We decided to do a page on Canada in our Postcard-Geography album for Canada Day.
We had already studied some of Canada's early history when we studied the explorers. The English explorer John Cabot arrived in Newfoundland in 1497. About 40 years later in 1534, Jacques Cartier began his exploration of Canada on behalf of France. By the early 1600s, there were permanent French colonies, and in 1663, New France was established as a territory of France. French fur traders competed with the traders of the Hudson's Bay Company, run by British merchants. Wars in North America, known as the French and Indian wars, were waged in the 1700s. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 ended the armed fighting and established British rule over all of the territory formerly called New France. Canada Day celebrates the anniversary of the July 1, 1867 when the Constitution Act was enactment, which united three British colonies into a single country, called Canada, within the British Empire. Originally called Dominion Day, the name was changed in 1982, the year that Canada gained full independence from the United Kingdom. Food and other customs in Canada still carry hints of the colonial influences of England and France. Canadians speak English except in Quebec, where the language is French, reflecting the influence of French settlers.
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We have two postcards from Canada. This beautiful one, from British Columbia, I received through Postcrossing.
British Columbia Wildlife
British Columbia offers such a diversity of wilderness and landscape that wildlife abounds. This card features a Black Bear, a Killer Whale and a Deer.
Linda writes, " Greetings from the beautiful west coast of Canada. I am an animal lover and always enjoy sharing the wonderful creatures with others. I have seen all of these animals and love them! We live near Vancouver but go into the mountains in the summer." |
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The other postcard, also from Postcrossing, has just a geometric design and Allison writes,
"Greetings Bergenholtz Family! I'm from Burlington, Ontario, Canada!" |
Since the Canadian flag is so distinctive, we decided to make a little one for the scrapbook page.
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| We picked a leaf from our Norway Maple tree in the backyard. The Canadian flag features a Sugar Maple leaf, not a Norway Maple, but they were similar enough for this project. We traced the leaf onto a rectangle of white paper. |
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| I surprised the kids by telling them what they want is not the cut-out of the leaf, but the rectangle of white paper with the leaf shape cut out of it. |
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| We placed that rectangle on a larger rectangle of red cardstock to make the Canadian flag. |
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| We added a map of Canada to our page and I had Alex color in the territories the postcards came from. The page turned out a little crowded, but they had a lot of fun making it and learning about Canada. |
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| And as far as a food for Canada, how about some pancakes with Maple Syrup? |
