Category: Great Pumpkin Project

BEA's Great Pumpkin Project Phase 3

31/10/2014

We made it through phase 3 of our Great Pumpkin Project just in time for Halloween! The BEA kids finished up their jack-o-lanterns with ribbons, sparkles and colored paper on the last day of our week-long Halloween festivities. By the end of the day, we had florescent-colored jack-0-lanterns decked out with colored hair, eye patches, hats and even bushy eyebrows! Before the students left at the end of the day, they got to do "trick-or-treating" in their classrooms and then in the library!

The Bayon English Academy (BEA) is an accredited NGO school that provides English language education, leadership, and job skills programs to underprivileged youth from well-trained teachers in a safe, clean and professional environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

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The Great Pumpkin Project Phase 2

31/10/2014

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Continuing with our Halloween festivities this week, the BEA kids moved on to phase 2 of their Great Pumpkin Project. The first part of class was spent “carving” faces on their pumpkins, but before the students did this, they had to slowly deflate their balloons inside their paper maché
pumpkins, which has the most bizarre "crackling" sound as the balloon pulls itself off the sides. The last part of the lesson was spent on painting their jack-o-lanterns with some outrageous florescent colors – orange and yellow being the most popular colors of choice. This was clearly the most enjoyable part of the lesson for the BEA kids. Tomorrow will be the grande finale of BEA's Great Pumpkin Project. The students will get to put the finishing touches on their jack-o-lanters and then use them for trick-or-treating at our Halloween party!

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Trick-or-Treat!!!

31/10/2014

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What a way to end our week of Halloween festivities! Once the BEA kids finished decking out their jack-o-lanterns, they got to do a bit of trick-or-treating in their classrooms and in the library so that they could take part in every kids' favorite part of Halloween -- getting candy! However, it's really hard to tell what they liked the most -- making jack-o-lanterns, face painting, getting candy, or just having a great time with their friends!

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The Great Pumpkin Project Phase 1

28/10/2014

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We kicked off the start of our Halloween festivities this week at BEA with our Great Pumpkin Project! The BEA kids, all 150 of them, are making their own paper maché jack-o-lanterns. It was a massive undertaking for the first phase of this project. It took all of the BEA staff to help cut up thousands of strips of newspaper, mix up 15 huge bowls of flour paste and help students carry their creations down to the library for drying. The library looks a bit creepy now with these hatchling-like creatures. For the BEA kids, it was the very first time in their lives to do such an art activity. Public schools don't have the funding or facilities to include art and music in their curriculum, as well as other types of "hands-on" learning. Even the science classes are without experiments. Even though we're a small NGO school, we try our best to give our kids different types of learning experiences. It was indeed one of the best days I've had at BEA to see the students learning and having so much fun! Phase 2 of our Great Pumpkin Project continues this Thursday with "carving" and painting.

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Phase 1 tested for BEA's Great Pumpkin Project

27/10/2014

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Since this is my first Halloween in Cambodia, I wanted to do something special with the BEA kids. Some of my best memories from my childhood in Canada were holiday arts & crafts activities in elementary school, so I wanted to share some of these experiences with my NGO students. Plus, all of the BEA kids don't get a chance to do these types of activities as part of their public school curriculum. Originally, I wanted to get typical orange pumpkins to carve jack-o-lanterns, but they are a rarity in Cambodian markets -- the smaller, green ones are the common variety here. Also, I have no idea how I'd be able to afford 150 pumpkins, let alone get them to the school. Definitely a task way beyond my driving capabilities on my motorbike.

Regardless, I came up with the idea of paper mache pumpkins! Over the weekend, I tested the first phase of our "Great Pumpkin Project" for our Halloween week at BEA. It was a complete mess with the flour mixture and newspaper strips, but I think the kids will have a blast creating their own jack-o-lanterns, and making a big ol' mess!

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Phase 2 tested for BEA's Great Pumpkin Project

27/10/2014

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All went went with the first phase of my paper maché project for the BEA kids over the weekend, and now it's onto phase 2 -- "carving" the pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern. Today is the start of Halloween week at BEA, so we're kicking off Monday with the "Great Pumpkin Project." The students are going to make their very own jack-o-lanters from paper maché. Today is going to be the toughest part of the project -- dipping newspaper strips into the flour mixture and layering a balloon with them them. It's definitely going to be an exciting, and very messy, experience for all the staff and students. I can't wait!!!

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BEA's Great Pumpkin Project Phase 3

The Great Pumpkin Project Phase 2

Trick-or-Treat!!!

The Great Pumpkin Project Phase 1

Phase 1 tested for BEA's Great Pumpkin Project

Phase 2 tested for BEA's Great Pumpkin Project

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