UAE is a melting pot of cultures. It is a place where you are likely to overhear a bit of Chinese when you walk down the street or find yourself talking to a European supplier in your next business meeting. Add to that, the world is more interconnected than ever before. In this quickly changing landscape, our children are getting exposed to cultures faster than most of us have experienced while we were growing up.
So, here’s the good news for us as parents. As children get exposed to diversity, this brings about an early opportunity for us to teach them how to embrace the human species as one and to deal with cultural diversity with empathy and understanding, rather than alienating or divisive. A lesson that will benefit them significantly as they grow up and become part of universities and workplaces where a mixed set of cultures is commonplace.
But when teaching culture, there is one thing which we as parents have to watch out for. That is, to avoid the tendency to settle for the most easiest and convenient story to tell our children about other cultures. Instead, we should choose a better path of understanding culture ourselves. A path where we think deeper about the diversity on our planet – rather than form opinions of cultures that are rather simplified.
Teaching Culture to kids
To help us parents dive below the surface and examine cultures more deeply and explain the same to our children in a fun and playful environment, we at happy to introduce the Culture Play Box into the Toddle Collection.
The Toddle Culture Play Box helps bring home cultures from all across the world by introducing culture play as one of the activities in which you engage with your child. The Box covers
Easter Egg Hunts where you decorate eggs and use cutouts to make easter bunnies.
Canadian Tulip Festivals which involve creating colorful tulip shapes with paper and straws.
Indian Holi Water Play where you enjoy a fun day of colourful joy by filling and smashing some water balloons (great group activity)
Mexican Sombreros where you use crafts, cups, paints, and pompoms to learn and teach your child more about the Mexican culture
Australian Toowoomba Carnivals where you go on a nature hunt to find beautiful flowers and leaves. You also decorate your mask template to make a colorful natures mask.
Japanese Sakura Web Decor to celebrate the Cherry Blossom festival where to paper and paint to create beautiful house decor.
Chromatography Flowers where you teach how to make beautiful flowers to celebrate the Festa da Flor celebrations from Portugal
Kite Festivals are celebrated in South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, India where you follow the folding instructions in the provided kit to make your bird kite.
Chinese New Years where you color, cut and make a Chinese dragon following our template
To conclude, cultures are more mysterious, complex, and interesting than we can imagine. By teaching your child the diversity of humankind at an early age, they will have clarity and be better equipped to deal with a mix of cultures which will help change the course of their lives in so many ways. So, check our culture box by clicking here.
