Tips to teach kids global awareness
In an increasingly interconnected world, it is more and more necessary to communicate openness to different cultures. Being aware globally means, in fact, to be very flexible creating a set of values that lead to the understanding of different cultures. Within the 21st-century skills framework, this aspect is essential to teach children to see the world with new eyes.
According to research, teaching children about diversity in many areas allows them not only to understand better those who are different, but they will be more likely to work with the heterogeneity making the world a better place.
In saying so, what activities we can teach children so that they grow in the global consciousness? Here are some:
1. Play with geography. There are toys, games, and accessories that can give them the opportunity to know where the continents, nations and their flags are.
2. Learning a new language, through individual courses or work with babysitters who speak another language. Some websites put in contact families with au pairs.
3. Participate in international sporting events like the World Cup or the Olympics enabling children to understand sportsmanship and the way sports did in different nations.
4. Going to different kinds of culinary festivals, exposing children to new types of dishes and foods. Also going to an ethnic restaurant could help them. Often children (and adults too) tend to be insensitive to smell and tastes of some dishes. Accustoming kids to specific differences will make them more open.
5. Listening to foreign music can get used to the different sounds of each language and melodies with which different nations express their music. The idea is to listen to the various national anthems of different countries.
6. Of course, give kids the chance to travel which is the best way to make them global citizens. If not possible, even field trips are excellent ideas as well.
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes,” said the French writer Marcel Proust.
In short, to promote tolerance and respect for diversity is necessary to have a broader global perspective.
Source: theguardian.com; noodle.com
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