World's Fair

Today Maggie's school celebrated its first-ever World's Fair. Each grade was assigned a continent, and for the past couple of weeks, the students have been learning about that particular continent. It all culminated in today's World's Fair, where students got to dress up in a costume appropriate to their part of the world. They then took a world tour, "traveling" to the different classrooms to learn more about the countries of the world. Parents brought in food from their continent, and the kids got to sample - at least, those who were brave enough!

K4 and K5 had North America, so we had it pretty easy. I didn't get to see the K5 room, though Maggie told me they'd built an igloo out of milk jugs. Maggie's K4 classroom had a lot of neat decorations: a totem pole, eagles flying from the ceiling, Mexican flowers and blankets, maps, and flags. We served lots of different things: mini tacos and quesadillas from Mexico; popcorn, chocolate chip cookies, hot dogs, and Krystal hamburgers from America; and blueberry tarts and maple cream cookies from Canada. Our table was definitely the kids' favorite -- probably because they were familiar with most of the foods!!

Since I helped out all morning, I took the camera (you expected anything less?) ... here are some pictures of the fun!

Maggie dressed as an Inuit for her North American costume.

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This totem pole greeted the older students as they visited K4's room today.

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Topographical map of North America ... complete with egg carton mountains!

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Each child decorated a bald eagle, and they were hanging from the ceiling. I wish I had thought to get a wider-angle shot, because they looked really cool "flying" around!

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Gorgeous Mexican "flowers"

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This table featured books on North American subjects ...

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... While this one held some hands-on artifacts (cow skull, deer skin, etc.)

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At first glance, I saw this and thought, "Why is there a bottle of Crown Royal in my daughter's preschool classroom? Yikes!!

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The K4's line up to start their world tour. There were lots of cowboys and cowgirls, and I loved the little girl in the white dress on the right - she was a Southern belle!

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Another shot of the kids. I think the K4's behaved better than the older students!

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To pass the time, Maggie and her friends held hands and sang songs. It was so cute!

Since she cries nearly every morning when I drop her off, it was wonderful to see Maggie happy and having so much fun!

Here's a collage of the North American table. Clockwise from top right: cheese quesadillas, mini tacos, cookies and maracas, blueberry tarts (did you know Canada is the world's top grower of wild blueberries?), and the older kids checking out the Krystals.

The African table featured banana cake (with no cake ... just a sweet syrup and coconut on the bananas) and rice with raisins in it. The pieces of paper lying on the table all say John 3:16, but in different African languages.

The Africa table also featured adorable Macy, whose big sister is in 3rd grade.

The Europe table was my personal favorite!! Baklava from Greece, French cheese and pastries, and shortbread from England. Yum!!

Tropical fruits from South America.

There was even a table representing Antarctica - decorated with stuffed penguins and serving - what else? - ice water!

The school plans to do this every year, with the grade/continent assignments staying the same. So when Maggie is in 1st and 2nd grade, she'll learn about South America, 3rd grade - Africa, and so forth. It was neat to hear about the different projects the classes had done. The third-graders came in wearing African sashes that they'd made and decorated themselves, and the fourth-graders, who studied Europe, created original artwork for their own Louvre Museum! Being the travel nerd that I am, I love that Maggie is already being exposed to other countries and other cultures! Vive la difference!