World Day for Cultural Diversity
How to celebrate ‘World Day for Cultural Diversity’ with your children in lockdown
Not many people know about Diversity Day on 21 May 2020. It’s often skipped over and is not widely celebrated. But it should be, and here’s how you can do it!
World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, or ‘Diversity Day’ for short, is a day organized by the United Nations to celebrate diversity and promote cultural diversity issues. The holiday was created in 2001 as a result of the destruction of the Buddha states of Bamiyan in Afghanistan and has been celebrated around the world ever since. So why should you celebrate Diversity Day too?
Culture and diversity is not widely touched on in those early years at preschool. In fact, most children don’t begin to learn about cultural diversity until they are at elementary school. Research suggests, engaging children in culturally responsive experiences, increases their awareness, appreciation, and inclusion of diverse beliefs and cultures.* If we, as a nation, want diversity to become more accepted in everyday life, it’s important to teach our children about it from a young age.
Teaching diversity doesn’t need to be boring for you or your kids. Diversity Day provides a great reason to teach your little ones in a fun and engaging way. And why not use this extra time with your children in lockdown to explore new cultures!
Here’s some fun ways you and your kids can celebrate Diversity Day 2020 while in lockdown:
1- Dive deep into the world of books
Children just love reading and listening to books and stories, and it’s also a great opportunity for them to take in a book about different cultures and diversity. Why not pop aside the much loved hungry caterpillar and try one of these;-
Disneys ‘It’s a Small World. Hello, World’ is a picture book with bright illustrations. Each page teaches your little one how to say ‘hello’ in a different language, a great way to teach cultural diversity to kids 2 and up. See:
Hats of Faith is a board book which teaches children about different religions. Each page has a different religious head dressing for different religions. This book is a great way to show your children the visual differences in religions while portraying a sense of unity. The book is very easy to read and great for young children.
For a more challenging read, Dr Seuss’ The Sneetches and other stories is excellent. The book focuses on two groups of birds with different looks and how they are treated. The lesson within this book is to show that people are not so different after all and you should treat everyone equally.
2- Watch family fun and educational TV and movies together
TV and movies allow children to learn while keeping them entertained. There are so many children’s shows out there but not many offer cultural diverse content. In fact, last year only 12% of children’s TV shows had a black, Asian or minority ethnic lead**. Why not tap into a programme that features real diversity and culture in an everyday way.
Zayn and Zayna’s Little Farm is one of the few children’s shows that includes and positively embraces cultural diversity. The show is an English-language animated show and book series for preschool children that incorporates a little Arabic too. Each adventure follows brother and sister, Zayn & Zayna on their British family farm and introduces all children to mindfulness, sustainability and diversity. The show portrays diversity in many ways from skin color to physical abilities. Alongside the show there are also activity packs which expand on the message from each episode and lets you talk through the lessons with your children.
Also, you might have seen Coco, but if you haven’t, you should! This Disney film is inspired by the Mexican holiday ‘Day of the Dead’ and the film follows a young boy who is transported to the Land of the Dead. The film teaches children about Mexican culture with bright animations and a fun soundtrack! Coco will keep both you and your kids entertained.
3- Get creative with culturally inspired Arts and Crafts
Doing crafts is a fantastic way to keep children entertained in lockdown. There are so many Diversity Day themed crafts that you can do with your kids, and even better they’re not too messy!
Tibetan prayer flags are used to bless the surrounding countryside and can be found in the Himalayas. You can help your children to think of a message of peace or compassion to write on their flag. This craft is straight forward, all you need is a marker, string and some blue, white, red, green, and yellow paper.
https://ourwholevillage.com/tibetan-prayer-flags-inspiring-craft-little-ones/
Another craft you and your children can do for Diversity Day is origami. Origami is a Japanese cultural craft which has been done for centuries. You might have your own memories struggling to make cranes in your youth, but thankfully there are many tutorials online which break down this craft step by step. All you need is some paper!
https://www.origami-fun.com/origami-for-kids.html
4- Take a walk around your town or city
Although we’re in lockdown it is still important to get exercise. Use your daily walk to look around your town or city for different cultural buildings or places of worship. Stroll past your local mosque, church or synagogue and look at all of the details in the buildings! This allows your children to see diversity in their own town and is perfect to demonstrate how cultures are integrating all around us.
If you live in a city you could also visit cultural places like Little Italy or Chinatown and explore the cultural buildings and decorations they often have on the streets.
5- Learn a new language
Children learn languages with more ease than adults as they have less inhibitions and are open to learning. There are many ways you can learn a language from home, like using an app or watching shows with subtitles.
Duolingo is an interactive language app that teaches 36 different languages in easy and fun ways! You can continue Duolingo after lockdown and do short daily lessons to build your knowledge. The app is perfect for children as it uses lots of bright graphics and teaches through games!
Another way to learn a new language in your home, is by watching fun, educational TV shows. As previously mentioned Zayn & Zayna’s Little Farm uses a little Arabic language throughout it’s episodes, making it a great resource to introduce different sounds and words! The Arabic language used, is defined and spelled out for children so they can try to say the word or write it out. This is a great way to incorporate learning a language gradually.
6- Cook foods from around the world
A simple (and very tasty) way to celebrate different cultures is through food. Cooking is a fun activity to do with your little ones and is super easy. Chances are, you have already cooked from around the world already! There are many easy cultural dishes from around the world to try – from an Indian curry to an Italian pizza, or you might want to be more experimental with some Chinese dumplings. BBC Good Food has a page full off recipes for lots of cultures so you can choose your own! https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/category/cuisines.
And for extra fun, why not research a few fun facts from the country you’re cooking from and have a chat about them with your child too!
If you try out any of these activities for Diversity Day be sure to let us know and share any creations with us on social media. We’d love to see! Find us on Instagram at @Zaynandzaynas, or see our Facebook page at Zayn & Zayna’s Facebook
About Zayn & Zayna’s Little Farm
Zayn & Zayna’s Little Farm is a branded English-language animated show and book series for pre-school children that incorporates a little Arabic too. Each adventure follows brother and sister, Zayn & Zayna on their British family farm and introduces all children to mindfulness, sustainability and diversity.
Zayn & Zayna is wholesome entertainment for the entire family where each instalment is an adventure and teachable moment in kindness, creativity, family, and community. Playing games, learning, exploring nature and helping their family are Zayn & Zayna’s favourite pastimes. Zayn & Zayna are Arabic and live with their father ‘Baba’, ‘Mama’ and grandmother ‘Nanee’.
You can visit Zayn & Zayna, play games, buy books and watch exclusive content on zaynandzaynas.com or visit the interactive app, available on The App Store and Google Play store. For additional information about Zayn & Zayna, visit zaynandzaynas.com.
