Kids
8 Ways Kids Can Celebrate UN Month At Home
It’s UN Month and we came up with a way to help kids celebrate it at home.
What better way to learn Social Studies in homeschool than by celebrating UN Month? While some homeschools have it in their curriculum, others have to come up with something themselves. Similar to August’s Buwan ng Wika/ Linggo ng Wika, we can celebrate UN Month by having our kids travel the world at home. Besides virtual field trips and watching the news, here are some other ways kids can travel the world at home to celebrate UN Month.
1. Order from a different restaurant
One of the best ways to understand a culture is through food. From the different recipes, you and your kids can infer what spices and vegetables grow there while figuring out the origin of the recipe, leading to discussions about the culture of the people that made it. Instead of having a typical Filipino dinner, we can have shawarma night by ordering from a Greek restaurant like Cyma or a Persian restaurant like Mister Kebab. Something a little more exotic like Tanzanian food from Mapishi ought to do the trick too if you want to try a different interpretation of biryani.
2. Listen to Disney songs in their original language
Disney’s known to be family-friendly and has a lot of songs to pick out from. They’ve covered a variety of fairytales and stories that come from different countries which we usually hear in English. But for an authentic immersion and to appreciate the culture, we suggest listening to the songs in their native language. Like, Jackie Chan sang I’ll Make A Man Out Of You in Cantonese. Frozen’s songs can be enjoyed in Norwegian, Coco in Mexican, and Anastasia in Russian. We can even have a karaoke party to add more fun!
3. Read mythology with our kids
Mythology may sound crazy in the modern-day but it’s what our ancestors used to explain scientific concepts they didn’t understand. We’re pretty familiar with Greek Mythology because of Disney’s Hercules but it doesn’t really cover all the details about the hero’s tale. Besides, he’s not the only hero. There’s also Sumerian mythology and reading up on Gilgamesh, the one who many hail as the King of Heroes since he was the template for the many heroes we know today. Reading mythology gives us a view of what the people of different cultures believe and thought as a lot of it gives them a foundation for their current beliefs. Besides, reading’s an activity that always helps in expanding our kids’ world.
4. Watching different TV dramas
TV dramas aren’t just loaded with moments for laughs and memes but with windows to how people’s cultures are like. Just how Philippine TV dramas give foreigners a small idea of what Filipinos are like, so do others. K-Dramas showcase what Koreans value: the little wholesome moments even if it is something as horrific as Squid Game. Mexican telenovelas can have us hooting at the audacity of some characters and the Turkish drama Magnificent Century might trigger your child’s interest to look up the history of some of the characters. Just make sure the subtitles are on!
5. Celebrate one of the country’s festivals
While September was perfect for Chinese traditions, October’s perfect for the kids to learn about the different folklore and traditions of different countries. Since Halloween and UN month are October-babies, we can have a joint celebration by changing up our kids’ costumes from the typical vampire. If your older kids are into cosplay, they can help with making some of the props, lending some of the clothes, even coming up with cheaper alternatives to costumes to make the family’s Halloween and UN month celebration a time to remember.
6. Cook some interesting recipes at home
Cooking at home may be a bit taxing but it’s a learning experience and one way we can bring the world to our homes. If we have a pressure cooker, time to break it out and make Tonkotsu broth for good Japanese ramen. Have a bamboo steamer? Siomai tastes better when cooked in a bamboo steamer than the typical metal one. Chili Colorado — perfect for Mexican night. Some even say that if they can’t feel the spice, it’s not good enough.
7. Learn the basics of a language
While waiting for the pandemic to end, why not learn the native language of the country you and your family would like to go to when it ends? Some countries like Japan, Hong Kong, or France may prefer if you’re capable of speaking in their native language. Learning the native languages of those countries not only improves your kids’ comprehension but also develops their ability to express themselves. Some apps like Duolingo can teach the basics but it might be good to get a teacher too so they have someone to practice with.
8. Listening to music of other singers/musicians
Just like how we’d listen to Queen B to feel empowered, there’s other music to help us get into the mood. There are a lot of musicians out there waiting to be discovered and play all sorts of music. If you’ve seen your kids jamming to the song of the vibing cat meme, that song’s actually an old Finnish song about a lumberjack called Ievan Polka by Loituma. Although we might not appreciate the sad audio quality (because the tech wasn’t good back then), we can listen to the ones that have been remastered or remixed to appreciate the language and the culture of other countries.
Fun ideas for kids to celebrate UN Month at home!
We’ve been celebrating things at home for the last year and are doing so again this year. But with a little imagination and creativity, the world won’t have to seem so far away and we don’t need to feel so detached either. Although the pandemic managed to put things to a halt, things are slowly moving again, and having the kids travel around the world at home for UN month is one way to keep their minds busy. When things become normal, they’ll realize that there’s a lot to look forward to.
Need more fun activities for the kids besides for UN Month? Check out more of our celebration ideas!
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