Fantastical Fans in Storytelling

The artifact for the day is Fantastical Fans. Not fanatical fans at a rock concert, but the beautiful handheld fans created to cool one's body. you can visit Wikipedia to discover the earliest archaeological finds of fans dating back to Greece at or before the 4th century B.C. and East Asia by the 2nd Century B.C.

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I lived in Japan for four years while my dad served in the U.S. Air Force. Everyone had fans - beautifully painted fans. I didn't know of stories that included these fans until I was an adult.  One of my favorite stories that I tell to young children is from the book Twice Upon a Time by Judy Sierra and Robert Kaminski titled "The Tengu's Magic Nose Fan." I've included a youtube telling of this tale below.

Another wonderful story is The Magic Fan by Keith Baker. I love every book Keith writes and illustrates! In this book Yoshi is a young inventor who discovers this fantastical fan that illustrates imagination. This fan inspires Yoshi to build a kite. He loses the kite but only then realizes it's his imagination that will continue his journeys in life!

Activities: Wouldn't it be fun for the kids to create their own fans after listening to your stories? They would love it! You could use the traditional accordian folding of paper once they have drawn or painted a scene - no sticks needed. Or you could pass out popcicle sticks to be glued onto the back of the fan created. Here's some website ideas to springboard from:
1. Japanese Fans
2. The Crafty Classroom Blog - several different types of fans

3. Japanese fan making for older kids
4. Pinterest - fun fans!

I leave you today with a wonderful storytelling one man/woman comedy show called Rakugo. These storytellers are only allowed to use a paper fan and a small cloth. It was only because of this A to Z Challenge that I learned about this type of storytelling! I LOVE IT!!! I can't wait to share it with my students. Please check out this blog and youtube: Derivejapan Blog