Our first cultural study in an African country! We received a Finders Seekers Junior Explorer Box about Mali in exchange for our honest review. It contained a booklet of information and fun activities, but we really missed learning about a place through living stories and a variety of picture books!
This country study for Mali includes stories of daily life, elephant migration, folklore, and biographies. Each book is connected with a video for further learning and an easy activity.
We were fascinated by Mansa Musa, the wealthiest king in history, and by the city of Timbuktu, a major center of Islamic culture and literature. We made edible mud-bricks with ingredients from the pantry to represent the building materials!
Food Explorations
Other food explorations included learning about millet and grinding it by hand. Nowadays, the multifunctional platform is used in some villages to grind millet and perform other labor-intensive tasks. This frees up time and energy for people to become entrepreneurs. Millet is an ancient grain and naturally gluten-free! We love having it in porridge form for breakfast. We also made gluten-free pancakes from millet flour.
Music Explorations
We attended a local African drumming program and each got to play the djembe, an instrument believed to have originated in Mali. It brought me back to my college days as a music major, taking an African drumming class under master drummer Hafiz Shabazz, and performing on the djembe. Naturally, we had to return home, read the pages from the country study about African music, and watch videos of master drummers in Mali.
Art Explorations
“Discover Mali: A Book A Day” guides you through a 2-week (10 day) study, using eleven beautiful living books that include stories of daily life, elephant migration, folklore, and biographies. Each daily book study is enhanced by a carefully chosen video and an activity. Shown below is my daughter painting bògòlan-inspired designs using inspiration from one of the picture books.
The subjects explored include geography, culture, science, biography, folk art, history, animal science, cooking, language art, and music. Listen to contemporary musicians and learn from the books and videos of Malian artist Baba Wagué Diakité. The rich cultural history of West Africa covers the Mali Empire until the Atlantic slave trade. Mapwork and Timeline cards are included.
This 32-page digital download presents organized book reviews, links, worksheets, and activity instructions. The books are not included; however, the six books that are free to read online are noted.
I made a few Instagram posts and reels back when my kids and I went through this fun study! Things tend to get buried over there, so here they are:
Malian Authors
Author Baba Wague Diakitè has written a few fun picture books as well as a chapter book, A Gift from Childhood. It highlights his interesting childhood in the countryside of Mali where he grew up with a large extended family under the care of his grandmother. A Gift from Childhood is free to read on archive.org.
Want to grab my freebie highlighting picture books about Mali by two Malian authors? Sign up below!