Celebrate Brazil 2014

Celebrate Brazil 2014

As Brazil hosts the World Cup from the 12^thJune, we have pulled together some Brazilian themed activities and ideas that you could try out in your setting, alongside their top sport of football!

Brazil Fun Facts

Brazil received its name from the tree brazilwood, which is abundant in the country.
Brazil was under the rule of Portugal from 1500 to 1822, which is why Portuguese is the official language of Brazil, not Spanish.
Brazil is home to approximately 2500 airports; it is the third largest airplane manufacture in the world!
The Amazon River runs through the majority of the country.
Every time a child loses a tooth the mother throws the tooth outside for birds, and says a little rhyme. Birds will only take clean teeth, and then the child receives a prize. If the tooth is not taken, then it means it is too dirty, which gets the child to brush their teeth more often.

Brazilian Foods

Brigadeiro: These are sweet chocolate truffles that were created by the wife of Brigadeiro (Brigadier) Eduardo Gomes, who was a Presidential candidate in Brazil in the 1940s. His wife would cook the sweets and serve them during their fundraising events. The guests loved the treat and soon enough people started asking: “Have you tried the Brigadeiro’s candy? Where is the Bridagier’s candy?” And that is where the name Brigadeiro comes from.

Ingredients:

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, 2 tbsp. heavy cream, 2 (14 oz.) cans sweetened condensed milk, 3 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped,1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder,1 cup chocolate sprinkles

What to do:

Bring butter, cream, and milk to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add chocolate and cocoa powder, and reduce heat to low; cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is the consistency of dense, fudgy batter, about 16 minutes. Transfer to a bowl; let cool. Chill until set.
Using a tablespoon, portion out fudge and roll into balls. Roll each ball in chocolate sprinkles until evenly coated. Chill until ready to serve.

Thanks to: http://streetsmartbrazil.com/blog/20100215/learn-how-cook-brigadeiros. They have a great video of making brigadeiros that you can follow.

Cheese bread or empanadas are also great Brazilian recipes to try. http://www.cynthiapresser.com/brazilian-recipes-south-american-cuisine/brazilian-appetizers/219-brazilian-cheese-bread-pao-de-queijo

Language

Obrigado/Obrigada – Thank you. A bit of politeness goes a long way! If you’re male you say ‘obrigado’ whereas females say ‘obrigada’.

Fique tranquilo – If something doesn’t work out someone will probably say ‘fique tranquilo’ which means don’t worry! If the bus takes off just as you arrive to the bus stop, don’t worry. Fique tranquilo, there’ll be another one in ten minutes!

É mesmo? – A reaction to an interesting new fact, it’s like saying ‘really’.

Gringo/gringa – What the Brazilians call foreigners, gringo for a male, gringa for a female. This isn’t an insult!

Games to play

Queimada

Queimada, the Portuguese word for “burned,” is a popular game similar to dodgeball. To play, form two even teams and divide the players on each half of the field. At each end of the field mark an area called the “cemetery” and place one player from each side inside their team’s cemetery. The game begins when one of the players in the cemetery launches a ball to the other side of the field. Members of the opposing team try to catch the ball and throw it at a player on the side from which the ball was launched. If a ball strikes a player, he is “dead” and must spend the remainder of the game in the cemetery. The game finishes when all of the players on one side are “dead.”

Luta de Galo

Luta de galo is Portuguese for “fight of the roosters”. Any number of children can play. Split the children into pairs. Unlike other games, partners are not teammates, but opponents. Have each child tuck a handkerchief or piece of cloth into their belt or waistband, cross their right arm across their chest, and hold up their left leg. Players must hop around one-legged and use their free arm to snatch their opponent’s handkerchief. Disqualification occurs if a child puts their left leg on the ground or unfolds their right arm.

Cinco Marias

Cinco Marias can be played with two to four children. All you need are five flat, smooth stones. Throw all five stones on the floor. Pick up a stone, then toss it in the air, pick up another stone, and catch the tossed stone before it lands. Repeat this process until you have all the stones. In the next round, you must grab two stones at a time, and then three, and then all four, so the difficulty increases as the game goes on.

Hit The Coin. This is another popular game among Brazilian children that requires steady aim and concentration. To play, fix a short bamboo stick or dowel (12 to 18 inches in length) into the ground so it doesn’t move. Draw a small circle about 5 inches in diameter around the stick and place a small object (coin, bottle cap, toy soldier, etc.) on top of the stick. Players then take turns trying to knock the small object off of the stick by throwing coins at it. To win the player must knock the small object completely out of the circle.

Crafts and activities

Headresses

In the Amazon jungles of Brazil, native people called Yanomami use bird feathers to make headdresses and armbands. Make your own headdress and armband using supplies from a craft store. Buy a bag of colourful feathers, or cut feather-shaped pieces out of coloured construction paper. Draw lines on the paper to resemble the markings of a feather. Cut a 1-inch strip of cardboard to fit around your upper arm or your head. Glue or staple the feathers to the strip and staple the band closed.

Pandeiro

The pandeiro is a Brazilian tambourine. Make your own with two small, white paper plates. Paint the bottoms of the plates in bright colours and designs. Decorate with stickers, jewels and foam shapes. Face the insides of the plates together and punch six to eight holes through the two thicknesses equidistant around the edge. String small jingle bells on pipe cleaners and tie the plates closed by putting the pipe cleaners through the holes. You are ready to shake the pandeiro.

Maraca

The word “maraca” is a Brazilian word meaning “percussion instrument.” Make your own maracas from two clean, recycled yoghurt cups. Paint the cups, the lids and two ice cream sticks in bright colours and let them dry. Fill the cups half-full with uncooked rice, popcorn kernels or beans. Glue the lids to the cups with a glue gun. Make a slit in the lids and glue the sticks inside the lids. When the glue is dry, the maracas are ready for shaking and music making.

Further information:

There are some great printable resources at www.brazil.org.uk. These include a good map and kids leaflets on different aspects of brazil.

http://www.brazil.org.uk/resources/documents/brazilmap.pdf

http://www.brazil.org.uk/resources/documents/brazilforkids.pdf

http://www.brazil.org.uk/brazilintheschool/primary.html

Posted on Thursday, 22nd May 2014

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