10 Activities That Teach Your Kids About World Cultures

Kids looking at a globe

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Teaching your kids about world cultures helps them appreciate the differences in people and their traditions. Put down the textbook and travel around the globe without ever needing a suitcase. Use your imagination and these activities that teach your children about world cultures.

Create a Passport

International travel requires a passport, so start your foreign adventures by creating a passport. Before you begin, show your child the reasons we use a passport and what they look like.

Next, help her make a small booklet to serve as her passport. The pages should be blank on the inside. That way, you can draw, use a sticker or glue a picture of the country's flag to stamp the pages of her passport as she "travels" from country to country to learn about world cultures.

Map It out

Now that she has a passport, she's ready to travel the world. Print a world map and use push pins to illustrate where the country's located.

Every time you learn about a new country, use another pushpin on your world map. See how many countries she can visit.

Study the Weather

Kids who live in Ohio won't have to worry about a willy-willy. But where will you find these conditions? How's the weather in Zimbabwe today?

Weather is more than the basics of sun, rain, wind, and snow. Learn about the weather in other countries to give her the full experience of what it's like for other kids who live there.

Get Crafty

Make Muslim clothing when learning about Islamic countries. Try your hand at Mexican handicrafts when learning about Mexico.

Take your world culture lessons even further when you let her create or wear the types of crafts you would find in that country. Beadwork, clothing, pottery, origami -- the possibilities are endless.

Go Shopping

In Bangkok shopping centers, you can buy everything from religious amulets to pet squirrels. Search for jade or haggle for high-tech electronics in Hong Kong's markets. Look for the horse-drawn delivery carts when shopping in Ireland.

These shopping experiences are completely different than our local malls. Learn about each country's marketplace through pictures and articles. Search YouTube for videos of street markets in other countries. You'll be surprised at how much your child can learn about world cultures from thousands of miles away from many resources you can find online.

Cook Authentic Recipes

How does Japanese food taste? What types of food would you find on a typical menu in Germany?

Cook authentic recipes together. Find what foods are popular in the country you two are studying.

Find a Pen Pal

Forget texting. Letters to pen pals are a classic way for kids to communicate with friends they may never get to meet. They're also a hidden lesson in language arts and social studies.

Search for a pen pal in the country you're learning about with your child. There are many free websites that will match your child with pen pals around the world. This pen pal primer will get you started.

Learn Cultural Etiquette

What we might do in our home country isn't necessarily appropriate in other countries. Learning about each culture's etiquette can be enlightening for you both.

Pointing your feet in Thailand is offensive. Your left hand is considered unclean in India, so pass all food or objects to other people with your right.

Learn about cultural etiquette with your child. Try practicing this country's dos and don'ts of etiquette for a day or week. What happens to citizens when they break the rules of etiquette? Are they simply frowned upon or is it a punishable offense?

Teach the Language

Learning a foreign language is fun for kids. Fortunately for parents, we don't have to know how to speak every single language to help our kids.

When you're exploring world cultures, study each country's official language. Learn basic words your child already knows. Teach both written and spoken form.

Celebrate Holidays

Keep a calendar of upcoming holidays celebrated in other countries. Celebrate national holidays just as people in that country do.

For example, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom observe Boxing Day. The holiday's tradition includes giving money and charitable donations to organizations and people in need. To celebrate, the two of you can box some canned goods for the local food bank, drop a few bills into a charity's bucket or donate old items to a nonprofit.

Teach your child about the history of each holiday too. When did it begin? Why? How has it changed over the years?

Study up on each holiday as it approaches. Decorate your home as you would find streets, businesses, and other houses for their observed holidays.

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Duncan, Apryl. "10 Activities That Teach Your Kids About World Cultures." ThoughtCo, Sep. 8, 2021, thoughtco.com/teach-world-cultures-to-your-kids-3128861. Duncan, Apryl. (2021, September 8). 10 Activities That Teach Your Kids About World Cultures. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/teach-world-cultures-to-your-kids-3128861 Duncan, Apryl. "10 Activities That Teach Your Kids About World Cultures." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/teach-world-cultures-to-your-kids-3128861 (accessed March 28, 2024).