Handa’s Surprise
As part of our ongoing enquiry “What’s in My World?”, we have been learning about how people live in different parts of the world. We read the story Handa’s Surprise by Eileen Browne, which introduced us to a different environment, climate, and way of life. This helped us compare our own world with Handa’s — noticing differences and similarities in homes, clothing, animals, and especially food.
We explored tropical fruits like mangoes, pineapples, and avocados, and talked about where they come from and how they grow. We used our senses to touch, smell, and taste them — encouraging curiosity and developing vocabulary. We also looked at maps and globes to see where Handa lives and compared it to where we live, supporting early geographical awareness.
This led beautifully into our learning about the Harvest Festival, where we focused on the food that grows in our world and the importance of sharing what we have. We talked about where food comes from — farms, fields, trees — and how different communities give thanks for the food they eat.
We learned why it is important to thank farmers for the food they grow. We also talked about how harvest happens in our environment, and how people and animals rely on nature at this special time of year.
The children got hands-on with their learning. They made Harvest pizzas, explored how potatoes are harvested, and created their own Supertato characters! We also made bird feeders to help local wildlife.
To finish the week, we held our first ‘Show Your Parents’ event, where the children proudly shared their Harvest learning.
A big thank you to all the families who came to see us — it was a wonderful way to end our Harvest celebrations!
