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| MATTERS OF TASTE | |
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ACTIVITIES (RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES K - 3) |
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1) A Tale of Beavers
Objective: Students will learn about the role of beavers in seventeenth-century Beverwijck trade. They will be introduced to the “tulip craze” of seventeenth-century Netherlands.
Read A Tale of Tulips, A Tale of Onions by David Francis Birchman with your students. In the story, onion enthusiast Captain Drooter van Zooter accidentally eats one of Ed Vard Grooter’s priceless tulip bulbs during the Netherlands’ seventeenth-century tulip craze.
Have students re-imagine the story as it might have taken place in seventeenth-century Beverwijck, where beaver pelts were in high demand. Create a series of prompting questions or a fill-in-the-blank worksheet to help students begin constructing their stories. Example: For what object or animal might Captain Drooter van Zooter mistake a beaver? (What is one object that a beaver resembles?). What should happen as a result of Captain van Zooter's mistake? How does Ed Vard Grooter react?
Have students write a few sentences based on the ideas that they have brainstormed. Older students might enjoy experimenting with the rhyming and wordplay with which Birchman tells the original story. Allow students time to illustrate these “tales of beavers.” |
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2) "Even if it rained milk..."
Objective: Students will understand the role emblem books played in seventeenth-century Dutch society. They will become acquainted with the role of proverbs and emblem books in seventeenth-century Dutch society. They will be briefly introduced to some of the important foodstuffs in the early Dutch diet.
Some scholars believe that Dutch Golden Age genre paintings reference emblem books—collections of illustrated proverbs—in order to send a moralistic message to viewers. Many of these proverbs reference foodstuffs, especially the bread and cheese that were mainstays of the seventeenth-century Netherlander’s diet.
Show students sample pages from seventeenth-century Dutch emblem books. Since these small-format, black and white images lend themselves to photocopying, you may wish to provide each student with his or her own sample to reference as (s)he completes the project. A good source for emblem images the Emblem Project Utrecht website http://www2.let.uu.nl/emblems/html/projdesc.html.
Create a list of food-related Dutch proverbs for students to reference as they work. A table of relevant sayings and their approximate meanings has been provided below, but you may also wish to consult the Dictionary of 1000 Dutch Proverbs, edited by Gerd de Ley.
On one side of a sheet of drawing paper, have students write the literal English translation of their chosen proverb in large, clear letters. Instruct them to write the “true” cultural meaning beneath it.
The illustrations of Jacob Cats, Adriaen Van de Venne and other emblem writers tend to express the cultural—rather than the literal—meanings of proverbs, but students will nonetheless enjoy depicting a literal interpretation of one of these sayings. Encourage students to be creative with their illustrations; proverbs sometimes sound humorous or nonsensical to those who are unfamiliar with them, and students should feel free to create whimsical drawings.
Collect student drawings and bind them together to make a class “emblem” book. Orient the pages so that readers will encounter the written proverb first and the drawing second, as they turn the page. If several students have chosen to illustrate the same proverb, place their contributions next to each other in the book so that readers can fully appreciate each student’s interpretation. |
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Literal English Translation
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Approximate Meaning |
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“Even if it rained milk, his bowls would be upside down.”
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He has bad luck. |
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“A kiss without a beard is like an egg without salt.”
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Beware of young love; it is rarely lasting or true. |
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“He talks like a sausage without the fat.”
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He doesn’t have much to say; he’s “tight-lipped.”
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“He fell with his nose in the butter.”
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He’s lucky.
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“It’s easy to cut big chunks from someone else’s cheese.”
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It’s easier to spend someone else’s money than it is to spend your own. |
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“When butter gets expensive, you learn to eat your bread dry.”
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When times are tough, you must adjust. |
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“Some people eat biscuits in order to save on bread.”
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Some people are “spendthrifts.” |
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“He who has cheese does not need dessert.”
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Beware of gluttony. |
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“The way you choose a melon, you should choose your friends.”
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Be careful of who you trust. (Dutch children accompanied parents or servants to market and learned at an early age to discern between fresh and spoiled foodstuffs.)
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3) A Map for Hendrika
Objective: Students will learn about daily life in Beverwijck. Students will be introduced to some cultural elements traditionally associated with the Netherlands.
Read The Cow Who Fell in a Canal by Phyllis Krasilovsky. Hendrika the Dutch cow longs to visit the city as her friend Pieter the horse is permitted to do. When she accidentally falls into a canal while grazing one day, she gets her wish.
