A fun activity

As 1st counselor in the Primary, one of my responsibilities is the quarterly activities. We had a fun one yesterday, and I thought I'd share, in case anyone needs an idea.

The activity was called Temple Express. Basically, we "visited" 5 of our Church's temples around the world - Kiev, Ukraine; Santiago, Chile; Tokyo, Japan; London, England; and Accra, Ghana - by traveling to 5 different rooms around the building. Each room was hosted by an adult, and featured a picture of that temple, in addition to a variety of things from that culture, including music, food, pictures, objects, clothing, etc. In each room the children did different cultural activities.

I made each of the children a passport, which was stamped in each room they visited. The passports were 5 different colors, which then grouped the children into their traveling groups:

I did the Accra, Ghana room, in which I put up a picture of the Ghana temple:
And made palm trees to put up in the room:
I borrowed Brian's Master Drummers of Africa CD (he loves African drumming music) to have playing in the background:
I shared with the children the story of how, at the temple dedication, 1000 youth and 700 Primary children from Ghana performed the story of Anansi the Spider, from Legendary Ashanti folklore, and his journey to the temple. I got the background on the temple dedication from THIS Liahona article.

I then read the children Anansi the Spider, a Tale from the Ashanti that I borrowed from the library (I love this book, my kids love it too; think I will have to purchase it for our collection):
And then each child made their own Anansi spiders. I found the template on line, which you simply tape into a plastic cup, punch holes on the side, and attach black pipe cleaner legs. These were a HUGE hit.
And they tasted the West African Benne Cakes that I had made; these are similar to a flat and crispy oatmeal cookie, but made instead with toasted sesame seeds, which are used for good luck:
Similar cultural activities were held in each of the rooms.

I did this activity in my previous ward when I was Primary President, and both times it appears to have been well-received. But I have to say, it's always nice to get an activity behind me; they are a lot of (fun and rewarding) work!