Japan - Grandfather's Journey

We read Grandfather's Journey often this week.  It was one of our Five in a Row books. 

(I'm not going in order because we get the books from the library).  Bear requested it often.

We mapped Japan and the United States and I showed Bear how Grandfather crossed the Pacific Ocean.  

We listened to the samples of Japanese music here and here (Click on "play all samples").

We learned about shoji (screens between rooms in Japanese houses).  You can see photographs of some here.

I also did Google searches for photographs of kimono and Japanese clogs and we looked at them.  All the while I wished I had bought more things when I went to Japan on a culture exchange in ninth grade.  Who knew then at 14 that some day I'd be wanting to show my 3 year old all about Japan.

We read Hokusai The Man Who Painted a Mountain and learned more about a Japanese artist all the while learning about Japanese culture.

Tomorrow we will be doing our own block prints using styrofoam trays and cookie cutters, just like last year.  I don't think we will limit ourselves to pumpkins though.