Yoga is a daily practice for children at Ehrlo Early Learning Centre’s W.F. Ready location. But staff member Jude Hwang decided to take it one step further and teach the children more about where yoga originates – India.

With the help of several other staff members, one of whom is East Indian, Jude orchestrated a “Celebrating India” day to teach the children about other aspects of Indian culture, from the clothing to the music.

“At first many children didn’t know where India was,” said Jude. But by the end of the day, they understood not only the geographical location, but also had a deeper understanding of India’s rich culture.

On “Celebrating India” day, yoga was led by staff in traditional Indian clothing. The children tried their hand at belly dancing to Indian music and played rhythmic instruments to try and recreate the sounds. They decorated bags with traditional patterns and watched videos of celebrations in the country.

“The children really liked it. Lots of them said they wanted to go to the ‘real India’,” Jude said. Staff encouraged the students’ curiosity to travel by explaining to them that they could go to India when they were adults.

As a cap off to the day, the children each got a copy of a real airline ticket from Indian airlines with Hindi writing.