Create awareness of the different cultures and traditions of people worldwide with these fantastic crafts that children will have fun making. Celebrate diversity while giving children the opportunity to understand the world they live in better.
Explore these unique and engaging around-the-world crafts that will get children excited and creative.
Leis are flower garlands traditionally worn around the neck in Hawaii during special occasions and celebrations. It symbolizes love and friendship and is used to welcome or honor a guest.
This craft is perfect for the first of May, a day dedicated to wearing leis. Children can practice cutting paper with this craft and improve their fine motor skills. Threading the paper flowers will help improve their hand-eye coordination skills.
Outline a flower on paper, cut it out, and use it as a template. Have the children trace the template on colored construction papers and cut these out.
Next, cut the drinking straws to about an inch long. Wrap a long piece of yarn on a toothpick and secure it with sticky tape. Have the children thread through flowers and straws alternately until the desired length of the lei is reached.
Cut off the toothpick and tie the ends of the yarn to secure.
For this activity, you will need:
- Construction paper
- Drinking straws
- Yarn
- Scissors
- Toothpick
- Sticky tape
For more information on this activity, go to RaisingVeggieLovers.com.
Reuse those plastic eggs after Easter into an extraordinary musical instrument called maracas. Traditionally made of gourd, this rattle is enjoyed in the Carribeans and can be heard in this type of music.
Adding the dry ingredients to the egg provides a wonderful sensory experience for children, while using washi tape to secure the craft will help improve children’s fine motor and eye-hand coordination skills.
Use clean and dry plastic eggs for this craft. Have the children fill half of the plastic egg with rice and beans but not full. Place the other half to close. Use other small dry objects that will make a sound when shaken if beans and rice are unavailable.
Next, hold the two spoons facing each other. Secure these by having the children wrap the handles with washi tape. Insert the egg in between the spoons.
Secure the egg by having children wrap it with washi tape several times.
For this activity, you will need:
- Plastic eggs
- Beans
- Rice
- Washi tape
- Plastic spoons
For more information on this activity, go to Fun365.orientaltrading.com.
Turn strips of paper into a fascinating Egyptian-inspired craft that will get children interested in traveling to see the real thing. With a history lesson, explain the concept of Egyptian pyramids.
Cutting, painting, and gluing the strips together will help build children’s fine motor skills.
Turn this craft into a puzzle activity by allowing children to independently assemble the strips to make the pyramid. This task will teach seriation and improve visual-spatial skills.
Outline a large triangle on yellow construction paper and have the children cut this out. Next, let them cut the triangle into strips. For younger children, draw lines as a guide for cutting.
Have the children paint each paper strip in bronze color and let it dry. Next, let them arrange the strips to form a triangle. Have them glue these on blue scrapbook paper.
Let them loosen some cotton balls and glue them on the pyramid for the clouds.
For this activity, you will need:
- Construction paper
- Scrapbook paper
- Scissors
- Paint
- Paintbrush
- Glue
- Cotton balls
For more information on this activity, go to ThePinterestedParent.com.
The Aboriginal Australians are a group of people that uses a unique style of art technique called dot painting. Colored dots are used inside an outline to create a special effect and pattern. These paintings are used to tell stories.
Use this craft for Australia unit study and kangaroo-themed lessons. Using cotton swabs to add color will help improve children’s three-finger grasp and eye-hand coordination skills.
Download and print the free kangaroo template from the site. Squeeze some paint in the palette or use small bowls to keep the colors from mixing. Use yellow, brown, red, and white paints for this activity.
Have the children lightly dip the cotton swab in the paint and press inside the kangaroo’s outline. Remind children to use one swab for every color. Have them add dots with alternating colors until filled.
Let this dry, and have the children use their artwork to tell a story.
For this activity, you will need:
- Printed kangaroo outline
- Cotton swabs
- Paint
- Palette or small bowls
For more information on this activity, go to SugarSpiceAndGlitter.com. We also have more kangaroo crafts for extended fun!
The Festival of Colors, or Holi, is a wonderful Hindu holiday celebrated in South Asia to welcome the spring season. This colorful celebration is filled with people throwing colored powder at each other.
These Holi cards are made using the art technique of splattering and blowing colors. This process art activity will teach color recognition and color mixing and strengthen children’s oral motor skills.
Print the card template on white cardstock. Have the children cut this out. Place newspapers on the work table to prevent a mess. Squeeze the paint onto the card. Have the children use the straw to spread the colors.
Let them blow the paint in different directions to create a unique design. Repeat this step using a different color.
The site suggests using a toothbrush to create smaller dots and an interesting pattern. Dip the toothbrush in the paint and have the children run their fingers across the bristles to add a splatter of color.
For this activity, you will need:
- Printed Happy Holi card template
- Liquid watercolors
- Toothbrush
- Cardstock
- Scissors
- Drinking straw
- Newspapers
For more information on this activity, go to ArtsyCraftsyMom.com.
