This weekend, my family went to a festival organized by Stand With Japan, a new association of New York moms who set out to raise money for Save the Children’s Japan fund. We took Emmett (six) and Adrian (three), to this family event that included a Japanese bake sale, origami making, and a koto recital (a beautiful Japanese string instrument that you can check out on YouTube).

Emmett had heard about the tsunami at school, and had also seen the wonderful movie Ponyo, about a boy and a half-fish half-girl who weather a tsunami in a small Japanese town. We had talked about the Japanese disaster a bit (one of his classmates is half Japanese and has family there), but I felt I hadn’t done enough to help him understand how we could help our Japanese friends from right here in New York.

I think that an important part of raising “global citizens,” is helping our kids make connections between seemingly distant people and places and their own lives, which tend to be filled with very local preoccupations. In addition to giving kids the advantages of being able to communicate with people through speaking another language, it’s important to try and give them access and exposure to other cultures in any way you can. As adults, we sometimes forget that the interconnectedness of the world is not that obvious to children. We hear about Japan on a daily basis and understand both the human tragedy and its global implications, but young children need a helping hand to connect those dots. A cultural event like the one organized by Stand With Japan was great not only because we got to help raise money for relief efforts, but because it showed our boys several important things:

1. There are many Japanese people in our community – people directly connected to the same Japan that Emmett was told about in school.

2. Japan, and Japanese people, have a rich tradition they hadn’t seen before, from the costumes, to the food, tea rituals and music.

3. Most importantly, my kids were able to see how we can help people in the rest of the world though local efforts.

Although my boys aren’t quite ready for the delectable sushi that was on offer, through the sweet goodness of Sticky Buns and Red Bean cakes, they were transported for an hour or two into another culture, something I hope they will grow a taste for.

Q: Are there any local efforts for Japan that you can get involved in, or take your kids to? Have you gone to any already?

Take Action: Donate to the Save the Children Japan Earthquake Tsunami Relief

The fact that Emmett goes to school with kids from Korea, India, Australia and China is one of the things I love about his school. Even though Emmett is in one of his “picky eater’ phases (OK it’s more than a phase) where anything that isn’t fish sticks, white meat chicken, pasta, yellow pepper or pizza meets with a resounding “no thank you!” I was happy we could share this international experience. His little brother Adrian was slightly more experimental, taking a crack at some chick peas with yellow rice.

The kids, who helped organize the evening, (along with a parent volunteer committee) drew colorful maps of each continent which hung on the walls, and the food was grouped by region. That way, as you went down the buffet line you could sample empanadas from Spain, fried ravioli from Italy and then move on to Samosas from India and sushi from Japan. Each dish was numbered so we could vote for our favorite one at the end.

We had a great time and it was a fun way to bring some of these countries my kids have not had much experience with to life through the foods they eat (we’ve been doing a lot of spinning our globe lately and learning about where it lands). There were also signs up all over teaching kids how to say “hello” in a variety of languages! Of course I loved that! All that was missing was Little Pim himself.

Does your child’s school or daycare have an “international night” or activity? if it did, would you attend?

Father warns his sons Tarta and Chichi about the dangers they will face! From “Light of the River” 川の光 (Kawa No Hikari)

Before the movie started, the festival organizer asked the kids to think about 1) what they liked about the movie, 2) what they didn’t like about the movie and 3) why. This film was for 4-7 year olds and the organizer pointed out to parents that these three questions provide the seeds of “critical thinking”. Taking young children to well-made films like this – and then engaging them in talking about what they saw – is an excellent way to get children engaged in analytical thinking at a young age, and build up media literacy skills. Plus, in watching “Light of the River” Emmett got to see Japan (in animated form) and hear Japanese for 75 minutes (a talented actress read the subtitles out loud right in the theater). He loved the movie and we are still talking about it two days later!

You can watch a trailer for “Light of the River” below. Sorry, there are no subtitles here, but after a few sessions with Little Pim Japanese your kids should be able to help you out!