Mrs Sam shared with the children some of the ways in which Buddhists celebrate this festival which commemorates the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha. They learned about how and why Buddhists celebrate and compared this with Christian festivals and they way they are celebrated.

Some of the children dressed in traditional white clothing which is worn to temple, they learned about the meaning of the colours on the Buddhist flag and painted their own. They also made lanterns.

The children coloured lotus flowers and floated them on their pond. The lotus flower is very symbolic to Buddhists - it starts off growing through the dirt and mud at the bottom of the pond then rises through the muddy water to the surface where it opens out its pure white flower. This symbolises to Buddhists the purifying of the human spirit which is born into murkiness but can rise above this to achieve enlightenment. 

There are some more photographs here