Italian Day

Friday 13 September, 2019

The Preparatory School playground was a sea of green, white and red as staff and students joined in the fun by wearing the colours of the Italian flag. Throughout the day, girls were involved in several engaging, fun activities relating to the language and culture of Italy.

We began the day with a puppet show by Dennis Murphy’s Puppets. Dennis Murphy has toured Europe, Asia and Australia bringing the Italian theatre tradition of La Commedia dell’Arte to life in front of thousands of audiences. On Italian Day he performed Arlecchino To the Rescue. The cheeky, funny Arlecchino character was especially popular with the girls.

The girls enjoyed a refreshing gelato as they travelled through the day learning about Italy. Kindergarten listened to the story about Pinocchio and how he got his long nose. They danced a Pinocchio dance and made individual Pinocchio puppets. Girls also created their own Arlecchino puppet, a character they saw in the Dennis Murphy puppet show, and made their own interpretation of the art of Giuseppe Arcimboldo who painted portraits out of fruits and vegetables. They learnt about the Leaning Tower of Pisa and undertook a challenge of creating the tallest ‘Leaning Tower of Pymble’ using only paper plates and plastic cups.

Year 1 girls enjoyed a sport lesson with an Italian twist. They participated in races where they had to deliver a pizza, they sprinted a meatball on a spoon to the spaghetti bowl and raced pool noodle horses, re-enacting the famous horse race of Siena (Palio di Siena). Back in the classroom, Year 1 decorated Carnevale masks and looked at the artwork of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, creating their own masterpiece using the game Roll-a-Masterpiece. They learnt about Venice and the unusual transport system there, then participated in a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) challenge of creating a boat for Pinocchio to save Geppetto from the whale. The girls enjoyed experimenting with the given materials, working hard to create a floating device that could carry Pinocchio without him getting wet.

Year 2 also explored the art of Giuseppe Arcimboldo. They created their own art with the app Pictoboldo and produced an amazing artwork of the colourful buildings of Burano (Venice) reflected in the water of the canals. They participated in an Art Escape challenge, completing five challenges while exploring clues about a stolen artwork. With each challenge completed, they won puzzle pieces which became a collaborative picture of the stolen artwork, the Mona Lisa. The girls learnt about different bridges in Italy and Australia and were challenged to create their own weight-bearing bridge using selected materials.

Italian Day is a fantastic opportunity for the girls to learn about the culture of Italy with hands-on, engaging activities that create memories. A special thank you to the girls for their enthusiasm, the parents and carers for their fantastic efforts in dressing the girls in Italian colours and to the Preparatory School staff who helped make the day a success.