Event Ideas for your Multicultural Celebrations
Your campus population celebrates holidays beyond Christmas during the winter season. Make sure everyone feels included during this special time of the year by incorporating traditions and celebrations from a variety of cultural backgrounds. Beyond providing inclusive programming, the holidays are the perfect opportunity to celebrate our multicultural world and further foster acceptance in your community.
Here are just some of the celebrations around the world:
• Saint Nicholas Day (Christian)
• Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexican)
• St. Lucia Day (Swedish)
• Hanukkah (Jewish)
• Christmas Day (Christian)
• Three Kings Day/Epiphany (Christian)
• Boxing Day (Australian, Canadian, English, Irish)
• Kwanzaa (African American)
• Omisoka (Japanese)
World of Christmases
People around the world celebrate Christmas, but they don’t all celebrate it like we do here in the United States. Include traditions from other countries into your holiday celebrations, including the dishes they eat, the stories they tell, popular songs and more!
Hanukkah History & Dreidel Game
This simple lesson plan is a great way to introduce students to a large, historical celebration – Hanukkah – in a fun and exciting way. First, teach participants all about the history of Hanukkah, including the dreidel. Then, have each of them create their own dreidel using milk cartons or boxes. You can easily find directions on how to make them online, like these. Finally, teach them the rules of the game and let them have fun!
Community-Led Holiday Programming
Your school community is likely full of experts on various cultures and diverse celebrations. Seek them out to bring authenticity to your multicultural holiday programming. They can teach a class on how to cook a traditional holiday recipe, share stories from their origin country or host an arts and craft session allowing patrons to replicate cultural decorations – like the dreidel mentioned above.
Multicultural Holiday Movies
If you plan on showing holiday films throughout the season, make sure to include some diverse ones in addition to other holiday classics. Here are a few multicultural holiday titles we license:
