Cambodia
Our first event of the new school year was a success. We gathered together to explore the nation of Cambodia through our cultural experts of the month, Becki and Darren! Becki and Darren have spent a great deal of time learning about the people and nation of Cambodia and will be returning to Cambodia very soon again. We were able to glean from their knowledge of this beautiful culture!
Cambodia is located in Southeastern Asia right below Thailand. We learned many historical facts and tidbits about Cambodia such as: Cambodia has changed it’s name 5 times, there was a terrible genocide that took place in Cambodia in the 1970’s, Cambodian’s native language is Khmer (prounounced ‘keh-my’) and the capital is called Phnom Penh.
We also learned about Sampeah.
Sampeah is the Cambodian way of greeting and showing respect. Sampeah has five different versions. If you would like to learn this with your child, you can watch the video below of a group of Khmer children explaining these five ways of Sampeah.
One of the fun activities of night was learning how to play the Cambodian game of “Sey”. We each took turns attempting this fun yet challenging game. It definitely takes practice as we didn’t achieve very many consecutive passes, but you can see a great example of the game below! Try it for yourself at home!
During the event, we also learned about the ancient temple of Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world. Built in the early 12th century, it was originally constructed as a Hindu Temple but by the end of the century transformed into a Buddhist temple. Because archeology has played an important role in uncovering Angkor Wat, we did a little archeological dig of our own! The kids had a blast searching for hidden treasures. We also presented one of our books of the month which shares about archeology in Cambodia!
No event goes by without getting a taste of the culture!
This month we tried two incredible dishes that you would find in Cambodia; one being a street food: Ice Cream Bun Sandwiches and the other being Chicken Amok over rice! We all loved both dishes!
And while we did NOT try this Cambodian dish, we all were fascinated to find out that fried spiders is a regional treat! (pictured below) These spiders are a species of tarantula called "a-ping" in Khmer, and are roughly the size of a human palm. Would you try this delicacy?
Kid to Kid.
In light of an upcoming trip to Cambodia for our cultural experts, we spent some time creating letters and cards to send along to a group of kids in Cambodia! They will receive these letters during a multi-day camp!
If your child wasn’t able to attend our Cambodia night, here are some fun things your family can do together to experience a hint of Cambodian culture.
Check out some fun books about Cambodia from the library. If you are unable to find our Books-of-the-month at your local library or bookshop, you can purchase them here and here.
Create your very own archeological dig using 2 parts Cornstarch + 1 part water. Mix, add in hidden treasures and then allow to dry for 24-48 hours. Use strong paint brushes to begin uncovering the hidden gems.
Try a taste of the culture with Ice Cream Bun Sandwiches. Simply scoop some ice cream into a sweet bun of bread and enjoy! If you want to try your hand at Chicken Amok, we used this recipe.
Enjoy the game of Sey! We used these shuttlecocks.
Our next club event is October 20th and it will take us to Brazil with help from our culture expert of the month, Bruna! Hope to see you then!