The holiday season is a time for joy, togetherness, and celebration. With students from diverse cultural backgrounds, it is essential for schools to embrace inclusivity during this festive period. Here are 15 inclusive ways to celebrate the holiday season at school.
1. Create a Multicultural Holiday Calendar: Highlight major holidays from different cultures, like Hanukkah, Christmas, Diwali, and Kwanzaa, to recognize and celebrate the diversity among students.
2. Organize a Cultural Potluck: Encourage students and faculty to bring dishes that represent their own cultural traditions for everyone to share.
3. Host a Holiday Storytelling Event: Invite students, teachers, and community members to share stories or legends related to their culture’s holiday celebrations.
4. Learn about Holiday Traditions: Have each student research and present about a different culture’s holiday customs in class.
5. Create a Winter Wonderland-themed Space: Instead of focusing on specific religious holidays, create a winter-themed space with decorations like snowflakes, snowmen, and cozy elements.
6. Organize Inclusive Holiday Performances: Include songs, dances, and performances from diverse cultural backgrounds during the school’s annual holiday show.
7. Participate in Community Service Activities: Emphasize the spirit of giving by encouraging students to get involved in community service projects such as serving at food banks or visiting nursing homes during the holidays.
8. Craft Time with Cultural Activities: Set up crafting stations that offer activities tied to various cultural holidays like making paper lanterns for Diwali or making dreidels for Hanukkah.
9. Host a Cultural Fashion Show: Allow students and staff to showcase their traditional cultural garments related to the holidays.
10. Plan an International Film Festival: Screen family-friendly movies embodying various cultural traditions celebrated during the holiday season.
11. Organize a Holiday Language Exchange: Teach students to say “Happy Holidays” or other festive greetings in different languages.
12. Have a Lesson on Cultural Sensitivity: Conduct classroom discussions on understanding and respecting the varied ways people celebrate holidays from different cultures.
13. Create a Multicultural Tree: Encourage students to make ornaments representing their own cultural holiday traditions to hang on a communal tree.
14. Organize a Global Gift Exchange: Implement a school-wide gift exchange, allowing students to share small tokens or cultural items that represent their holiday customs.
15. Collaborate on an Inclusive Mural: Design and create an inclusive holiday mural showcasing different cultural celebrations that represent the school community.
By incorporating these 15 inclusive activities in your school’s holiday celebrations, you can ensure all students feel welcomed and valued, regardless of their cultural background.
