Today and tomorrow are the last 2 days of The Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA)’s Dragon Boat Festival which features free virtual festivities.
Today (August 5th) at 4PM there’s “MOCAKIDS Storytime at Home: Row, Row, Row Your (Dragon) Boat!”
“The race is on! The Dragon Boat race, that is—and we need YOUR help to celebrate! Join us at MOCA Storytime for Duan Wu Jie, or the Dragon Boat Festival, as we read Dragon Boat Festival Wishes and Mulan and the Dragon Race. We’ll sing some songs and practice our paddling, too, before making a special boat craft!”
(You can register here and it will recorded and available on Facebook Live for 24 hours.)
Tomorrow (August 6th) they have “MOCACREATE at Home: Drum to the Beat!”
“Learn the significance of drumming in a dragon boat race and then create and embellish a simple drum to practice your drumming skills.
Share your finished projects with us by tagging #MOCACREATE and #MOCACREATEathome on social media, DMing us, or emailing images to education@mocanyc.org.”
In general, the museum has a bunch of creative activities for kids – that involve both art and education, as part of their MOCACREATE at Home.
Explore their activities.
You’ll find some on Instagram – like the River Dragon creation here:
And, especially, on Youtube where each video teaches about an artist or topic and then has a related activity.
For instance, “Me, On Screen” “discusses the history of representation in Hollywood, the ways Asian Americans are blazing their own trails in film today, and how to design your very own movie poster, starring you!“, and with “Unearth Art Like MOCA Hero Maya Lin“, learn about artist and architect Maya Lin! And then use items around “to create earthworks, a special kind of art, just like Maya!”.
Or in “Let’s Get Loud! Nian Monster Noisemakers” MOCA Educator Nicole tells the tale of the Legend of Nian. And you learn how to transform ordinary household items into festive rattle drums.”
You can also visit MOCA in person – it’s open and offers free admission!