Have students map Hendrika's journey from the farm to the city, using simple icons—or more detailed drawings—to note important landmarks she encounters along the way.
The Cow Who Fell in the Canal is set in early twentieth-century Netherlands. Have students re-imagine—and map—Hendrika's journey as it might have taken place in seventeenth-century Beverwijck. For example, as Hendrika embarks on her journey, she is surprised to see houses with "staircases on their rooftops." What did houses in Beverwijck look like? Hendrika notices tulips growing in the grass beside the canal. What plants were abundant in New Netherland? As Hendrika nears the city, she sees Netherlanders riding bicycles. What forms of transportation did residents of Beverwijck use? When she finally reaches the city market, Hendrika is pleased to find colored straw hats for sale. What were some of the trade products of Beverwijck? |
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4) Tactile Still Life “Paintings”
Objective: Students will be introduced to the concept of “still life” painting. Students will understand that Dutch Golden Age still life paintings have been valued in part for their success in realistically portraying items.
Ahead of time, create simple patterns around which students can trace and cut. Make patterns for berkemiers, roemers, candlesticks, baskets, flowers, various types of fruit or vegetables, small insects or animals, or any other item you might find in a seventeenth-century Dutch still life painting. Make several copies of each pattern so that all students will have adequate opportunity to work with their patterns of choice.
Some scholars believe that seventeenth-century Dutch artists produced still life paintings in order to demonstrate their ability to engage in the “art of describing.” Show students examples of Dutch Golden Age still lifes; encourage them to notice details by posing simple leading questions.
For example: What are some of the objects portrayed in the painting? Focus students’ attention on a specific object, and ask them to describe how it might feel if they could touch it “in real life.” Continue the discussion until students seem to have thoroughly explored the reproduction). Announce that students will make their own still life “paintings.”
Provide students with a variety of materials; these might include crayons, markers, construction paper, foil, plastic wrap, colored cellophane, wallpaper, contact paper, fabric and carpet remnants, sandpaper, glitter, buttons, ribbon, yarn, Popsicle sticks, dried flowers or leaves, dry macaroni, beads, seeds, etc. In addition, make sure each student has access to a large, heavy sheet of cardboard or oak tag paper, a pair of scissors and all-purpose glue.
Have students select one pattern at a time, trace it onto a material of their own choosing, and cut it out. Encourage students to be creative; they may select materials that more realistically mimic an object, or they may prefer to mix up their textures, making furry candlesticks, sandpaper flowers or a tin-foil butterfly. Students may also enjoy embellishing the basic shapes of their chosen objects by drawing on them with crayons or markers or by attaching beads, glitter or other materials.
*Since students will be working from the same patterns, you might use this as an opportunity to mention that seventeenth-century Dutch artists often “borrowed,” from each other, adopting signature aspects of a colleague’s work for their own (See accompanying materials for further information on this phenomenon). You might also wish to introduce the term guild, and draw a comparison between it and your own classroom community.
After students have cut out four to six shapes, encourage them to make several “practice compositions” with their objects in order to determine their preferred arrangement. Before gluing shapes onto the cardboard backing, students may also wish to color in the background, “wallpaper” it, or attach a piece of fabric to make a tablecloth or drape.
Hang student still lifes around the classroom; rather than displaying them all together on one wall, arrange them as you might in a living room or in another area of a house. Explain to students that many seventeenth century Dutch burghers purchased original artworks to decorate their homes and to demonstrate their wealth and status. |
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5) Patriotic Still Lifes
Objective: Students will understand the concept of “still life” painting. Students will be introduced to Dutch trade and dietary patterns of the seventeenth-century, and will acquire knowledge about one critical lens through which these paintings can be viewed.
Some scholars believe that Golden Age Dutch still life paintings were created to demonstrate pride in the trade economy of a newly independent and prosperous nation. Engage students in a brief discussion exercise to help them understand the concept of still life painting. Hang a reproduction of a seventeenth-century Dutch still life on the blackboard or in another area where all students can easily see it. Pose simple leading questions, such as:
*What are some of the objects depicted in the painting?
*Do these objects have anything in common with each other?
*Why do you think an artist might have chosen to depict these particular objects?
*Would you expect to see this particular arrangement of items “lying around” in your own home? Why or why not?
