A New Creed
We believe in God: who has created and is creating.
The world is full of pretty amazing things…sky & water, trees, plants & flowers, birds, sea life, insects, animals…and of course people. Just like everything else in nature, people come in all shapes, sizes and colours too. Each one of us is special and together we make up one huge family… a beautiful rainbow in God’s World!
HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE THERE?
- There are over 7,713,468,000 people living in the world (that’s a lot of people!)
- The country with the most people living in it is China
- There are about 37,742,154 people living in Canada
WHERE DO WE COME FROM?
Have you ever looked at your family tree? Many people who live in Canada have ancestors (grandparents, great grand parents etc) that came to Canada from other countries. Maybe you can do some digging to find out where the people in your family came from. There is a “FAMILY TREE” template attached below to get you started. There are lots of good Ancestry sites online as well in case you want to dig a little further!
TRAVEL THE WORLD
Have you or anyone else in your family been to visit other countries? Find a map of the world and put a sticker on all of the different places your family has been. Then may pick a different coloured sticker and/or put one on all of the countries you would like to visit! What makes each one of those places special?
WRITE A DIARY
One way to learn about how different people live is through the diaries or journals that they keep. Sometimes we can read the diary of someone who lived a long time ago to discover what life was like for them in the “olden days”.
Just imagine…one day our ancestors will want to know what it was like for us to live during these strange and different times when we stayed home, wore masks and stayed apart. So, perhaps you can try writing your life story (so far!) in a diary or journal. What has this time been like for you? What has changed for you?
Below is a link to a UNICEF page where children from around the world have made video diaries, telling us how they’ve been managing through these times in their countries. It’s pretty amazing to see that where ever we live, what ever we look like, whatever language we speak.
MAKE YOUR OWN DIARY
You can use an empty school notebook to make your own diary. Take two pieces of plain paper or cardboard and draw picture’s of things that are important to you on each one. Maybe it’s your family, a pet or just something tat you like to draw. Then glue your pictures tot he front and back covers of the notebook to turn it into your own special place to write things down.
SCHOOL AROUND THE WORLD
As some of you start to think about heading back to school in a few weeks, take a peak inside some classrooms of children around the world. Your own classroom may look a bit different this year but that’s okay. You can see from this video that children can learn in all sorts of different classrooms…even if it’s your own living room!
WRITE TO A PEN PAL
Ask your parents or grandparents if they know someone who has children your age who live in another country. See if they can help you become pen pals with them! Your teachers at school might even have some ways to help you find a pen pal. What is a Pen Pal? Well, it’s a child, just like you, who lives far away and that you can write letters to! You can tell each other about your school and the kinds of things you do in your home country and they can tell you all about theirs! It’s a great way to make a new friend and learn about another culture.
RECIPES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
A great way to learn about people in different countries is through the foods they eat. What are your favourite foods? Are any of your favourite foods from other countries? Maybe you like sushi or tacos or even spaghetti! Make a list of all of your favourites and then see if you can figure out what country that food comes from. Here is a short video showing what people often eat for breakfast in different countries. Maybe you can try out a few!
Pita Bread Recipe
1 c. warm water
2 tsp. active dry yeast
1 tsp. granulated sugar
3 c. all-purpose flour, divided
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
Place a pizza stone or large cast iron skillet in your oven and preheat to 500°. In a large bowl, combine warm water, yeast, and sugar and stir until dissolved. Stir in ½ cup flour and let sit for 15 minutes, until mixture foams. Add oil, salt, and 2 cups flour (reserving ½ cup) and stir with a wooden spoon until a shaggy mass forms. Dust a clean surface with some of reserved flour and knead until smooth and elastic, about 7 minutes, adding more of the reserved flour if the dough is too sticky. Dough should be soft and moist. (You can cover the dough and let rest 10 minutes if you need a rest from kneading.) Place dough in a clean large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Leave in a warm place until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour. Lightly dust a clean surface with flour. Punch down dough and turn it out onto surface. Divide dough into 8 pieces and roll into balls. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rest 10 minutes.
Working one at a time, roll each round into a ¼”-thick circle about 8” wide, sprinkling dough with extra flour if it starts to stick. Working as quickly as possible, open your oven and place as many pitas that will fit on your skillet or stone without touching. Let bake until an air pocket balloons and the pita begins to brown 3 to 5 minutes. Repeat with remaining rounds. Cover baked pitas with a clean kitchen towel to keep warm.
STORY TIME
God Dreams that all the people of the world can live together, treat each other kindly and love one another. Here is a reading of the book by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.