Gifts can help kids think globally on holidays, birthdays, graduations, and other special occasions. In this gift-giving season, catalogues, international organizations, and museum, map, and book stores are good sources of presents with meaningful international connections.Christmas, Hanukkah, Chinese New Year
Christians can purchase a pop-up Advent calendar from UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, (unicefusa.org/shop) and help provide for the health and education of the world's children at the same time. SERRV (serrv.org) donates a school notebook to children in Ghana, Africa, for every Advent calendar it sells. Why? Because the chocolate hearts young people find behind the numbers for each day in Advent come from the Kuapa Kokoo cocoa cooperative in Ghana. SERRV also sells Kosher certified dark and milk chocolate foil-covered coins for children who celebrate Hanukkah.
When the Chinese New Year arrives between January 21 and February 19 at the second new moon after the beginning of winter, Chinese children receive money in red envelopes. Children in other countries would approve if their families joined in this tradition. Besides U.S. currency, the American Automobile Association (AAA) could add some foreign currency in the form of a TipPak (registered trademark) of Australian, British, Canadian, Japanese, or European Union money to these red envelopes. In preparation for the Chinese New Year, youngsters also can write their own fortune cookie messages with rub-on Chinese characters in a kit from Multicultural Kids (multiculturalkids.com).
Personalized presents
For children old enough to appreciate personalized presents with a foreign twist, there are cartouche (kar-toosh) necklaces and netsukes. In Egypt, a cartouche, or amulet, was designed to protect each Pharaoh. Nowadays, necklaces sold my Signals (signals.com) or made in Cairo for National Geographic (shopng.org) translate children's names into Egyptian hieroglyphics using eagles, owls, crowns, lions, and other symbols.
Birthdays are especially good occasions to give Japanese netsukes, little statues once used on cords that closed pouches or baskets. Some are made to symbolize the animal zodiac signs for each year. This is the Year of the Dragon, and 2013 will be the Year of the Snake. Since animal designations occur in 12-year cycles, kids can find the symbols for their birth years by counting forward or back from an animal known for one year. Children might enjoy seeing if their personalities match the qualities attributed to their birth year animals.
2000/2012 Dragon: A solitary, free-spirited non-conformist who is generous to others.
2001/2013 Snake: A wise, well-organized person who understands others and can wiggle out of
trouble.
2002/2014 Horse: A cheerful, popular crowd-pleaser who loves excitement and handles money
carefully.
2003/2015 Sheep/goat: A dazzling, elegant dresser and creative thinker with a shy nature.
2004/2016 Monkey: A clever, brilliant thinker with a thirst for knowledge and the ability to solve
difficult problems.
2005/2017 Rooster: A talented, deep thinker who likes to work alone.
2006/2018 Dog: A loyal, somewhat eccentric protector who can keep secrets and inspire
confidence.
2007/2019 Pig: A gallant champion or causes who is satisfied with having a few lifelong
friends.
2008/2020 Rat: A charming, energetic, imaginative perfectionist who is careful not to hurt others.
2009/2021 Ox: A patient leader who inspires confidence.
2010/2022 Tiger: A warm, courageous, goal-oriented worker with a sparkling personality.
2011/2023 Hare/rabbit: A tactful, ambitious peacemaker who is fortunate in business.
Finally, no present is more personal and infused with international significance than a child's own passport. Students don't need to have a foreign trip planned when they get a passport, they just can start thinking about which countries they would like to visit. Local post offices provide the details about obtaining a passport, and they even take passport photos.
Global gifts
Usually presenting children with educational gifts is like giving them underwear. A number of globes, books, and toys escape that classification, however. The National Geographic website sells a levitating globe, suggested for students 8 and up, that uses electromagnetism to hover in mid-air between the top and bottom of its display stand. Younger children, 3 and up, can use a joystick to circle National Geographic's Fly and Discover Talking Globe to learn about the world's oceans, animals, customs, and fun facts. Young Explorers (YoungExplorers.com) sells the GeoSafari (registered trademark) talking globes that children 6 and up can use to answer 10,000 geographical questions, while MindWare (mindware.com) and National Geographic have interactive globes that students 5 and up can touch with a digital pen to find information about a country's population, weather, currency, and more. With a remote control, children 6 and up also can watch the world's cities go by on a wall "globe" using MindWare's Earth from Orbit Light. In low tech worlds, UNICEF has a Planet Earth Lift-the-Flap book and SERRV's mobile of the world includes children dressed in costumes representing their cultures.
There is no shortage of fiction and non-fiction books with an international theme. For centuries, classics have taken children through German forests in the stories of Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, and many others collected by Jakob and Wilheim Grimm. Children have traveled with Paddington bear from Peru to meet Christopher Robin's Pooh bear and Alice in Wonderland in the gardens of England. Through literature, children have experienced the splendor of the Swiss Alps with Johanna Spyri's Heidi. Ever since the 18th century, when Frenchman Antoine Galland recognized how European and Muslim cultures could share the fascination of The Arabian Nights, kids and adults have shared the Indian and Persian stories of a genie who granted Aladdin's wishes, a girl who saved Ali Baba, Sinbad's adventures, and 998 additional tales.
Books about Asia, Latin America, and Africa now have joined these familiar stories. Heian publishes a series of Asian folktales, and Raul Colon uses a unique combination of paint, etched lines, and colored pencils to illustrate a book of Latin American folktales. For their illustrations in Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions, Leo and Diane Dillon won a Caldecott Medal from the Association for Library Service to Children. Just a couple more examples suggest the breadth of books that help children explore their world. Journey to the River Sea takes young people down the Amazon River, while Gena Gorrell, in the context of The Land of the Jaguar, describes every South American country for her young audience. The Children's Atlas of World Wildlife goes around the globe to show children the diversity of nature's creatures, and National Geographic Kids: Animal Creativity Book couples information about the world's animals with games, stencils, stickers, and crafts.
Animals in a healthy environment
Gift givers are on a sure footing, when they tap into a child's love of animals. The World Wildlife Fund (worldwildlife.org) makes it possible to present children with plush animals and, at the same time, introduce them to ways to save animals all over the world from harm and extinction.
There are both animal gifts that help children play in traditional ways and some that provide a new experience. Besides plush animals, kids 6 and up can construct their own lions, tigers, giraffes, and zebras using puzzle pieces from MindWare. Toys to grow on (ttgo.com) invites kids 3 to 10 years old to go on their own safaris by giving them vinyl jungle huts, an SUV, and 12 animals. Kids also can hide a monkey, elephant, or tiger and launch an adventure using wands from YoungExplorers to find them.
Toys appeal to children's concern for the world's environment not only its wildlife. To see solar power in action, youngsters can build robots from Young Explorers and MindWare that use the sun to move windmills, boats, helicopters, cars, bulldozers, and a scorpion. Even adults will be excited to learn how MindWare's zero-emission car runs on water converted to hydrogen power. And how does the greenhouse effect, desalination of salt water, or a solar oven work? MindWare has kits to teach those means to a clean environment, too.
Conclusion
From Signals (signals.com) wooden blocks with alphabets, numerals, and animal pictures in Arabic, Chinese, and 14 other languages to a full array of dolls, map puzzles, and books from Multicultural Kids and Latin American rainsticks from Musician's Friend (musiciansfriend.com), the world is ready to help children realize globalization can be fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment