Diversity is an amazing thing when you make the time to learn and understand world cultures. Teach kids to appreciate cultural diversity.
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I grew up traveling the world. My upbringing as a Third Culture Kid taught me to appreciate cultural diversity.
My kids experience a pretty culturally diverse environment here in California’s Silicon Valley, but there is so much more for them to learn! They got to experience a tiny piece of living overseas during our month in Scotland in 2016, but most of their world culture learning happens at home. Here are some of our favorite resources for teaching kids to appreciate cultural diversity.
Note: I received review copies of some, but not all, of the books featured in this post. I receive many review copies in the mail, and only review our favorites. All other featured items were purchased by me. Some links are affiliate links, and I may earn a commission at no cost to you.
Favorite Resources for Teaching Kids to Appreciate Cultural Diversity
What You'll Find on This Page
Food
Trying foods from different cultures is a wonderful way to appreciate cultural diversity! This week we made sushi, and I know that my kids always associate Sweden with Swedish pancakes. Is there an ethnic grocery store near you? Visit it, and try out a new food – even candy counts!
Books
Books are wonderful for teaching children to appreciate cultural diversity! My favorite book growing up was Children of the River, which told the story of a young Cambodian refugee. Inside Out and Back Again tells the autobiographical story of a Vietnamese refugee. 14 Cows for America is an incredible true story of global empathy. Multicultural Children’s Book Day is a great time to discover new books to read with kids!
We recently discovered Carole P. Roman’s If You Were Me and Lived In… series, which is wonderful for putting children in another child’s shoes in another part of the world. So far we have read If You Were Me and Lived in Brazil, If You Were Me and Lived in Greece, and If You Were Me and Lived in Egypt. All three titles won my kids’ approval.
This new Turn the Key: Around the World interactive board book is the perfect way to introduce young children to world cultures! My five-year-old loves it. A small plastic key allows children to phsyically “enter” homes around the world.
Read more: Why Are Multicultural Children’s Books So Important?
The Internet
Wikipedia and Google Earth are our two favorite online resources. We also read a lot of articles on the Multicultural Kid Blogs site. And, of course, there are the posts from my own blog’s World Culture for Kids series!
Little Passports
Little Passports takes kids on a virtual trip around the world. Kids collect stamps in their passport as they travel.
Don’t Forget History When Teaching Cultural Diversity!
You can’t teach about cultural diversity without looking at history! Here are a few of our favorite history resources for kids.
Books
You knew I would include books!
Carole P. Roman’s If You Were Me and Lived In… series includes historical times as well as geographical places! If You Were Me and Lived in the Mayan Empire brought back stories tour guides told us when I lived in Guatemala. If You Were Me and Lived in Elizabethan England pairs neatly with an introduction to Shakespeare.
History Year by Year is a great introduction to the world’s timeline for kids. I wrote an entire post on using picture books to teach children Black History; you can search and find books to teach a lot of history this way, if you do a little research.
Art
Artwork can be a powerful tool for teaching children about both artwork and culture. Art in History allows kids to create historical art projects from around the world.
History Unboxed
History Unboxed is a subscription history program for kids. I used our charter school funds to order their ancient history series for my daughters; I’ll update once we have a chance to give it a go!
What are your favorite resources for teaching kids cultural diversity? Please share recommendations in the comments below, on my Facebook page, or by tagging me on Instagram.
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
Thanks so much for including Multicultural Children’s Book Day! Great round up of resources!
That Turn the Key book looks really cool. I love interactive books like that.
They really get kids engaged in the book!
We spent so much time on geography when my daughter was younger, and I was worried that nothing “stuck” with her. But now she had a chance to choose a “passion project” in school, and she is writing a travel book, picking countries that we did study together once upon a time. So, after all, something did stick :)
That’s great to hear!