Panwapa is designed to engage and inspire children to become global citizens. Panwapa comes from the people behind Sesame Street and is produced in partnership with the Merrill Lynch Foundation. Panwapa and the Curriki organization have teamed up together to provide new opportunities to explore global citizenry in a fun way.
Panwapa is an imaginary floating island with characters, stories, and global explorations for kids ages 5-9. In the Tshiluba language, spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, "Panwapa" means "here on this earth."
Panwapa characters introduce kids to concepts of learning about and accepting other cultures. The information is available in five languages: Arabic, English, Japanese, Mandarin, and Spanish.
To begin playing the Panwapa game now, visit:
http://www.panwapa.com/panwapasplash.php
In this section, there are four stories (each approximately 8 minutes long), all designed to introduce and model skills needed for global citizenship. Following each story are a series of questions that you can use to stimulate a discussion with your students.
The Panwapa Movie Play-Along offers an opportunity for your student to view short films (about 3-4 minutes each) about real kids and their experiences in different parts of the world. Following each short film is a series of questions that you can use to stimulate a discussion with your students.
Global citizenship begins with a connection to local community. For kids, investigating and connecting with their communities is the first step in engaging with the larger world. The Information Booth activities are designed to familiarize children with their own communities: instilling a sense of pride in what their communities have accomplished, and a sense of potential about what their communities can become.
