What happens when language learning meets creativity, food and a little bit of Japanese culture?
Our Year 3 Japanese students recently brought their food language unit to life by creating their own Obento Boxes, inspired by the colourful and creative Japanese lunchbox trend. The trend started when Japanese mums transformed everyday ingredients into animals, anime and cartoon characters and playful designs.
Armed with rice, bread, nori (seaweed sheets), kewpie mayonnaise, soy sauce, natural food colouring, cookie cutters and a variety of ingredients brought from home, students set to work designing their edible masterpieces.
The results were incredible.
"The students exceeded my expectations with their creativity! I had no idea that we had such incredible food making talent in the Year 3 cohort." - Miss Kitevski
Throughout the activity, students applied the Japanese food vocabulary they had been learning in class while also exploring a creative aspect of Japanese culture. It was a hands-on learning experience that combined language, creativity and cultural understanding in a memorable way.
A special thank you to the parents, grandparent and Year 3 teacher, Mr Grant, who all came along to help make the activity possible. Their support added to the fun and excitement as students proudly assembled and shared their creations.
The finished Obento Boxes were filled with colour, personality and imagination. According to Miss Kitevski, parents may want to prepare themselves for future requests.
"Parents should definitely have their students make Obento Boxes for family dinner!" - Miss Kitevski