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Celebrating diversity at BestStart Epsom
At Best Start Epsom we respect diversity. Celebrating different cultural festivals is an integral part of our team practice.
On 17th March 2022, we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day, which is celebration of heritage and culture of the Irish in general. For Irish culture, St. Patrick’s Day is a social festival, often forming parades and carnivals, involve listening to Irish music and wearing green attire.
The tamariki had a great time. They had the opportunity to participate and listening to traditional Irish music, had their faces painted as green spiderman, clover, tiger and butterfly. They also made green hand prints. Green colour was not limited to our costumes or art works only. We also decorated our food with fresh green basil leaves, grown in our own herbs garden. The fragrance of fresh basil made our food more inviting and tempting
Holi celebration added another exciting note to our March calendar. All our tamariki and teachers had unlimited fun marking the colourful celebration of friendship. We gently smeared each other with dry coloured powdered. Some children expressed themselves as ‘rainbow’ and shared loud laughter. Holi is more than just a religion. It signifies peace, love, forgiveness and celebrating the colours of life. We all danced rhythmically on the beats of Indian music. For our tamariki it was another great way to experience a new culture with fun filled experiences. No celebration is completed without delicious food, this celebration was not an exception either. We concluded Holi celebration with Indian lunch prepared by teachers. Children enjoyed Indian puffed puris with potato and mix veg curry.
These cultural celebrations provided great opportunities to our tamariki to experience and learn about different cultures, customs and traditions in the centre. Children develop awareness about the stories and symbols of their own and other cultures. They experience an environment where connecting links with the family and the wider world are affirmed and extended.