Educational Programs Contents Page Program Overview 1 Public Programs 5 Exhibit Activities 6 Chinese Zodiac Bookmarks 7 Make and Play Jianzi 10 Chinese Hand Drums 12 Chinese Paper Lanterns 14 Paper Cutting 16 Performances and Workshops 24 Suggested Programs 25 Large Scale Public Programs 29 Holiday and Festival Dates 30 Additional Activities Nianhua Block Prints 31 Dragon Boat Puppets 33 Sample Programs 35 Dragon Boat Festival Autumn Moon Festival Chinese New Year 2008 School Programs 40 Children’s Life in China 41 Resources 57 Notes on Chinese Language and Pronunciation 58 Glossary 59 Books 64 Online Sources 69 Additional Resources 71 Program Overview © Boston Children’s Museum, 2015 1 The programs that have been developed for the exhibit Children of Hangzhou: Connecting with China are defined in two broad categories: Public Programs for regular family visitors and School Programs for visiting school groups. Three levels of public programs include: floor kits led by museum educators and floor staff; performances and workshops, where visiting artists both from China and the local community are invited to share their expertise; and museum-wide festivals, which combine these two elements. Two school programs have been developed to give students a more in-depth experience in the exhibit. The first program “Children’s Life in China” allows students to “meet” one of the children featured in the exhibit and compare and contrast his or her life with their own. The second program “Arts of China” explores brush painting and opera to give students an opportunity to experience traditional Chinese culture. Depending on the host museum’s staffing and budget capacities/constraints, any number of these programs can be scheduled during the exhibit run. For reference, the full program calendar for Children of Hangzhou for the Boston exhibit run and the BCM School Programs brochure are included in the Educational Manual. The following is a brief summary of each type of program, and a list of what is included in this section of the manual. Public Programs 1. Exhibit Activities: Included in the Education Manual are copies of the instructions, templates, and background information for the following drop-in activties: Chinese Zodiac Bookmarks Make and Play Jianzi—Chinese Shuttlecock Chinese Hand Drums Chinese Paper Lanterns Paper Cutting 2. Performances and Workshops: In order to enrich the cultural experience and bring an authentic taste of China to our visitors, a number of performances and workshops were scheduled in Boston throughout the exhibit run. Most of these programs were scheduled for 20-30 minutes in a suitable museum space, either a stage or classroom type area. These suggested programs are meant to correspond to a theme/space within the exhibit. Ideally, these programs will be taught by Museum educators with content knowledge of China, or by local China specialists—performance groups, language teachers, etc—who are interested in sharing Chinese culture with museum visitors. Suggested activities include: Traditional Music Concert Martial Arts Demonstration Opera or Dance Performance Rice Dough Sculpture Workshop Calligraphy or Painting Workshop © Boston Children’s Museum, 2015 2 3. Large Scale Public Programs: Large Scale Public Programs are museum-wide “festivals” that we suggest take place at least once during the exhibit run. These special events bring visibility to the Museum and allow for greater collaboration with the community and local China-related organizations. They are also opportunities for in-house collaboration among different departments within the museum—so that the entire museum becomes invested in and involved with the Children of Hangzhou exhibit. For example, work with other museum educators to create connections between exhibits on a museum-wide basis. The Education Manual includes sample programs for three festivals: Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu jie 端午节) Mid-Autumn Moon Festival (Zhongqiu jie 中秋节) Chinese New Year Festival (Chun jie 春节) © Boston Children’s Museum, 2015 3 School Programs The School Programs for Children of Hangzhou allow for in-depth (one-hour) focus on the lives of contemporary Chinese children at school, at home, and beyond. These programs utilize materials— objects, photographs, tools—that are otherwise not necessarily available in the exhibit. Sufficient training and preparation ahead of time is essential. Pre- and Post-Visit Information sent to classroom teachers who have made a reservation for a school program provide excellent suggestions for preparing the students before they come and following-up with their class after their museum visit. Included in the Education Manual are: Pre- and Post-Visit Information to be sent to classroom teachers in advance of their visit, and the program teaching instructions: In-exhibit program: Children’s Life in China (Grade K-7) Come experience children’s life in