Cultural Celebrations Teaching Resources
Explore cultural celebrations and holidays around the world and promote cultural awareness in your social studies classroom with printable worksheets, fun crafts and more teacher-created teaching resources!
The Teach Starter team of expert teachers has curated a curriculum-aligned collection of activities and interactive ideas to teach young students about the ways people in different cultures come together to celebrate. Save time on your lesson plans with resources that have been carefully curated by expert teachers just for you!
Is this your first year teaching this section of the social studies curriculum, or are you just looking for some fresh ideas? Read on for some tips from our teacher team on expanding your students' appreciation of different cultures and exploring their celebratory traditions!
Holidays Around the World Activities for the Classroom
Exploring how people around the world celebrate isn't just an important part of meeting social studies standards. Learning about these major holidays celebrated outside of the US is also a way to help students build a greater appreciation for other people and other cultures!
So how do you do that? Here are some fun holiday around the world ideas from our teacher team on bringing these cultural celebrations into your social studies lesson plans.
Create a Gallery Walk
Assign each student a specific holiday from another country such as Holi or Diwali from India or Japan's Hinamatsuri festival. Or provide a list, and allow them to pick their favorite! Have students research the holiday and create posters that detail where and when the holiday is celebrated as well as specific information about its history and specific traditions. Display the posters on the hallway wall, and allow your class to go on a gallery walk to take in the information about each holiday!
Hold a Holiday Lunch in the Classroom
Ask students to bring in a dish from a cultural holiday their family celebrates that can be shared with the class. Each student can present the dish to the class and tell their peers a little bit about the holiday.
Have Students Plan a Holiday-Based Trip for a Teacher
Break your class into small groups, and let them choose a cultural celebration from another country. Each group then has to plan a trip for you (or another teacher) to that country to celebrate that holiday. Include math skills practice by having students create a trip budget, and encourage them to interview the teacher about their likes and dislikes to figure into their planning!
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Chinese New Year for Kids - Zodiac Animal Craft Templates
Get crafty and teach your students about the Lunar New year with printable zodiac animal hat templates.
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Chinese New Year – Mindful Coloring Sheet
A mindful coloring page to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
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Lunar New Year Decorations - Snake Craft
Create simple Lunar New Year decorations to bring festive cheer and cultural celebration into your classroom!
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Chinese Lantern Craft - Year of the Snake
Celebrate the Year of the Snake with a printable Chinese lantern craft.
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Christmas in the Philippines - Parol Craft Template
Learn traditions related to Christmas in the Philippines with a printable Filipino Parol craft template.
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Year of the Rat - Paper Lantern Template
Learn about the animals of the zodiac calendar in the classroom and make your own Chinese Paper lanterns for Lunar New Year.
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Year of the Tiger - String Puppet Craft Template
Ring in the ‘Year of the Tiger’ with 2 design options of this string puppet template for Lunar New Year.
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Chinese New Year - Rat Puppet Template
A fun template for students to make their own rat puppet.
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Year of the Ox – String Puppet Craft Template
A Lunar New Year-themed ‘Year of the Ox’ string puppet template.
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Year of the Ox – Paper Lantern Craft
A Year of the Ox craft activity to help celebrate Lunar New Year!
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Printable Easter Crafts
Make this Easter season extra special with these printable Easter crafts—perfect for classrooms, homeschool settings, and creative family fun!
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Rio de Janeiro - Reading Comprehension Activities
Take your students on a trip to Rio de Janeiro with an engaging reading comprehension worksheet and Carnival Mask activity.
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Dragon Coloring Pages
Create colorful Chinese dragon art to celebrate the Lunar New Year in the classroom with a pack of printable dragon coloring sheets.
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Chinese Dragon Puppet – Craft Activity
Bring the Chinese dragon to life with this dragon puppet craft activity.
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Chinese Dragon Art Activity for Kids
Print a creative Chinese dragon art activity for kids to celebrate Lunar New Year in the classroom.
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Year of the Dragon – Paper Lantern Craft
Celebrate the Year of the Dragon with this Chinese New Year paper lantern craft activity.
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Christmas in Egypt - Ornament Template
Use this beautiful template to design your own Christmas ornament inspired by Christmas in Egypt!
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Christmas in France - Yule Log Craft Activity
Introduce your students to the Yule Log Craft, a common tradition for Christmas in France.
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Christmas in Japan - Kindness Christmas Light Template
Use a Christmas light template to create a Kindness Christmas bulb craft while learning about Christmas in Japan.
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Christmas in Spain - Printable 3D Shoe Template
Assemble this Christmas shoe template to introduce your students to a fun Christmas tradition from Spain.
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Christmas in Switzerland — Samichlaus Paper Plate Craft
Teach about Christmas in Switzerland and introduce students to Samichlaus with a printable paper plate Christmas craft.
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Thanksgiving Word Wall Vocabulary
Build vocabulary and inspire holiday writing with a free Thanksgiving word wall.
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The Day of the Dead Word Search
Introduce vocabulary surrounding the Mexican holiday known as “The Day of the Dead” with a printable word search.
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St. Patrick's Day Word Wall Vocabulary
Grow your students' vocabularies this St. Patrick's Day with a printable St. Paddy's vocabulary word wall.
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Cinco De Mayo Mini Book
Help your kindergarten students learn and write about Cinco de Mayo with a printable mini-book.
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Lunar New Year Crafts - The Year of the Rabbit - String Puppet
Get crafty and create a Year of the Rabbit String puppet with our Lunar New Year craft activity.
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Christmas in Italy — La Befana Christmas Craft
Introduce your students to the traditions and figures associated with Christmas in Italy by crafting a La Befana tree topper!
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Year of the Dog String Puppet Craft Template
A Lunar New Year themed 'Year of the Dog' string puppet template.
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Australian Christmas Bush Craft Template
Introduce your students to one of Australia’s Christmas traditions and decorations with a printable Christmas bush craft template.
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Christmas Gnome Craft Template - Sweden
Introduce your students to one of Sweden’s most popular Christmas figures with a printable “tomte” or gnome craft template.
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Christmas Poinsettia Craft Template
Introduce your students to Mexico's Christmas traditions and decorations with a printable poinsettia craft template.
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Independence Day Paper Lantern Art Activity
A creative art activity to use when learning about the Independence Day celebration.