One of my most favourite educational activities with the children has been to do a Pakistan presentation at school. We have done this after a trip to Pakistan, for a special educational unit in the classroom about diversity or on a milestone for Pakistan.
Here are some resources, ideas and crafts to do a Pakistan presentation at school either by a student, parent or teacher.
Zeynab was in preschool when we dressed up in our beautiful Pakistan outfits and did an age-appropriate presentation about Zeynab’s trip to Pakistan. The children in her classroom learnt many facts about Pakistan and asked curious questions. I loved the look of pride and ownership Zeynab had on her face. We had taken Pakistani postcards for every child (that I had bought in Pakistan), and asked a friend’s mother to write each child’s name in Urdu calligraphy (khattati). I had many parents come up to me at pickup the next day, talking about the positive experience their children had.
Pakistan Presentation at School
Planning:
- You might be asked by your child’s teacher to do a presentation or you can approach the teacher yourself. Make sure you tell them your plan, the educational objectives and how much time it will take.
- You might be allowed to do it in person or online. Plan the activities accordingly.
- Due to allergies, food preferences and school restrictions, don’t keep any food as part of your plan.
Themes:
Here are some themes you can pick:
- Our trip to Pakistan
- 10 facts about Pakistan
- Truck art of Pakistan
- Natural wonders of Pakistan (Khewra salt mines, K2 etc)
- Cultures and languages of Pakistan
- Ancient civilizations of Pakistan
- Pakistan flag
- Festivals of Pakistan: Eid, Basant, Horse and Cattle show, Shandur Polo Festival etc.
Activities:
Once you pick a theme, plan some activities to make the presentation fun and interactive. Here are some ideas:
- Print pictures of your trip to Pakistan and add on cardboard to present. You can also add them in a presentation to show online.
- Prints facts about Pakistan and accompanying pictures to presentation. Check out this post “Around Pakistan in 10 Facts” for some interesting facts.
- Place the Pakistan map in a prominent place and encourage children to observe it and then have a open ended conversation about the different cities, what they are famous for and the climate.
- Set up a story board and let children observe it and then walk them through the pictures. You could set up a history board with the timeline of the making of Pakistan, a cultural one with the regional dresses of Pakistan or a travel one with post cards from Pakistan.
- Pick a Pakistani song to sing for the class! Here are a few of my favorite ones.
- Make Pakistan Flags through these 5 fun crafts
- Create your own beautiful truck art through these sheets. Print lots of sheets and provide lots of crayons and coloring pencils.
- Lots of Pakistan-theme crafts from Creative Mind Khadija
- Set a main table with Pakistan theme decorations from your house: trucks, paintings, mats etc. Bring them all out and get creative! Cover the table with traditional ralli or ajrak.
- Talk about the festivals of Pakistan, by doing a craft about Basant (I have linked a great one here), Shandur Polo Festival (the yearly festival that takes place at the highest polo ground in the world), or Eid festivals!
[READ MORE: HOW TO DO A PRESENTATION ABOUT EID AND RAMADAN IN THE CLASSROOM]
Books:
- “P for Pakistan” is a lovely book for elementary age children to read out in the classroom.
- The story of Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel laureate in the world!
- This Truck Has Got to be Special, a beautiful book about adventures of a truck and truck art.
- Hop on the Story Truck, folk stories from around Pakistan.
- Amai’s Mohenjo Dato Adventure, learn about this ancient civilization of Pakistan.
- Graphic Stories: Allama Iqbal, to share about the national poet of Pakistan.
Videos:
- Ten incredible facts about Pakistan
- Shandur Polo Festival
- K2: Second highest mountain peak in the world
Miscellaneous:
- Dress up in Pakistani outfits yourself.
- Involve your child in the planning and give them ownership of the presentation. It doesn’t need to be perfect. It’s more important for your child to feel it as their own.
- If you can, you can give every child a small token at the end of the presentation. Postcards or their names written in Urdu are a simple and inexpensive idea.
Hope these tips, resources and ideas about planning a Pakistan presentation at school help you. Do let me know if you have any questions.