The end of the Chinese New Year is celebrated with a lantern festival. Families hang beautiful lighted lanterns in their homes. This paper lantern will help improve children’s fine motor skills as they cut and assemble the craft.
Discuss the significance of red in Chinese culture with a lesson on history. Use this craft for a multi-cultural unit study or Chinese-themed lessons.
Use a paintbrush to have the children spread the gold glitter glue on red construction paper. Let this dry. This step will create a shimmery effect on the paper.
Next, have the children fold and cut the paper crosswise to make eight strips. For younger children, draw lines on the paper as a guide when cutting.
Punch a hole on both ends of each paper strip. Insert a brass fastener to each end to hold them together. Have the children spread the strips to create a pumpkin-shaped lantern. Attach a gold yarn for the handle.
For this activity, you will need:
- Red construction paper
- Gold glitter glue
- Paintbrush
- Scissors
- Hole puncher
- Brass fastener
- Gold yarn
For more information on this activity, go to NurtureStore.co.uk.
Every fifth of May, Japan celebrates National Children’s Day, and the Japanese people adorn their homes with fish kites called Koinobori. Inspired by the koi fish that swims upstream, it symbolizes strength and courage.
Learn more about the koi fish through a science lesson. Discuss its habitat, food, behavior, and characteristics. This craft is perfect for Japanese unit study and fish-themed lessons.
Outline a fish on paper and use it as a template on the second paper to create identical pieces. Refer to the picture on the site for this step. Have the children color the fish with markers. Let them add designs like scalloped lines for the fish’s scales.
Next, cut the toilet paper roll in half and glue this and a piece of yarn to the back of one fish. On the same side, attach strips of tissue wrapping paper on the tail. Next, attach the other side of the fish. Finally, add the eyes.
For this activity, you will need:
- A4-sized papers
- Tissue wrapping paper
- Toilet paper
- Scissors
- Glue
- Yarn
- Sticky tape
- Markers
- Googly eyes
For more information on this activity, go to KidWorldCitizen.com.
Koreans use hand drums to make celebratory noise during the Korean New Year. These unique drums have swirls of colors called Taeguk and are twisted to make sounds. Playing with this instrument will help improve hand coordination.
This craft will go well with a unit study on Korea. Explore this country’s different types of drums and other percussion instruments. The sounds created when playing this hand drum will provide incredible auditory stimulation for children.
Flip the paper plate and outline the swirls on it. The site also provides a link to a Taeguk if drawing the swirls seems too challenging. Have the children paint it red, blue, and yellow and let it dry.
Attach a string on the left and right sides of the plate. Tie a wooden bead at the end of the strips. Glue a chopstick as a handle and attach a second paper plate as a cover.
For this activity, you will need:
- Paper plates
- Pencil
- Paint
- Paintbrush
- String
- Scissors
- Craft glue
- Chopsticks
- Wooden beads
For more information on this activity, go to ChalkAcademy.com.
Some countries in Europe are fond of having gnomes in their gardens. These are small male figurines with beards and wearing red hats.
These Scandinavian gnomes are inspired by the original garden creatures modified for the spooky occasion. Great as decorations, these will help improve children’s fine motor skills as they make them.
These can also be used as puppets and are perfect for retelling stories to enhance children’s comprehension and oral language skills.
The cone shape will make a great craft to introduce 3D shapes to children. Discuss and compare their similarities and differences with 2D shapes for a wonderful lesson on geometry.
Download and print the free basic gnome template from the site. Have the children cut this out and trace it on colored cardstock. Cut these out and assemble them.
Glue the cone cutout and add the legs, shoes, beard, and hat. Attach cutouts of pumpkins, bat wings, and other designs perfect for this holiday.
For this activity, you will need:
- Printed gnome template
- Cardstock
- Scissors
- Glue
- Pen
For more information on this activity, go to RedTedArt.com.
The tulip is the national flower of Holland. Unending rows of these flowers can be seen blooming around April to May and is a sight to behold. This craft is a tremendous help in improving children’s fine motor skills.
Learn more about the country of Holland with this craft through a geography lesson. Discuss what makes tulips a unique flower with a science lesson. Discuss its plant parts and how different it is from other flowers.
Cut out the egg carton cups and trim the edges to make them clean and smooth. Have the children paint it in their preferred color. Show children pictures of these flowers as a reference.
Once the paint dries, glue the same color of buttons in the middle of the cups. Arrange these on a blue cardstock and glue them. Next, add the green pipe cleaners for the stem. Finally, attach a ribbon and twirled paper strips to complete the bouquet.
For this activity, you will need:
- Egg cartons
- Pipe cleaners
- Buttons
- Paint
- Paintbrush
- Cardstock
- Construction paper
For more information on this activity, go to PreschoolPlayAndLearn.com.
Conclusion
Learning about the different cultures and traditions from various places worldwide will help broaden children’s perspectives on other people’s lives. Knowing these unique traditions and practices through these wonderful crafts will help children understand and respect other cultures.
Thank you for reading. Come back again and check out our other craft articles soon.
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