we’ll land up next?!

“Carrying the cross was too hard for Jesus.  But He can carry the world in His hands.  That means the cross is much bigger than the world!” ~Esmé, age 4