Thursday, April 12, 2012

Japanese Bento Boxes


A Japanese Bento Box is a container in which a meal is stored for convenient travel. (Bento means "convenient" or "convenience" in Japanese). Typical foods found in bento boxes include rice, fish, noodles, fruits, vegetables, etc. Shapes of boxes vary, and at times the contents are arranged in ways that depict anime, animals, people, characters, etc. If prepared in an elaborate way it could be a symbol of status for the Bento owner.


4th grade students created these Bento box paper sculptures over three class periods. (original inspiration for lesson found here!) 1st they made the box and then after researching common Japanese foods students began to construct items out of paper. Students were required to have three sections (not including chopsticks area) that contain three different foods.




4 comments:

  1. These are really cute- the yarn is a nice touch!

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  2. What fun! I'm pretty sure a majority of my rural students have never been to a Japanese restaurant and are more likely to have eaten venison than sushi, but still I think this is an adorable lesson and I love your results!

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  3. This is a fun lesson and they really look great! A good way to teach kids about culture and the way different areas of the world get their nutritional requirements. One thing though, is that fortune cookies go with Chinese not Japanese food--and were created not in China but in America.

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  4. Hi! I would love to do these with my 4th graders for our upcoming multicultural fair. However, when I clicked on your link for "Original inspiration found here" it's not bringing anything up except for a strange iCloud sign in. Is there anyway you could email it to me? Sailorsgirl10@gmail.com . I'd really appreciate it! Thank you for posting! -Jackie

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