This week we have enjoyed learning all about Buddhism festivals and places of worship as part of Culture Week.
We found out about the Buddhist celebration of Wesak, also known as Buddha Day. Wesak is the most important of the Buddhist festivals and is celebrated on the full moon in May. We learned that Wesak celebrates the Buddha's birthday and marks his enlightenment. After learning about this important festival, we created our own full moon paintings.
Next, we learned about the Buddhist way of worship. We discussed why many Buddhists go to a temple to worship Buddha and thought about the features of temples. From this learning, we created our own image of a Buddhist temple.
After learning about Buddhist ways of worship, we then created our own prayer flags, which included a personal mantra and animal symbols. Buddhists believe that hanging the prayer flags up in the wind causes the mantra to be repeated again and again with every movement of the flag.