It's no secret that our world is increasingly becoming more globalized. Countries such as Japan and China are producing electronics, cars and a myriad of other products and toys that children here in the U.S. enjoy on a daily basis.
It's important for children to know where their favorite things are coming from and who's making them, but it's also a good idea to have some background knowledge from the culture that's producing these things.
In the seventh grade, I learned all about Japan, as there was a Japan unit in my language arts class. My teacher familiarized us with the overall landscape/map of Japan, major cities, historical events, and we even had a Japanese food day and learned how to use chopsticks. Which brings me to the meat of this post:
How to use chopsticks:
(Watch About.com video)
How to make oragami
There is a site, Origami KinderCrafts that has step-by-step illustrations (brightly colored and cute, too) for how to make popular oragami that I grew up making (fortune tellers, jumping frogs), as well as more unique creations, such as a "hexaflexagon" and butterfly.
In fact, there is a whole Japanese Crafts section of the site, featuring how to make a Japanese garden, hanging fish and more.
How to make sushi:
Don't let your kids wait 'til they're 19 (like I was) to try sushi for the first time. Yes, some kids are picky and may be grossed out by the whole raw-fish aspect (they don't have to know, though), but having an appreciation for different culture-based foods may help in building and strengthening an open mind to aspects of all different cultures.
Now, there are tons of resources online for how to make sushi, but I liked Tawnee Prazak's (last year's managing editor of The Daily Aztec) article on how to make (and enjoy) sushi.
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