LI: We are learning about Japanese cherry blossoms and why they mean so much to the Japanese culture.

SC: I can discuss why the cherry blossom are important to the Japanese people.

SC: I can create a cherry blossom, using water colour and printing.

The children researched why the cherry blossom trees were so important to the Japanese people.They found that in much of Japan, the flowering cherry trees (which the Japanese call sakura) come into full bloom around the beginning of April. April is the month when the new school year starts for Japanese children; it’s also the month when companies start their new business years and when many new graduates start to work. So the cherry blossoms make people think of new beginnings.

P7/6 commented on how beautiful and bright the cherry blossoms were, so we decided to create our own. The children chose either hot or cold water colours and used these to create the background. Next, paying attention to line thickness, they used black paint to create the sweeping branches. To make the pink blossoms the children chose to either use their finger or  use the base of a bottle to print. You can see the different effects on the photos below.