Nursery Narratives: Building National Identity and Belonging Through Celebration

Tales of a Flag’s Birthday

Walking into nursery and hearing local pride:

“Emirati, Emirati,
Ana Al Emirati,
Emirati, Emirati,

Ana Al Emiarti”

Kicking off the vibrant Flag Day festivities! Excitement is pulpable. Flags waving around, circular movements, rectangular movements, flags becoming imaginary swords and eventually…  the teacher becomes the custodian of flags until the national anthem is played.

Fingers pressing down on the rice, Abdallah grasping the red rice with both hands. Fatima sprinkling the white rice as if it was fairy dust.  And Hind quietly observing the situation, her mind absorbing the quiet rhythm of the creative process. Creating the UAE flag with colourful rice is the collaborative endeavour of the moment.

Grabbing hold of the cool weather, we start off with this creative undertaking outside.  As a collective the children brought out the colours of the UAE flag to life. There was a sound of distant laughter as the children admired their work and chatted in Arabic. After the last grain of rice was carefully placed, the children eagerly turned their attention to the next part of the activity.

Before the teacher could prompt them to the following experience, young hands were armoured with  brushes and rollers. With a dunk, roll and splat, perhaps a few colours got mixed in the process and  formed a brown moosh. A post modern interpretation of the national flag, nothing for the purists. But everything for curious, experimenting minds. The children laughed at the unexpected shade, quickly naming it and debating whether it still belonged on the flag. Instead of stopping, they adapted by adding more green here and a streak of red there.

Once complete, pupils were ushered into a line with their hands in the air, instructed not to touch anything on the way to class with their painted hands. An assistant wiped the little fingers with a wet cloth and the artwork continue. This time finger painting a template of the UAE Flag. With decorations in the backdrop, pictures taken and creativity flowing. Hands stained with paints once again, each finger print was a imprint of their own identity. It was here, in this quiet moment of finger painting, that the children truly felt a sense of connection. Some of the children experienced their first Flag Day Celebration.

Chronicles of Hag Al Leila

Colourful dresses, goodie bags, wild anticipation of what is to come. Their eyes twinkled with excitement, wondering what treats and surprises are waiting for them. Goodie bags filled with sweets and knick- knacks. As the music was playing students danced around the class with a teacher leading the celebration. After a wiggle, a jump, the music was turned to a lower volume.

Congregating in a circle, students taking turns to hand out little delights. The colourful reflection of bedazzled umbrellas forming the backdrop. After the gift exchange students were spilt into 2 groups. One group sitting in the Sadu printed majlis having a fancifal local feast while engaging in role play filled with local props. Exhibiting the values of community and generosity by cooking and serving  Al Harees and Al Machboos. While circulating the class I was offered the third course, my favourite imaginary liquamart. Using pots and serving trays, children mimiced the customs they have been taught at home.  As Hessa offer me the fourth liqamart I had to decline as I much too full. Hessa looked dissapointed.  “But, I wouldn’t mind washing it down with Arabic coffee.” “Within in a nano second Hessa had a cup and dala in hand and started pouring. Salma immulated Hessa and started to offer me more coffee. After copious amounts of coffee, Saeed insisted on some dates while I was making my way to the craft  station.

The girls were silently focused on beading. Some found threading the fine beads through the string frustrating. After fiddling and testing they soon identifed the beads which were easier to thread. The teacher clearly had a vision, forming patterns on the necklace and customising it to their outfit. But they followed their intution to actualise their custom pieces.  

The Power of Celebrations

National celebrations not only instil confidence and pride within Emirati children, but expatriate children cultivate a sense of community and belonging through participating in national celebrations of their host country.  Regardless if they have different cultural or national backgrounds. According to  Atzil et al. (2018), social connections formed in young children are significant for the development of the brain's social circuits. These connections are facilitated through shared experiences.

Early childhood development is a critical phase for forming cognitive, social, and emotional skills. Cultural celebrations such as Flag Day, National Day, and Hag Al Leila contribute significantly to holistic development. Chang et al. (2021) notes that engaging in community activities has a profound effect on emotional regulation and socialisation. The early years are a unique period when children are highly responsive to environmental stimuli. Therefore, positive emotions and social experiences are inculcated by such festivities and contribute to strengthening the developmental processes (Bick & Nelson, 2017).

Pseudonyms were utilised in these stories to protect identity.

By Samantha Smit

PhD candidate in Early Childhood Development
Principal of Jack and Jill Nursery, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi

Reference list

Atzil, S., Gao, W., Fradkin, I., & Barrett, L. F. (2018). Growing a social brain. Nature Human Behaviour, 2(9), 624–636. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0384-6

Bick, J., & Nelson, C. A. (2017). Early experience and brain development. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 8(1–2), e1387. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1387

Chang, Z., Schwartz, M. S., Hinesley, V., & Dubinsky, J. M. (2021). Neuroscience concepts changed teachers’ views of pedagogy and students. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 685856. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.685856