Ack! Preschool Presentation Suggestions, Please!

After spending about three months studying "Asia," Sparkle's preschool class is now working on their study of "Africa."  Beloved and I volunteered to help if the teachers needed any thing, and now we are scheduled to do a little "presentation" about South Africa in a few weeks.

So here's where I need help...  How should we do this?  The kids are between four to seven years old.  We have about twenty-five to thirty minutes.

We have music we can play.  We have some picture books, maps, and a flag.  We have some bowls and utensils that we use in the kitchen, as well as some carvings of animals that the kids could touch and handle.  (We wouldn't want to bring any larger art, or anything we would be too sad to lose.)  We would like to include some kind of South African food (trying to incorporate the sense of taste, I guess), but all we have on hand is Rooibos tea.

We'd also like to include Sparkle, and let him be the expert on South Africa in some way, without a lot of pressure or focus on adoption.  And we want the kids to all be able to participate somehow, or at least hold their attention. 

I don't know if we should talk at all about social issues in South Africa, or just try to leave an impression of South Africa as an interesting and exciting place, where the kids are a lot like kids in the U.S.

Neither Beloved nor I have experience teaching preschoolers, but we would love for this to go well.  Have any of you done anything similar in your child's classroom?  Ideas?  (Help!)    

Comments

[Nohe 5]

It sounds like you already have a great presentation. I love how you try to do something for each sense. Maybe you could look up a game that kids in S.Africa play and teach it to the kids.

Since you asked, I would leave out the social stuff. It would probably go over their heads or just confuse them.

[Leigh]

I have to agree with the first commenter, it sounds like you have a really good presentation already in mind.

I don't have any suggestions, but one thing I found helpful when I did a little presentation at Cody's school, was to sit down on the floor and have all the kids in a circle. It seems that somehow sitting eye-level and cross legged with them was a lot more engaging than sitting above them.

[cloudscome]

Sounds great! The other commenters are right on too. Games and songs that SA kids play will be a big hit. Does Sparkle know any he could teach? For food you could try to find some sweets or candy the kids are known to love... Good Luck!