Diversity is an important topic in education. Teachers and afterschool professionals can help instill an appreciation for other cultures in students. With our EduCraft® Kids of All Nations Craft Kit, kids can create and design their own paper craft based on a specific nation. There are 8 lesson plans for you to use below that go along with this craft kit. These activities incorporate the topic of diversity into subjects like Science, Math, Social Studies, and Language Arts.

Download the Free Activity Guide here for a printable version of the lesson plans!

EduCraft® Kids of All Nations Craft Kit

Age Group: 7 and up
Project Time: 60 minutes

Craft Kit Includes:

• Paper
• Glue
• Paper Fasteners
• Paint Brushes
• Acrylic Paint
• Precut Paper Figures
• Yarn
• Patterns
• Teaching Guide with instructions and illustrations

Additional Materials:

• Pencils
• Scissors

Step by Step Instructions:

1. Have each class member decide which nation the child they create is from. Select an appropriate precut paper figure.
2. Have each class member decide how they would like to dress the figure and select the construction paper they will need.*
3. Use the paint to make any finishing touches on the paper figure. You can paint on eyes, a mouth, a nose and accents on the clothing and hair.
4. Hair can also be created from the enclosed yarn. It can be cut into 3” lengths for long hair or 1” lengths for short hair. Glue the hair to the scalp of the precut paper figure.
5. Once your class members have decorated the Kids of All Nations, their hands can be easily joined with the enclosed fasteners. This craft project makes a great bulletin board decoration

*In this Downloadable Guide, you will find patterns for the 4 different multicultural designs. If you want to use the patterns, cut them out and trace around the cut out patterns lightly on the construction paper. Cut out the traced item from the construction paper.

If you don’t want to use the patterns, cut out your own clothing designs from the construction paper. You may find it easier to draw a light outline of the clothing on the construction paper before you cut it out.

Educational Lesson Plans for Diversity

SCIENCE & MATH

Activity 1:

Objective: Create a twelve month chart depicting a nation’s climate.

Suggested Time Frame: 30 minutes

Additional Materials:

• Line graph paper
• Research materials

Procedure: Have students work in groups to pick a nation that they want to learn more about. Using the Internet or research materials, have students find the average climate for each month in their nation. Make a line graph with the title “Our Nation’s Climate” and the labels temperature and months. Explain to the students how to mark each temperature on the graph. When completed, the class should make a line graph showing all the separate nation’s climate patterns. Use a different color for each line. Make a key showing what country is represented by which color.

Activity 2:

Objective: Write a folktale and present it to the class.

Suggested Time Frame: 30 minutes

Procedure: Explain to the students that a folktale is a story with a moral in it. Read a short folktale to the class as an example. Discuss the moral in the story. Have each student pick a nation. Then ask them to create a folktale from their nation using characters or objects native to that nation. For example, if a student’s nation was Australia, he/she might use a kangaroo and a koala bear as the characters in their folktale. Remind students to include a moral in their folktale. When the folktales have been completed, students can share their stories with the class. As an extension activity, the students can act out their stories for other classes.

Activity 3:

Objective: Create a recipe based on a specific nation’s foods.

Suggested Time Frame: 30 minutes

Additional Materials:

• Blank recipe cards (index
  cards)
• Reference materials
• Multicultural cookbooks

Procedure: Using reference materials, have students find out about foods that are commonly eaten in a specific nation. Using cookbooks and their own creativity, write a recipe for a specific dish. Recipes should include amounts written in proper notation, ingredients, step-by-step instructions and serving size. As an extension activity, these recipes can be verified in a cookbook and the students can make some of these foods. With the recipe cards, students can make a class recipe book titled “Foods Around the World”.

SOCIAL STUDIES & ARTS

Activity 1:

Objective: Design a diorama of their puppet’s homeland.

Suggested Time Frame: 35 minutes

Additional Materials:

• Shoe boxes
• Clay
• Construction paper
• String
• Glue
• Rresearch materials
• Index cards

Procedure: Using the four puppets made, have students do some basic research on their puppet’s homeland. Based on the information found, have students create a diorama of their puppet’s homeland. Students can create an outdoor or indoor scene. Use clay and construction paper to make objects in the diorama. Other diorama ideas could include showing a specific trade, a native game or native animals. On an index card, have students write a brief description of what is being shown in their diorama. Attach the index card to the side of the diorama.

MATH

Activity 1:

Objective: Count to ten in three different languages.

Suggested Time Frame: 30 minutes

Additional Materials:

• Index cards

Procedure: Prior to the lesson, pick three languages that the students will learn during this lesson. Write the words for each number from one to ten on an index card. On the other side of the index card, write the numeral. Divide the class into three groups. Give each group a different set of index cards. help each group with the pronunciation of the words. Once each group has learned how to count to ten in a new language, have the students teach their new language to the rest of the class.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Activity 1:

Objective: Work in groups to find information about a specific nation.

Suggested Time Frame: 30 minutes

Additional Materials:

• Research materials
• Paper with specific topics

Procedure: Prior to the lesson, develop a reproducible sheet of paper with a list of topics. Some topics might be: language spoken, climate, national products, common modes of transportation, population, customs unique to their nation, famous foods, flag, industry, natural resources, history, animals, etc. Based on the puppet’s nationality, divide students into cooperative groups. Using research materials, have students find information about their nation. Pass out the paper.

Activity 2:

Objective: Compare and contrast clothing worn in different nations.

Suggested Time Frame: 30 minutes

Additional Materials:

• Large piece of paper
• Reference materials

Procedure: Prior to the lesson, make a graph with the title “Our Nation’s Clothing”. Do not fill in the column labels or list of nations until the class gives their suggestions. Using reference materials and the student’s knowledge, discuss what clothing and/or materials are common in each nation and list them on the board. Choose the most popular choices and write them in the appropriate spaces on the chart. Discuss the findings

LANGUAGE ARTS & SOCIAL STUDIES

Activity 1:

Objective: Write a poem about why a specific nation is special.

Suggested Time Frame: 30 minutes

Additional Materials:

• Writing paper

Procedure: Using the information students gained when researching their nation, ask them to create a poem about why their nation is special. Prior to writing, discuss with the class various types of poetry and have the students use one of the discussed types. Some types can have every two lines rhyme or a certain amount of syllables per line. Encourage the students to be creative when writing. When the poems have been completed, the students can make a final copy of their poems on the computer and draw a picture.

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