In August 1492 Christopher
Columbus was sent by King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella of Spain to
look for a faster route to the far-east (Asia) in order to find gold and
trade for valuable spices - especially pepper. Pepper was an essential
spice in those days to disguise bad tastes - back then they didn't have
refrigerators.
Columbus' crew sailed
on the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.
Columbus' thought the
world was round but he didn't realise how big the world was, so, after
sailing for ten weeks, he found North America, well not quite, he landed
on the island of San Salvador.
The Arawak Indians
greeted him. They were a friendly, generous, peace loving people, they
didn't have any spices, not even pepper, let alone any gold but they shared
what they had with the Spaniards. The Arawaks lived in villages, grew
corn, yams and cassava, and fished and hunted with spears made from cane.
The Arawaks served
as guides for Columbus on his other voyages; he didn't give them much
of a choice though, he just took them. Columbus sailed and sailed and
sailed but he never made it to Asia which was thousands of miles farther
away than he had calculated.
Columbus
Day is celebrated in Spain, Italy, the United States and in Mexico as
part of their Dia de la Raza (Day of the Race) celebrations.
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| Gross
Motor: |
Make
the Sailors Hat then sing
"Sail, sail, sail your ship" to the tune of Row, Row, Row
your boat while pretending to hoist a flag. |
| Fine
Motor: |
Print out Columbus
Day Worksheet & follow
the directions.
Give your child a walnut shell half, a small piece of playdough,
a toothpick and a small square of white paper for a sail. Let your
child decorate the sails with crayons, then help punch holes in
the sail. Show your child how to stick his or her toothpick in one
hole and out the other hole. Have your child roll the playdough
into a ball and place in the bottom of the walnut shell. Then stick
the toothpick in the playdough. |
| Visual
Perception: |
Do
you have a globe? Have your child trace the route Christopher Columbus
took. Talk
about round and flat. Have him or her sail the walnut boats around
the globe and then on a flat object to see what happens. |
| Language: |
Talk
about the Indians and how they helped Columbus.
Talk about what your childs thinks it would be like to find a new
land, and how they would live - without any stores, cars, houses or
refrigeration. |
| Suggested
reading: |
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A
Picture Book of Christopher Columbus
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Columbus'
First Voyage |
to
the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" |
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Columbus
sailed the ocean blue,
Ocean blue, ocean blue.
Columbus sailed the ocean blue
In 1492.
He
sailed west to reach the east,
reach the east, reach the east,
He sailed west to reach the east
In 1492.
Asian
shores he never reached,
Never reached, never reached,
Asian shores he never reached,
In 1492.
Instead,
a whole new land he found,
Land he found, land he found,
Instead, a whole new land he found,
In 1492. |
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When using
the Christopher Columbus worksheets make sure your child uses
the correct:
- Pencil Grip
- Number
Formation
To learn how
to teach these skills correctly, improve your child's abilities
and help prepare your child for school use the Get Ready For School program. |
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