contemporary China. Through stories of real children, students learn aspects of life in China in depth and through comparison relate what they learn to their own lives in the United States. The program provides a general introduction and small group activity. This program begins with an introduction to Chinese spoken and written language. Students will learn to say a few words in Chinese. Next, using the maps in the exhibit, students will engage in a brief look at Chinese geography (as appropriate to grade level). Issues to be discussed will include: locating China on a world map; locating China in Asia; examining the diversity of land forms in China and discussing implications; comparing the size of China with other countries; looking at population density and distribution; and discussing the implications of density. Groups of students will then “meet” a particular Hangzhou youth, and learn a particular activity with him/her, which will be shared with the rest of the class at the end of the program. © Boston Children’s Museum, 2015 4 Public Programs © Boston Children’s Museum, 2015 5 Public Programs Exhibit Activities Each of the following activities relates to one of the five main areas within the Children of Hangzhou exhibit—school, apartment, theatre, countryside, and pavilion. The drop-in activities can be used individually to help emphasize the life and interests of one of the four children, or can be used in combination for a Chinese cultural celebration or special event. Suggestions are also included for how these activities may be related to other museum exhibits, such as science, health and fitness, or the arts. Make and Play Jianzi Chinese Hand Drums © Boston Children’s Museum, 2015 6 Chinese Zodiac Bookmarks Huang Dao Dai 黄道带 Exhibit Space: Apartment / Weicheng Weicheng’s kitchen has a Chinese zodiac wheel. Learn more about Chinese astrology through this simple activity. Program Length/Audience: Activity can be set up for 1-2 hours. Visitors will need 5-10 minutes to complete. This activity is suitable for all ages. Activity Objectives: Introduce visitors to the Chinese zodiac. Whereas in Western astrology people identify their zodiac sign based on the month they were born, in China your zodiac sign is based on the year you were born. Using the zodiac wheel, help visitors find their zodiac sign, learn some of its characteristics, and make a bookmark to remind them of it. Materials needed: zodiac Wheel gold, black, and/or red stamp pads colored paper cut in strips yarn or string for a tassel (optional) 12 animal stamps hole punch (to add tassel) Procedures: General Introduction: Ask visitors what they know about the zodiac or astrology. Ask what their birth sign is in the Western zodiac. Do they know about the Chinese zodiac and how it is different? Tell them the story of how the Chinese zodiac came to be. (See the background information page for reference.) What’s next? After telling the story, invite visitors to find their own sign on the zodiac wheel based on their birth year. Once they find their sign, tell them some of the personality traits associated with their animal. Invite them to choose a stamp that represents their sign and a piece of colored paper for the bookmark. Press the stamp into the ink pad and then press firmly on the paper to transfer the image. Using the hole punch make a hole at the top of your bookmark and add a tassel (optional). For older children, show them the Chinese character for their sign and invite them to practice writing it on their bookmark. Alternately, invite them to write their favorite personality trait to remind them of their sign. Keywords: zodiac cycle birth year © Boston Children’s Museum, 2015 7 lunar calendar astrology Background Information: The Chinese Zodiac represents a cycle of 12 years. This cyclical concept of time differs from the Western linear concept of time. The Chinese Lunar Calendar is based on the cycles of the moon and is still used for festive occasions such as Chinese New Year, which marks the beginning of the Chinese calendar and falls somewhere between late January and early February. Each year of the 12 year cycle is named after one of 12 animals. Each animal has a different personality and different characteristics. The animal is believed to be the main factor in each person's life that gives them their traits, successes, and happiness in their lifetime. The Chinese zodiac refers to a pure calendrical cycle; there are no equivalent constellations like those of the Western zodiac. In imperial times there were astrologers who watched the sky for heavenly omens that would predict the future of the state, but this was a quite different practice of divination from the popular present-day methods. Many popular stories tell about how the zodiac was created and how the order of the animals was established. The twelve animals in order are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig.