My friend, Kellie, and her family came to join us at my parents house for Thanksgiving. Kellie has a three year old son and I wanted to set-up something fun for our kids, so Arthur and I decorated the living room as an interactive story to explain immigration across continents. The right side of the room was our European Village, built from wooden toy blocks. In the center of the room, was a tub of water and a toy boat, representing the oceanic crossing. On the left side of the room was North America. Arthur made teepee out of an old sheet, all of the brooms in the house (much to my mothers chagrin, since there were no brooms left for cleaning up after the aforementioned toddlers.) North America was a particularly fun place to play with all of the native North American stuffed animals I could collect from around the house. The boys used the ‘three sisters’, (beans corn and squash seeds) to plant fields, grind them and make pretend food. My dad, a retired historian, provided details to support historical accuracy where it was possible.
Walkabout 