20 Creative Ideas for Teaching Kids About Different Cultures

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Did you know that the month of October is Global Diversity Awareness Month?

As educators, it is important to create a classroom environment that celebrates cultural diversity. A great way to do this is by using art to teach students about different cultures and traditions.

Art provides a fun, affordable and creative way for students to learn about different customs, ways of life, food and perspectives. Here are 30 creative ideas for using art to teach elementary students about cultural diversity:

Cultural craft projects: Have students create crafts that reflect different cultural styles and traditional techniques, such as Japanese origami, Malaysian paper kites, Indonesian batik prints or Mexican masks.
Inspire art through literature: Use children's literature that celebrates cultural diversity to inspire art projects. Children's literature can provide a rich source of inspiration for art projects for students to express their own creativity and interpretation of the material.
Collaborative mural project: Have students work together to create a mural that celebrates cultural diversity. By working together, students can learn to communicate and cooperate with one another, which can help build a positive and inclusive classroom culture.
Diversity through food: Invite a guest speaker or parent to come in and teach the class how to make a traditional dish from their culture. Many traditional dishes have been passed down through generations and are closely (and proudly) tied to a culture's history, traditions and customs.
Multicultural folktales storytelling: Use folktales and legends from different cultures to introduce students to different customs and traditions. By discussing the stories and their meanings, students can learn to think critically and express their ideas and opinions about different cultures in a respectful and thoughtful way.
Cultural field trips: Take a field trip to a cultural center or museum to learn about different cultures. Students will be able to see and experience different artifacts and traditions firsthand, which can be a more engaging and immersive way to learn about different cultures.
Games (other) people play: Play games from different cultures with your students. Through these games, students can have fun while learning about different cultures, customs, traditions, and ways of life.
Traditional dress-up day: Encourage students to wear traditional clothing from their culture or from a culture that they are learning about. This can help to create a visible display of cultural diversity and cultivate respect for different traditions.
Music from around the world: Music and dance are important aspects of many different cultures. Through playing music and teaching traditional dances, one can learn a lot about different cultural practices and traditions.
Inclusive art history: Teach your students about famous artists from different cultures. By learning about famous artists from different cultures, students can learn about a diverse range of subjects like art, history, geography, and more.
Multicultural art techniques: Teach your students art techniques from different cultures. This provides students with a new perspective of the different ways of life and history of art in a specific culture and region.
Overseas art exchange: Set up an art exchange with a classroom in another country. This is a fun and enjoyable way for students to learn about different cultures and promote cultural understanding across different communities.
Multicultural class virtual art gallery: Set up a virtual art gallery featuring unique student artwork inspired by different cultures in Google Slide. Students can express themselves in new and innovative ways while learning about different cultural art styles and techniques.
World art auction: Have students create artwork inspired by different cultures and then hold an auction to raise money for a good cause. Students can create unique student artwork inspired by different cultures while learning about how to run an auction.
Multicultural scavenger hunt: Create a scavenger hunt that leads students to different cultural artworks in your school or community. By working together to complete the scavenger hunt, students can learn to communicate and cooperate with one another.
Art gallery tour: Take a field trip to an art gallery featuring work from different cultures. Students can ask questions and learn about different cultural art styles and techniques from the gallery curators.
Multicultural art exhibition: Invite students to create art projects that reflect their own culture or that are inspired by a culture that they are learning about. Display the projects in a multicultural art exhibit in your classroom or school.
World art scrapbook: Have students create a scrapbook featuring artwork and cultural traditions from different countries. Students will have the opportunity to collect and curate different elements and materials from a diverse range of sources to create this scrapbook.
Cultural diversity book club: Start a book club that focuses on children's literature that celebrates cultural diversity. By reading, analyzing, interpreting and discussing different cultural traditions and customs as presented in the literature, students can learn to think critically about different cultural practices and traditions.
Cultural art lessons: Use art lessons to teach students about different cultures and traditions. It allows them to explore and understand new perspectives in a creative, hands-on and engaging way. Check out the ready-made art lesson ideas below:

10 ready-made art lesson ideas

Here are 10 ready-made creative printable activity ideas that celebrates and promotes cultural diversity in the classroom:

In conclusion

By incorporating any of these ideas into your classroom, you can help your students better understand and appreciate cultural diversity. Encourage your students to be curious and ask questions about different cultures. Provide them with a safe and welcoming space to express themselves creatively. You can create a culture-celebrating classroom that values diversity and promotes global citizenship.

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