Guide students to the conclusion that still life paintings depict inanimate objects arranged in a display designed by an artist. Briefly explain that some scholars believe seventeenth-century Dutch artists presented foodstuffs and luxury items from around the world in order to demonstrate pride in their rich trade economy (For further information concerning Dutch trade during the Golden Age, consult the accompanying materials).
Have students conduct research in the school library in order to determine the official food, drink, bird, animal, flower, etc. of New York State. Alternatively, have students research Beverwijck or present-day Netherlands in order to determine cultural elements or products that might have been or might be sources of pride to residents of one of these communities.
Have students use their research to design a still life picture in which the trade products—or other cultural elements—of a country or region are represented.
*Alternatively, you might have students work together to design a hutspot for present-day Albany or New York State, seventeenth-century Beverwijck, their own class or family, or any other community. Scholar Simon Schama writes of hutspot (Dutch stew):
The several treasures of the Dutch economy: agricultural, commercial, and horticultural are all represented in the recipe. Dairy food and meat, and fresh vegetables from Holland, spice from the Indies, citrus from the Levant and wine vinegar from the Mediterranean all came together in the meaty bubble of the hutsepot [hutspot] (177).
Briefly describe the contents of traditional Dutch hutspot to your class, and emphasize that the dish likely had patriotic significance for seventeenth-century Netherlanders. Since theirs is a “make-believe” stew, students may choose to include items as ordinary as apples or peanut butter, or as whimsical as a favorite bike trail or city building. Emphasize that students may contribute any item to the hutspot, as long as they can explain how it demonstrates pride in Albany. |
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6) Beverwijck Party
Objective: Students will investigate day-to-day life in seventeenth-century Beverwijck and compare it to their own experiences in the twenty-first century. Students will experience traditional Dutch food.
Anne Grant, a British woman who came to New Netherland as an infant, recorded her childhood memories of Beverwijck in a memoir first published in 1808. Read the following passage, in which Grant describes a phenomenon of Colonial Dutch childhood. She writes:
The children of the town were all divided into companies, as they called them, from five to six years of age, till they became marriageable. Each company at a certain time of the year went in a body to gather a particular kind of berries, to the hills. It was a sort of annual festival, attended with religious punctuality.
The parents of these children seemed very much to encourage this manner of marshalling and dividing themselves. Every child was permitted to entertain the whole company on its birth-day, and once besides, during winter and spring. The master and mistriss [sic] of the family always were bound to go from home on these occasions, while some old domestic was left to attend and watch over them, with an ample provision of tea, chocolate, preserved and dried fruits, nuts, and cakes of various kinds, to which was added cider or a syllabub [a drink made with sweetened cream curdled with wine or spirits], for these young friends met at four, and did not part till nine or ten, and amused themselves with the utmost gaiety and freedom in any way their fancy dictated.
Design a brief questionnaire regarding the experiences of the Dutch—and especially of Dutch children—living in Beverwijck, and have students conduct research in order to locate responses. Because few books for younger children address these specific topics, you may need to compile information from the accompanying materials or from other adult reading-level texts and incorporate them into a few paragraphs that students can use as sources for their “research.” Sample questions include:
*What was school like in New Netherland? Did all children go to school?
*What did children do for entertainment?
*What types of food did families in New Netherland eat?
*What types of clothes did New Netherlanders wear?
*What events or holidays did New Netherlanders celebrate?
After students have completed their research, encourage them to compare their own experiences with those of children living in Beverwijck. Ask student volunteers to name one-present day item that they would especially miss if they were suddenly transported back in time to Beverwijck. What aspects of life in Beverwijck might be especially fun? Are Beverwijck “companies” similar to the students’ own class? Why or why not?
Point out that the class has successfully worked together to finish a task in much the same way that Beverwijck “companies” worked together to harvest berries. Offer the students a party of the sort described in Anne Gibson’s memoir; set a date for the event, and have students use the research that they have conducted to plan appropriate food, entertainment, and dress.
*If possible, you might divide children into groups of three or four and have parent volunteers come into your classroom to cook a traditional Dutch recipe with each of these groups (See “Resources for Teachers” for a list of Dutch cookbooks). If proper facilities are not available, however, students will enjoy Dutch-origin foods such as doughnuts, pancakes, cookies, and waffles, or the cider, hot chocolate, nuts and dried fruit that Gibson mentions in the passage above. |
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