Hiya,
This sounds really nice, try not to do too much or feel overwhelmed by it, there can be many ideas to look at.
Maybe decide what type of activity you personally enjoy doing with the children - eg: craft, mark making, messy play, foods for snack, storytime, role play .. and focus on that to help collect all the things you'll need.
Resources to help explain the introduction of the festivals and build the display could involve a world map, globe, selection of real or play fruit/vegetables.
Labels or signage/text that helps state - Harvest festival's name, Country and the names of associated harvest foods.
Additional resources - Story books - fact and fiction. Posters, pictures, small vehicles, workers -
Shire horses and any cultural items you might know the Children & famillies would be willing to help with..
If you'd like to assemble all these as your activity - put everything in a big box and with your assessor present take everything out with the Children. Chat about the items as they are placed on the table/surface.
Things to consider:
Questions.
What is Harvest festival
Does everyone know it is something that happens all over the world.
How are foods harvested - by hand, tractor, combine, tools, horse, mule, donkey
and how are foods carried - Wagon, cart, trailor, basket, bag, sack ..
What happens to the foods after harvest.
There will be positives and negatives to doing the activity this way and to help overcome some possible issues you could say on a planning sheet how you would plan for everyones needs - GM - gross motor play outdoors by including a bucket of soil, bag of carrots, spades and small hessian sacks for outdoor sit N rides - tractor/trailor, wheelbarrow & bucket, car play. Hessian sacks can be filled with carrots for market
Have Festival named signs & words that the foods/sacks can be put with/stacked against, big pictures of tractors, combines, trailors and a globe/map that is good for interactive play.
For quieter needs have map / globe in an area where there is no pressure to explore approach and self initiated discovery is more evident - a shelf in/on a book corner - posters and sticky name labels that Children can freely
/ put on. An adult close by possibly, to ensure any questions can be answered and child led curiosity explored - alone, together or in parallel.
A few Festivals
- China and Chinese moon festival - October 3rd 2009
Yam image search and our festival thread/links
- USA Thanksgiving - wikipedia 26th November 2009
Pumpkin & cranberries
- Harvest festival - UK is during September / October
Blackberries, apples, Swede, turnip, parsnip, potato, onion - make soup, crumble & custard or veggie pasties 
- India's harvest festival is called Pongal - Wikipedia article and is celebrated annually on January 14th - Excellent website is Pongal Festival.org
Rice - pudding & jam would be great to make/eat in the group or maybe serve a savoury dish
For more information:
The Autumn harvest moon
List of Harvest festivals from wikipedia
Australian fruit and vegetables by season
Dictionary meaning of -
Festival and to
harvest
Religious festival list
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For planning and any food tasting, you could also note how dietary needs are included by looking at allergies and sensitivies, vegetables & fruits harvested at this time of year and that are associated with traditional festival meals.
Additional learning opportunities this may provide: religions and their names, Seasons, temperatures, plants, flowers, to sell and to work.
Hope this helps, enjoy whatever you decide to do
xx
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