Holiday gatherings are an opportunity for families to talk about relatives and ancestors. Sometimes children are interested and sometimes not so much. On this 2012 Thanksgiving, I had a wonderful sharing experience.
Just before my wife and I left to drive to Rochester, NY, for our Thanksgiving get-together, my daughter called and said that our granddaughter had to create a heritage poster for a second-grade assignment. Was I interested in helping out during our visit? Was I ever! I quickly said yes, and proceeded to review our photo files and check on the Internet for images that a second grader would appreciate and understand.
On the day after Thanksgiving, I sat down with my granddaughter (and her mother) and reviewed the possibilities. The following are the images she chose to use, and the captions she wrote:
Finland’s Flag: “The colors of the Finnish flag are blue and white. The blue is for the 1,000 lakes. The white stands for the snow that covers the ground in the winter.”
Native Costumes: “These are the hand-made costumes that kids wear on special occasions.”
Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi on the Arctic Circle: “Finland’s so close to the North Pole that Santa has a village there.”
Angry Birds logo (for the popular video game by Rovio Entertainment): “Angry birds were invented in Finland.”
Snow castle and hotel in Kemi, Finland: This is a giant Snow Castle Hotel.”
Breakfast Bread Bear: “This is a bread that they have for breakfast in Finland. It’s called Pulla.”
Grandma’s Immigration Trunk: “My great, great Grandpa and Grandma came from Finland.”
S.S. Aurania: “This is the boat my grandma sailed to get to America. Her whole trip took two weeks. This is her trunk.”
Midsummer Night: “Part of Finland is in the Arctic Circle which means in the Summer it never gets dark at night. This is the midnight sun.”
What a wonderful opportunity to talk with my granddaughter—and my daughter—about their Finnish ancestors. The poster she created (see photo) she shared with her second-grade classmates—and she’ll be able to share it with her younger sister and brother as they grow older.
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