Learn about Telling Time

It’s just about time for Daylight Saving Time to start in most of the United States (and it’s coming up in other places soon), so it seems like a good time to talk about time.

As an aside, if your kids have trouble with the time change (or you do!) these tips from Tiny Beans might help.

If you want to start talking about time with kids, read The Grouchy Ladybug and use the printables from Math Geek Mama to talk about the times different things happen in the story and different ways to express time (in words, with numbers on a digital clock, and with numbers and the hands of an analog clock). The printables are free in her shop.

Another fun way to talk about time is with these printable playdough mats from This Reading Mama. They include a clock face with no hands and a space for writing a time in numbers. You can give kids a time, they make the hands of the clock with playdough and then put the hands where they need to be for the time you want.

123 Homeschool 4 Me has collected a bunch of great resources for learning about telling time, including games, craft projects and printables. They’re arranged by type of activity and the age of the kids you’re working with.

Proud to Be Primary’s telling time resources focus on telling time in the classroom and what concepts can be taught to different grades of students. The post mostly focuses on resources you can buy in her Teachers Pay Teachers store, which is great if you have a full classroom to teach.

You can also go big with your time telling practice by using a hula hoop as a clock! Check out the ideas at I Know It, and consider how fun this would be to do outside! You could use sidewalk chalk to draw the numbers, and use branches or even the kids themselves as the hands of the clock.

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Learn about Time for Daylight Saving Time

Botswana is a landlocked country in southern Africa known for its desert and game reserves. About 70 percent of the country is part of the Kalahari Desert, and it is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world.

Botswana Basics

Botswana is borders by South Africa, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
With an area of 224,610 square miles (581,730 square kilometers) it’s about the size of France, and is home to about 2.4 million people.
The country is essentially the nation-state of the Tswana people, and the name means “home of the Tswana.” The Tswana are descendants of Bantu speakers who settled in the area as early as 600 AD.
The British colonized the area in 1885, and it gained its freedom in 1966.
Evidence shows that the area was inhabited by humans at least 400,000 years ago, and some theorize that it was the birthplace of all modern humans around 200,000 years ago.
Gabarone is the nation’s capital and largest city.
English is the official language, but Setswana (the language of the Tswana) is recognized as the national language.
Botswana is a parliamentary republic that also has a president, but the same political party has ruled there since independence.

Botswana National Symbols

The flag of Botswana is mostly sky blue with a horizontal band of black in the center with narrower white lines on either side. The blue is meant to signify the sky and water, while the black and white bands represent harmony among the diverse people who live there.

The national anthem, “Fatshe leno la rona,” or “Blessed Be the Noble Land,” was adopted in 1966.

The coat of arms shows two zebra holding a shield between them. The shield includes important elements from Botswana including cogwheels to represent industry, a bull for cattle herding, sorghum for agriculture and an ivory tusk to represent the country’s high population of elephants. It also includes the national motto, pula, which means “let there be rain.”

Zebras are a national symbol of the country, both because it is neutral in terms of traditional tribal symbols, and because the combination of black and white on their bodies evokes racial harmony.

The national tree is the marula, also known as Sclerocarya birrea, which is a medium-sized tree known as the king of trees in Africa. Check out that link for all the different uses for the tree, plus some debunking of the myth that eating the marula fruits can make animals drunk.

The kgori is the national bird, and it is the largest flying bird in Africa. The national flower is Sengaparile or Harpagophytum procumbens, also known as Devil’s claw for its spiny fruits, but it is one of the most common medicinal plants in Southern Africa.

Botswana Activities for Kids

Since zebras are the national animal you can spend some time learning about them. Check out this post at National Geographic Kids, and make some zebra crafts from this list from Artsy Craftsy Mom.

KidsKonnect has a good page and downloadable resources about the Kalahari Desert, while Twinkl has a variety of downloads on deserts in general, desert animals, deserts of the world and a set specific to Botswana. You can also find country studies, mini books and more at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Learn more about the Okavango Delta, a vast inland river delta that is mostly pristine because a lot of it is a nature preserve.

Check out Old Palaypye, a site that has been occupied by humans since the middle Stone Age and is considered the first town established in Botswana.

The national dish of Botswana is seswaa, stewed meet (usually beef) served with pap, which is like polenta. Check out the recipe at G Adventures, or a lazy version from My Burnt Orange.

Looking for a picture book about Botswana? Try The Upside Down Baobab Tree.

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Have you read?

Botswana Basics

Botswana National Symbols

Botswana Activities for Kids

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