News / Halaman York / 2014 / October 2014

Recently, we celebrated the festival of Deepavali.  The display corner was transformed by colourful Deepavali decorations. We had gold embroidered saris, a Rangoli (coloured rice motif) and coloured wax lamps. The day before the celebration we were busy making Deepavali candles with paper cups and brown origami paper. We were surprised when some children reminded us to reserve Deepavali candles for their friends who were absent on that day.  We were so touched by their thoughtfulness. On the actual day of the Deepavali celebration, the teachers and some of the children wore Deepavali traditional costumes to create the mood of the celebration. Teacher Chithra told a Deepavali story and together we sang the Deepavali song. For morning snack, we had Indian cookies made by our cook, Aunty Anny and “Muruku” made by the After School Care [primary school] children under the guidance of Aunty Anny.  The children enjoyed the celebration very much.

Harvest Festival is around the corner.  We are now preparing for it. So, we have changed the display corner theme accordingly. Green and Brown colours now set an earthy tone.  The children are excited when we place different fruits and vegetables on the display table from day to day.  They like to touch the fruits and vegetables and find out their names.

During Harvest Festival, we want the children to experience the importance of food. We teach the children to be grateful to the sun, the rain, the wind, and the farmers for our food. The songs, poems and puppet story are chosen with that in mind.

We are practicing songs and poems in English, Japanese, Mandarin, Hokkien and Malay. The children seem to enjoy this cultural-mix of songs and poetry very much! They are looking forward to the Harvest Festival and the puppet show too. Parents and siblings are cordially invited to join us on that day.