Awareness Resources - Harmony Day and Many Abilities: Feeding, Utensils and Tools

 Resources developed, passed and used at local Penrith City Council preschool to create awareness in acknowledgement of Harmony Day, World Down Syndrome Day and Neurodiversity Awareness Week.

Foods from Around the World - Colour in and Craft Activity

1)    Foods From Around the World – Worksheet where children can circle the foods they know of and then colour in the sheet. They can also cut and paste the food onto a paper plate for fine motor skills and school skill prep.

Discussion can be had around foods they don’t know. I have tried to do a variety of cultures, providing foods some children will know (i.e most children will know what sushi is. This also shows how exposed to different cultures we are in Australia).

It is a nice opportunity to talk about food, culture and foods we haven’t tried. An opportunity for educators to also share their culture and language also with the children. Feel free to add more foods that capture different cultures.

Activity like this holds space for multilingual capabilities to enter the learning space for both children and educators in the learning. Food brings people together and also brings forward language. 

Link to resource: Foods from Around the World

Different Ways We Eat - Utensils and Tools

1)     Different ways of eating – Utensils and tools: Looking at different utensils used to eat provides a good leeway to talk about how we consume food. It’s a good way to also include feeding utensils experienced in people with disability. Attached worksheet has labels and pictures for children to colour in.

Further extension could be discussion on the practices surrounding how we consume food – some cultures sit on the floor and eat together, certain cultures and families do prayers (could link with Ramadan), depending on time of year some communities participate in fasting, some families eat at the table together, some sit and watch TV, some people like eating outside, picnic, some people move on the go and eat (allows discussion to normalise children who need to regulate and move when eating).

Link to resource: Different ways of Eating - Utensils and Tools