This past Fall ’11 Semester, We have
successfully piloted our Dumplings Playgroup for adopted Chinese children and
their families from the Greater Boston area to educate the children to their
Chinese culture while giving their families a chance to connect and network.
BUCCF is so glad to have fostered a collaborative playgroup with MIT China Care
and our club is so grateful to have the support of the Boston Chinatown
Neighborhood Center, China Care Foundation and Harvard China Care to ensuring
our program’s success!
Here is a recap of our 4 pilot sessions:
Beijing Opera Playgroup
October 15th, 2011
This was BUCCF’s first ever Dumpling playgroup, so it was exciting
and nerve racking at the same time. As the families arrived, we invited the
children to enjoy Chinese sponge cake with milk while coloring activity sheets
waiting for everyone to arrive. Then we proceeded to explain the cultural
phenomenon of Beijing Opera, and the tale of “The Monkey King” in a puppet show
featuring a popular classic Chinese supernatural, cunning monkey children’s
character. After this performance, the Children proceeded to make their very
own Beijing Opera headdresses and masks to take home and show off their own
acting skills!
Traveling around China
October 29th, 2011
Families started off the journey at the Customs desk, where the
children decorated their passports and treat bags. After a short "Name
Your Favorite Animal" ice breaker, we headed to Xi’an to craft Terracotta Army soldiers out of clay. Then the children
traveled to Beijing, China's capital, where they built
models of the Great Wall of China,
and navigated their way through a tricky maze in the Forbidden City. Moving back southwest to Sichuan, the children created panda bears in
the form of puppets and plush toys. There, we said our goodbyes, and the
children returned home to America with goodie bags loaded with Chinese sweets
and a passport full of stamps, one for each eventful stop in China!
Chinese Games
November 12th, 2011
For this playgroup, the children were able to utilize all of
their energy playing traditional Chinese games along with the playgroup
coordinators and volunteers. The playgroup started off with making and playing Jianzi (毽子
Chinese Shuttlecock). This
proceeded into watching a Chinese Yo-Yo performance by our award winning guest
performer Brian Chin, and the children practicing a few of their own Yo-Yo
tricks. This fun playgroup ended with playing many rounds of Finding Friends (a Chinese version of Duck, Duck,
Goose).
Chinese Songs and Dumplings
November 19th, 2011
In the last playgroup of the semester, the children and their
families wrapped their very own Chinese Dumplings from pork and dumpling shells.
After the wrapping, the families proceeded to bring their creations to the
Kitchen, where a few volunteers showed their cooking showmanship for the crowd.
While waiting for the dumplings to be cooked to perfection, volunteers lead the
children in Chinese song and dance in the main activity room. Finally towards
the end, The children and parents were able to feast on their creations and
take a few home!
Thank you so much for coming to our playgroups this semester! We had lots of
fun holding the playgroups, and it's been an awesome experience for
us because of all of you. You and your children's smiles were our motivation
and inspiration. :)
Dumplings Playgroup Dates for Spring (tentative):
Feb 11, Feb 25, Mar 10, Mar 31, April 28th
We hope to see everyone again in the Spring! Registration will
open up in January 2012. For any questions: Email: bu.mit.dumplings@gmail.com
For
BU Students interested in volunteering and creating these awesome playgroups:
Email buccfdumplings@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment