Flag Design (Art)
All Ages
Provide your kids with crayons or markers and a rectangular piece of paper (an oversized piece of butcher paper will be the most fun) and have them either redesign the American flag or create their own flag for an imaginary country they invent.

Kids Around the World (Fine Motor Skills / Group)
Kids of All Ages
Collect old National Geographic magazines, and have the kids go through them, cutting out pictures of kids in different parts of the world.  After they are done, sit down in group and talk about each picture they found.  Ask questions like:

  • What would it be like to live where she lives?
  • What games might they play?
  • What kinds of foods do they eat?

 

Kids Around the World (Group, Fine Motor Skills)
Kids of all ages
Collect old national geographic magazines, and have the kids go through them, cutting out pictures of kids in different parts of the world. After they are done, sit down in group and talk about each picture they found. Ask question like: What would it be like to live where she lives? What games might they play? What kids of foods do they eat?

The Child Sponsorship Project (Special project)
All Ages
Sign up to sponsor a child from another country through an organization like Save the Children. It costs around $28.00/month, but you can easily find creative ways to cover this cost. One route is to simply ask parents to each pitch in a dollar a month. Or you could arrange periodic fundraisers that would cover it, such as asking parents to donate things for a bake sale or setting out a donation jar in a common area.

These organizations let you correspond with the child you sponsor. This means your children can write letters, draw pictures for the sponsored child, or ask questions about what life is like where they live. Your sponsored child will write back, and you can read their letters to the class. It’s a great multicultural experience for your kids, and one that provides a valuable lesson in charity and compassion at the same time.

World Linguist (Sensory/Language)
All Ages
Get online and look for sound files of people speaking in different languages that you can burn onto a CD or load onto your phone. During group time, play each sound track one at a time and see if kids can correctly guess both what part of the world it comes from and what language is being spoken.

Human Transport (Large Motor)
All Ages
In other parts of the world people have to fetch water or food and carry it over long distances. Carrying a full jug of water in their hands might grow tiresome. So they carry it on their heads instead. Turn this idea into a fun game for kids. Give them buckets of water to hoist upon their head, then have them carry it around while trying not to spill the water. For added fun, set up a series of obstacles for them to navigate, such as a balance beam, boxes or cartons to step over, a rope to duck under, and so forth.

Sea of People Pictures (Art)
All Ages
There are 2 variations to this activity:
Version 1: Print out the large person template contained on the patters and stencils page of our teachers resource area. Have kids color their silhouette with crayons or markers however they’d like, then cut it out. Take their finished artwork and create a wall display by hanging each silhouette in a line so they look like a whole bunch of diverse people holding hands.

Version 2: Print out the small person template contained on the patters and stencils page of our teachers resource area, one for each child in your class. Have kids color each figure and then cut them out. Allow them to color a background scene on a separate piece of paper (a long and skinny piece of butcher paper works best), then glue their people in a line so that it looks like they are holding hands.