Westmeston - Destination Iran

Happy Nowruz

This week we have had a lovely time celebrating Iranian New Year. We were lucky enough to have Kayvan’s Mummy come in and tell us lots about Iran. We liked hearing all about their nature and especially about flowers and the endangered Asiatic Cheetah – There are only around 50 left in the mountains.

The talk led us to hunt the garden for crocus flowers. The red stigmas from the crocus bulb is made into the saffron herb.

The children helped to set up the Haft – sin table. The table is an arrangement of at least seven items that help symbolize spring and the start of the new year.

On our table the children put

1. Sabzeh – Lentil Sprouts – symbol of growth, rebirth

2. Sonbol – Hyacinth flower – symbol of the start of spring

3. Serkeh – Vinegar – symbol of patience

4. Seer – Garlic – symbol of health and medicine

5. Seeb – Apple – symbol of beauty

6. Sekkeh – Coins – symbol of prosperity

7. Somaq – Fruit spice symbol of sunrise

Together we painted eggs or decorated paper ones as a gift to our families.

Another tradition is spoon banging which happens the evening before Nowruz. Children bang pans and knock on neighbour’s doors. The children didn’t need any encouragement for this activity and thoroughly enjoyed making music in the garden.

On Friday we looked at the number seven, in the hall we tried to write the number seven and we identified the sound of seven ‘s’. We counted bears and cubes and looked at the numeral. During our walk the children were challenged to find 7 items of their choosing. Can you see what we found ...

Along with these the children found the number 7 on a sign and counted 7 cars on the road and 7 clouds in the sky.

Back at Acorns the children enjoyed a vehicle track on the car park complete with zebra crossing and traffic lights. The children learnt to stop and go and had keep their scooters and bikes inside the lines, negotiating space and learning directional language.