Learning about different cultures is a great way to teach children to celebrate their differences. Children should not only learn about their cultural background but cultures around the world as well. Learning about different cultures is simple, fun and rewarding. Here are 10 ways to learn about different cultures at home.
One of the easiest ways to learn about different cultures at home is to read about them. Find books that focus on things that are familiar to your children, like families, clothes, homes and schools. Capstone® Around the World Books Set is a great collection that provides insight into how people live in different cultures around the world. The real-life photos and colorful pages bring the culture to life. Around the World Readers also have amazing photography and some interesting facts about different cultures. My children especially enjoyed reading books in the Holidays in Rhythm and Rhyme Book Set to learn about the different holidays other cultures celebrate.
Children look forward to every holiday and mine were so excited to learn about all the holidays that different cultures celebrate. Instead of just reading about the history of the holidays, I wanted them to experience all the festivities and traditional foods of the culture, so we celebrated the holidays!
One of our most memorable holiday celebrations was Cinco de Mayo. Cinco de Mayo is a huge celebration in Mexico. To create a simple festive celebration, I layered Fiesta Fringe Garland with a Taco Bar Garland as the background for my buffet table. I added the bright Fiesta Fun Honeycomb Centerpiece Set to the table and set out traditional Molé Molé Poblano and fish tacos. It was a delicious experience! After the food was devoured we listened to Mariachi music and the children danced with Festive Neon Maracas. To finish our Cinco de Mayo experience, each child took turns trying to break open the Taco Piñata! We had so much fun celebrating and learning all about Cinco de Mayo and other holidays different cultures celebrate!
Trying new food is a delicious way to explore other cultures. We researched authentic and traditional cuisines, learned the different foods each culture prefers and discovered some interesting eating etiquettes. For instance, slurping noodles shows respect in Japan and most of the Middle East eats with their right hand. While studying China's culture, we learned how to hold and properly use these Decorated Wood Chopsticks while eating traditional cuisines. I think this was my children's favorite way to eat because they still use them with every meal!
Music is another great way to learn about different cultures at home, plus it's a lot of fun. You can listen to songs from other cultures anytime. As we listen to music from other cultures, we discuss what they are singing about, the different styles of music and what instruments they use. My children join in the fun and clap, dance, or play instruments to the songs. Instruments are an engaging way for them to be a part of the experience. While learning about Mexico's culture, my children had a good time dancing and shaking their Festive Neon Maracas to the mariachi bands! These maracas became daily entertainment long after we finished learning about Mexico!
Making crafts is a fun, hands-on way to learn more about different cultures. Research what kind of crafts and creations other cultures make and try it out yourselves. In China, it is tradition for people to make dragons for a dragon dance to celebrate the New Year. We used this Chinese New Year Dragon Mask Craft Kit to make our own New Year dragons. They turned out amazing! The colors were bright and beautiful, and they were easy to assemble. When finished, my children used the dragon masks to move and dance around like a Chinese dragon!
My children were curious to find out what kinds of games children played in other cultures, so we researched it. We read about the games children play, learned why they play the games, and the history behind the games. The most memorable game we learned was Luta de Galo.
Luta de Galo is Portuguese for "fight of the roosters." This hilarious game only has two players at a time. To start, each child put a Neon Bandana into their back pocket hanging out. Then, they crossed their right arm over their chest, to prevent them from using it, and lifted one leg. Next, they hopped around like a rooster trying to grab each other's bandana with their left hand only. If one of them used their right arm or put their other leg down, they were disqualified. We couldn't stop laughing as they took turns hopping around like roosters and squealing to getaway! I highly recommend researching and playing some games from different cultures.
As we learned about different cultures at home, I reinforced what we learned with simple and fun activities like Cultures of the World Matching Puzzles. This activity has 60 puzzle pieces that make 30 people from different cultures. Each puzzle is self-checking, so my children can do this independently. My kids love stickers and the Kids Around the World Mini Sticker Scenes were a favorite. They had fun dressing the kids from different cultures with clothing stickers and adding accessories and a cute animal to each scene! They also colored the children around the world in the Global Citizens Activity Books. I kept Around the World Readers handy during each lesson. They have interesting facts about different cultures and beautiful real-life images.
Posters, charts, and globes can be engaging visuals and educational resources to help your child understand different cultures around the world. Seeing real-life images of what they are learning about is an important connection for children. Use a World Map or Globe to find the country. Note where you live in comparison on the map. Gibby & Libby World Map Floor Puzzle is a fun puzzle map. My kids learn a few native animals and landmarks represented on each continent as they put the puzzle together. Discuss people, cultures, landmarks, and native wildlife with The Continents Learning Charts and Cultures Around the World Posters. When learning about celebrations in different cultures, show them the fun with the Celebrations Around the World Poster Set! These vibrant visuals take you to different cultures and are a great place to start a discussion about what it is like to live there.
When you're learning about different cultures at home, explore their language. How many languages does the culture have? What are the similarities to your language? Children find different languages fascinating and want to learn more. A good place to start is by researching the customary greetings "hello" and "goodbye" for each culture. We display these Greetings from Around the World Cutouts for the culture we are learning about. Each morning we practice saying "hello" in their language and at the end of our day, we practice saying "goodbye." Depending on your child's age, continue by adding common words in the language. With Google Translate, you can easily learn common words and phrases in over 100 different languages.
The internet is also the easiest way to learn more about a different culture at home. You have worlds of information at your fingertips. Search for authentic traditional recipes, read travel blogs, look up documentaries or google anything you are curious about. Anytime we had a question, we turned our research to the internet to get answers. It is time-saving and provides ample information from a simple query!
We had fun exploring and learning about different cultures together. I hope you enjoy your journey around the world with these fun and simple activities as well.
