China History Co-op. Week 1: Rice Maps

Week 1: We made maps of China out of rice and vegetables.

The Ancient Chinese had a story about Pangu and the creation of the earth. After listening to this story we sang a geography song I made up. I was thinking Hot Crossed Buns when I wrote it, but my musical abilities are a little off. Here are the lyrics. Repeat each line twice.

Y is for Yellow River
Y is for Yangtz
They run through China
West to East

G is for Grand Canal
Built by man
It connects the two rivers
To make trade easier

G is for Gobi
The Mongols lived there
It is a great big desert
North of China

G is for Great Wall
Built by man
It kept the Mongols out of China
Twenty-two thousand years ago

H is for Himayals
Very high mountains
They form the western border of China
Himalayas are so high

From there we read The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese and then proceeded into our map making project.

Sticky rice, nori (seaweed), noodles and some vegetables were used to create edible maps of China.

The kids each began with a blank map. We helped them to label the geography elements in the song; Yellow River, Yantze River, Grand Canal, Great Wall, Gobi Dessert and Himalayas. We also pointed out eight cities which were the head of China at different points in history.

Then they placed wax paper over their maps.

The kids added rice and vegetables to form their maps. Each child chose different veges to use for their geography elements.

Can you see it? He chose blue noodles for the ocean, a stick of celery for the grand canal, celery slices for the Himalayas, noodles for the Yangze and Yellow Rivers, a carrot peeling for the Great Wall, carrot slices for the Gobi Dessert and flags made from toothpicks and seaweed to mark the cities.

After they were finished the kids gobbled up their healthy maps.

To read more about our history activities click on one of the cultures below.
Celts
Vikings
Scythians
Ancient China

This post is linked to: 
Adventures in Mommydom
We Made That
Capri +3
Works for Me Wednesday
Funky Polka Dot Giraffe
Creations by Kara

* I did not receive any compensation for this recommendation. I'm just a homeschooling mom who has found many products that I like. If you're interested in the products I recommend on this blog I want to make it easy for you to find them. 
** I am an Amazon associate and receive a small portion of the sales on orders made after clicking in from this site, which I promptly spend on homeschooling books and supplies for my children.