Dragon Boats

Materials

craft foam

Instructions

* May 5th is China's Dragon Boat Festival.
1. Read Awakening the Dragon by Arlene Chan. Tell the children that on May
5, people in China celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. Explain that the
people eat tzungtzu "zong zi" (rice dumplings filled with ham or bean
paste and wrapped in bamboo leaves) and make fanciful boats that look
like dragons.
2. Challenge the children to make their own boats using craft foam, craft
sticks, pipe cleaners, craft glue, tape, scissors, stickers, and markers.
3. As the children work, offer help as needed. Provide a small basin of water
so the children can test their designs frequently to see if they float.
4. If needed, show the children how a single square of craft foam will float if
laid flat on the water. You can also show them how to bend up the ends
of a rectangular piece of foam and tape it to form a rough boat shape.
5. Encourage the children to experiment with the pipe cleaners and small
pieces of foam. They can even make sails by looping one end of a pipe
cleaner and bending it at a 90 degrees angle near the loop. This forms a stand
for the pipe cleaner. Tape the loop to the foam piece to make a mast and
tape a small piece of foam to the top of the pipe cleaner to form a sail.
Make flags for the boats using the same technique.
6. After the children have finished their creations, fill the sensory table with
water and let them float their boats in it.
7. Challenge the children to find different ways to make their boats move
in the water. The can make ripples and waves with their fingers, gently
shake the entire sensory table from side to side, or blow on their boats to
try to get them from one end of the table to the other.
More to do Science: Have boat races with several different types of boats (rafts vs.
bow-shaped boats; square vs. rectangular boats). Which boats float better
or faster? Graph the results.
Sensory Table: Add small plastic people to the sensory table. Challenge
the children to put the people on their boats without causing the boats to
sink. Ask how many people they get on their boats before they sink. Graph
the results.
Snack: Make Tzungzu for the children. The cooking process is too involved
for classroom use, but the children will enjoy tasting this unusual treat. The
following recipe makes 10 dumplings:
50 sheets of bamboo or reed leaves
2 pounds glutinous rice
60 Chinese dates
Soak the rice and dates 12 hours or more until they are soaked. Wash the
bamboo leaves and lay them out on a chopping board. Fold the leaves flat
at the leafstalk to make a sheet. Hold the sheet, fold it round in the middle,
and make a funnel until both ends are laid over each other in one
direction. Use about 3 to 4 ounces of rice and 6 dates for each dumpling.
Make sure to cover the dates with the rice so they won't lose too much
syrup in cooking. Fold the leaves to seal the open side of the funnel and tie
the bundle with a band made of twisted leaves. Make sure not to tie the
bundle too tight or too loose so that the ingredients are well cooked. Put
the dumplings in a pot of boiling water. Make sure they stay pressed and
while being boiled. Cooking time: 40 minutes in a pressure cooker; 2 hours
in an ordinary pot.
Related poems Dragon Boat
Dragon boat, dragon boat
The finest in the land.
I made this little dragon boat
With my two little hands.
If I Had a Dragon Boat
If I had a dragon boat
Of my very own,
I'd go and visit places
I have never known.
I'd sail the wide seas
And do just as I please,
If I had a dragon boat
Of my very own.
This Little Boat (Tune: "This Old Man")
This little boat,
It sailed away,
It sailed away on a very fine day,
With a knick-knack-paddy-whack
Happy Dragon Boat Day,
This little boat sailed away.