9 Best Ways to Teach Kids About Different Cultures

Teaching children about the world should be about more than memorizing flags.

Culture includes the foods people eat, languages they speak, stories they tell, games they play, neighborhoods they live in and the many ways families experience everyday life.

1. Start With Everyday Life

Ask what children eat for breakfast, how they get to school, what games they play and what their neighborhoods look like. Everyday life helps children understand a country as a place filled with real people.

2. Read Stories From Around the World

Books let children spend time with characters whose lives may be both different from and surprisingly similar to their own.

3. Put Everything on a Map

Whenever you read about a country, find it. Look at neighboring countries, oceans, mountains, cities and climate.

4. Cook Together

Choose an age-appropriate recipe and talk about how recipes vary by region and family. Avoid implying that one dish represents everyone in a country.

5. Introduce Language in Small Pieces

Start with a greeting, thank-you or simple phrase. Verify spelling and pronunciation before teaching it.

6. Explore Music and Movement

Listen to music from the region and learn about the people or community connected with it.

7. Use Crafts With Context

Explain who traditionally creates an object, what it is used for and whether the classroom version is inspired by rather than identical to a cultural original.

8. Show Modern Life Alongside Tradition

Show traditional celebrations and modern schools, historic buildings and apartments, villages and cities.

9. Make Global Learning Recurring

A program such as Passport to Play makes a new destination part of a monthly learning rhythm through geography, language, stories, activities, recipes and STEAM learning.

The Goal Is Curiosity, Not Mastery

A better outcome than memorizing every capital is hearing a child ask, “Can we learn more about that?”