A great way to teach children about other cultures is to have them dress up as children from different countries around the world. The bulk of difficulty for this play falls on the shoulders of parents or teachers who must construct the costumes. The teacher can draw a few pictures for each child to help them understand some elements that make up this culture. For instance, a child dressed up as a person from Canada should be bundled up in warm clothes, shiver while they are on stage, and act as though they are casting a fishing rod. If the teacher has significant time to practice with the children, they can teach them how to say “hello” in the native language of the country they represent.
Some of the earliest stories that children learn are the same bedtime books that have read for decades. Stories like Goldie Locks and the Three Bears, The Little Engine that Could, and the Three Little Pigs are easy for an audience to recognize with some props and costumes and the plots are already known by the children. Before choosing the fable, ask the children about their favorites to see what excites them.
Most young children are fascinated by animals and learn to distinguish them before the time they reach preschool. In this play, each child will dress up as a different animal found at the zoo. The play focuses on what happens when all the visitors leave and it’s time for the animals to go to bed at night. Each child could act out a sound or motion that their animal makes and then do their best dramatic interpretation of that animal retiring for the night. Preschoolers understand this simple concept and it allows them to really act.
Young children also learn to recognize things they encounter in the real world like police officers, librarians, doctors, bankers, and store clerks. In this activity, each child will play a different role in the community. In each scene another child could act out how they see their parents interacting with these players’ roles in the real world. A benefit of this play is teaching preschoolers a lesson on how to properly address these authority figures.