Nowruz (New Year) which means New Day in Persian culture has been celebrated for over 3,000 years. It is marking the 1st day of spring & the renewal of nature. It promotes values of peace & solidarity between generations & within families as well as reconciliation & neighbourliness, thus contributing to cultural diversity & friendship among peoples & different communities. With spring approaching it means that Nowruz is just around the corner, so today we created a collaborative Nowruz Goldfish.
During Nowruz families will set a table with items that represent the 7 important symbols of life. Life-rebirth, health, happiness, prosperity, joy, patience, & beauty. Apple: beauty/health, garlic: health, vinegar: age/patience, coins: prosperity, sabzeh: rebirth/growth, hyacinth: spring, mirror: self-reflection, senjed: love, egg: life, sumac: sunrise, samanu: affluence, candle: enlightenment, & goldfish: represent life.
The goldfish & bowl of water represents movement + life. The goldfish is also the sign of the last month in the Persian calendar (Esfand) & turning around the bowl is a sign of the & changing of the year. There are so many beautiful components of the Haftsin & each one of these elements symbolizes a lovely concept + brings the newness of fresh life, just like the Earth which starts a new life by the arrival of spring.
During circle time we read the book "The New Year's Goldfish" written by Solmaz Parveen & illustrated by Tata Bobokhidze. In the story a family is busy preparing for the celebrations, the son Keyan could barely contain his excitement of getting the goldfish for his haftsin. After reading the story, we invited children to decorate a goldfish made out of recycled cardboard. We provided tinker trays full of yarn, glitter, cellophane, pipe cleaners, stickers, post its, tissue paper, construction paper, felt, pom poms & more.
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