In Korea, flying kites is one of the most popular folk games experienced during two of their major holidays - Chu'sok and Lunar New Year. The traditional Korean kite is made from bamboo and rice paper. In Korean history, kite flying is traced back to 637 AD during the reign of Queen Chindok of Shilla. General Kim used the kite flying in the night skies to calm a restless and unhappy population.
Fujimini Island is a Moms Choice Award-winning picture book series teaching Asian culture and values.
Have you ever built or flown a kite with your friends and family before? My kids and I love kites and the feeling of joy we have when we are running behind them watching them dip and fly in the sky. We went out and flew some kites over the holiday and felt inspired to research and understand kite flying. Do you ever wonder where this essential piece of your childhood came from? Kites were first created approximately 2800 years ago in China.
The earliest known kites were flat and often rectangular. They were mostly made from bamboo and silk. Often times
they were decorated with legendary figures and fitted with whistles to make musical sounds while flying.
Learn more about family-friendly Asian culture at Fujimini Island
Asia is a place filled with celebration and deeply rooted tradition, especially during these warm summer months. July is a time of great festivities including the Food Festival in Singapore, the Arts Festival in Bali, the Kite Festival in Bali, and the Tet Doan Ngo Festival in Vietnam. Tet Doan Ngo is the middle year festival in Vietnam. It is held annually on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. This festival celebrates the prevention of disease and warding off unwanted evil spirits. On this day, also known as the day for "killing insects", everyone must get up early and eat fermented sticky rice and fruits. The worshipping is held at noon, the hour of Ngo. The fermented sticky rice, also known as Ruou nep, is what is eaten to exterminate any bugs or parasites within the body. To make Ruou nep sticky rice is boiled and cooled then left to ferment for 2-3 days. This turns it into a thick, sweet liquid ready for consumption by children and adults alike.
Tet Doan Ngo is one of the most significant festivals of Vietnam and is greatly linked with Vietnamese
When tourism took off in 1965 in Bali, the Balinese decided they wanted tourism to exist solely through culture. The saying "tourism should be for Bali instead of Bali for tourism" stemmed from that very idea. The desire for cultural tourism brought about many holidays in festivals including The Bali Arts Festival and The Bali International Kite Festival.
Like Independence Day in the United States, both these festivals take place in July. The Bali Arts Festival is a full month of daily performances, handicraft exhibitions, and other culture-heavy activities. This month is filled with spectacular sights and sounds of Balinese dance, music, and decorations. Throughout the villages of Bali music and dance groups compete in contests at the district level. From there the seka, or cultural groups, are selected and organized at the regency level to perform the Arts Festival, displaying the uniqueness of their villages and ancestors to a large audience. Many of the performances are held at the amphitheater which can hold up to 6,000 spectators, in a temple-like stage. Many schools for dance and music have been built since the creation of the Bali Arts Festival.
Like the Bali Arts Festival, the Bali International Kite Festival stems from Balinese culture and the desire for cultural tourism. The Bali International Kite Festival is an annual kite festival held in July in the Padang Galak area, Sanur Beach, Bali. The event is a religious festival intended to send the Hindu Gods a message to create abundant harvests. The competition consists of 10 teams, each team competing for the best launch and longest flight time. There are 3 traditional kites, the Bebean, or fish-shaped kite, the Janggan, or bird-shaped kite, and the Pecukan, or leaf-shaped kite. Kites traditionally 5 meters in width and 10 meters in length are made and flown by teams from the villages of Denpasar. Red, white, and black are the traditional colors of this festival. Tourists flock from around the world to watch and participate in this fun filled festival!
I used to ask my mother on Mother's Day, "why isn't there a day to celebrate the children as well as the parents"? Her response would always be "everyday is children's day" punctuated with a wink. After all those years with "no REAL children's day", I discovered many countries around the world celebrate a children's day.
For example, in Japan and Korea, May 5th is nationally known as Children's day. It is the day when families celebrate the happiness and growth of their children. Although it has been celebrated for hundreds of years, Children's Day became an official national holiday in 1948. On this day it is tradition for families with boys to hang large carpe-shaped streamers outside their home to symbolize strength and success.
Other celebrations including bathing with iris leaves and root sprinkles and eating kashiwamochi, rice cakes wrapped in oak leaves and filled with bean paste. These activities are to ward off evil and encourage good health. Activities involving arts and theater are widely celebrated on this day.
Kids Olympics is nationally celebrated and is participated in by both children and their parents. Even though not everywhere has a nationally acknowledged Children's day, hug your children today and tell you love them. Others celebrate Cinque de mayo; just think of how many people were celebrating last week! Were you?
Fujimini Island character The Taekwondo Bunny wants to reward her friends with books, i-books and game apps. To enter the contest is easy, just simply "Fan" ONCEKids on Facebook. The prizes are great fun for the whole family delivering colorful imagery, encouraging peaceful, global messages and modern education. Winners will be announced next week, just as you're Easter egg hunting.
It is the Year of the Rabbit so come celebrate with The Taekwondo Bunny! And, it is no coincidence there is another POWER bunny coming onto the scene in just a few short days. Yes, that's right, the Easter Bunny is her friend BUT she will quietly compete to be the top bunny. ONCEKids encourages your family to enjoy technology so our ibooks and game plays great on an iPad. However you can still travel to Fujimini Island and have fun with the animals even without a computer, by reading the print books.
So jump into the contest and decide which reading experience you want to take!
Most families have pets: dogs, cats, fish, hamsters, maybe more? As soon as your family adopts the pet, they become a part of your family. As a kid, your job is to love and take care of your family's pets. Play with them, walk them, feed them, clean up after them. But what happens when there's an emergency? What happens when your furry (or gilled) family member goes missing during a catastrophe? Here's the rescue story of one. Video is below.
When the Japanese Tsunami and earthquake occurred, millions of homes were destroyed. Families were pulled apart and family went missing. This week, amazingly, a Japanese family's pet dog was found. He somehow stayed alive on a floating pile of rubble with a roof on top for three weeks before the Japanese Coast Guard rescued him. Floating in the ocean off the coast of Japan, the dog was surrounded by salt water -- which like humansin the same situation, if he drank it, it would only hurt him -- luckily there was so much drinkable rain water caused by the storm, that the pup was able to stay hydrated and survive long enough to be found and rescued.
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