While big concerts and festivals are held in major Canadian cities and televised across the country on 1 July, most families will attend or host a backyard picnic or barbeque with family, friends and neighbours. These festivities feature outdoor decorations, and guests are often given badges that are worn to demonstrate Canadian spirit. So, not only can your children have a fantastic time celebrating the festival itself with food and games, they can make their own decorations too.
DECORATIONS
Many decorations feature red and white maple leaves, one of Canada's national emblems presented in the national colours, and so the group will need to paint and cut out quite a few of them. Children can draw their leaves freehand, make templates to draw around, or print out a maple leaf pattern from the Internet (see 'Website tips' below).
Children thread their finished leaves at intervals on to a piece of string, to make a traditional decoration that is usually hung from tree to tree in the party area, or along boundaries such as fences. Canadian children often write their names on their leaves prior to hanging, and at the end of the festivities they are taken down and put into a hat. The one drawn out wins a small prize, and everyone takes their leaves home. The more leaves the children make, the more chance they have of winning!
As well as demonstrating Canadian spirit, layered maple leaf badges look very effective. Children make them by cutting out ten small, red maple leaves from paper, and ten small white ones. They then glue the leaves one on top of the other, alternating the colours as they go. The glue should be applied just to the centre of the paper, leaving the edges free to give a stacked appearance, rather than a flat one. Once dry, the top leaf is varnished with a coat of PVA glue, and a badge pin is attached to the bottom leaf.
Handprints can be used to replicate the shape of the maple leaf, then made into wreaths to hang from tree branches. Children make and cut out red and white prints, and then stick them on to a piece of card to form a circle.
This is cut out, and hung with string.
EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY!
After making all those maple leaves, how about tasting some Canadian maple syrup, also from the maple tree, during your picnic? It's delicious on pancakes served hot or cold. If your club doesn't have cooking facilities you can always buy them ready-made. A dash of maple syrup can also be added to any milkshake or smoothie recipe to give a Canadian twist.
Songs are often synonymous with celebrations, and Canadian children sing, 'We are Proud Canadians', dubbed the 'children's national anthem'. It's easy to learn since it's sung to the familiar tune 'Sing a Song of Sixpence'. The last line is shouted out, adding child-appeal! The words are:
We are proud Canadians living in this land, If you were Canadian you would understand
Why we love our country
And we are so proud.
We are proud Canadians
AND WE WILL SHOUT IT LOUD!
CANADIAN GAMES
The 'Five Canadian Dollars' game is so called because it is scored in imaginary money - the first player to five dollars wins. One child is the batter, equipped with a baseball bat and tennis ball, another player is elected to throw the ball to them, and everyone else is 'in the field'. The batter hits the ball into the air towards outfield, and children attempt to catch it. If they manage a 'fly catch' (caught straight from the air) they score one dollar, they get 50 cents for a 'bouncer' or 25 cents for a 'grounder'. (There are one hundred cents in a dollar.) 'Concentration' is a Canadian ice-breaker. Children form a circle and start a rhythm of clapping their hands on their thighs, then hands together, then snapping the right fingers and then the left, while saying the verse, 'Con-cen-tra-tion, Con-cen-tra-tion. Are you read-y, O-kay let's go!' Pace the activity so that each line takes a whole cycle of the actions to say.
Once the verse has been said, continue with the actions. On the next right click, an appointed player says their own name, followed by the name of another player on the next left click. The named person must then follow suit, waiting until the right point in the rhythm to say their name and then that of a different player. Once children have the hang of it they can be out or lose a life if they mistime the chant or break the rhythm. This activity is easier than it sounds and fun to pick up!
Un-natural Nature Trail is a popular activity with groups of Canadian children who are out exploring the wilderness. The leader will hide 20 objects for the children to find, all of which are man-made and therefore don't belong in that environment. Children must collect them as they go.
Clubs could try this on an outing, or simply play it outside.
In addition to these Canadian games, why not develop your own featuring a giant Canadian map? Referring to books or the Internet (see below) with playworker support, children draw a rough map of Canada on the playground with chalk. They can mark on the different regions, adding relevant drawings and learning about the country as they go. For instance, through their research, children could find out about the arctic regions and the polar bears, arctic foxes and hares that live there, along with the Inuit inhabitants. Then there's the wilderness where grizzly bears, moose and beavers live, and Barkerville, where 10,000 gold diggers searched for their fortune (and some found it) in the exciting Gold Rush of 1863.
Children look at the finished map, then split into small teams positioned at the opposite end of the playground. A playworker gives the group a clue about a region of Canada ('Somewhere people went to sieve the rivers...').
Each team should confer and then send a runner to race to the map and stand on the relevant area. The first player to the correct region scores three points, and other players in the right place score one. The runner then returns to their team before the next question is asked.
WATER WAYS
The beaver is native to Canada and a fascinating animal. It builds sophisticated lodges in dome shapes from mud and sticks. These are built in water and only have underground entrances. If local pond water isn't deep enough to accommodate a lodge, beavers will build a dam upstream to create a deeper pond, using trees they have cut down with their sharp teeth.
Children can have fun at the water tray, building their own lodges and dams with a supply of earth and sticks. Perhaps they'd like to experiment with various materials to discover what else will make a good dam too.
Children can also sieve the water tray for gold - they could hide a few flecks of golden foil (the wrapping-paper type) beneath a layer of sand and earth at the bottom of the tray, and top it up with water.
MAKE A MOOSE
The moose is native to Canada and is the largest of the deer family. The biggest recorded moose antler spread was a massive two metres. Children can make their own moose by drawing around one foot on to brown paper to create a face shape, and then drawing around both of their hands to make antlers, and cutting the pieces out. Children simply stick the antlers into place and add features with felt tips or other craft supplies.To make a puppet instead, the foot can be exchanged for a sock, and the antlers can be cut from felt or scrap fabric, and all pieces and features either sewn on or glued into place. Wobbly self-adhesive eyes look great!