Holiday Express

New York City is home to over 8.3 million unique individuals with countless ethnic and cultural identities, which all come with their own traditions! Explore all of the holidays celebrated in the wintertime with your class. Each week, “travel” to a new place in the world and learn about a wintertime holiday or celebration that occurs there!

Ask your students if they celebrate this holiday or know anything about it. Then, show your students where on the map the custom originates and pictures of rituals, food and clothing associated with it.

After you’ve journeyed around the globe to learn about different holidays, it’s time to turn your attention to the traditions celebrated in your own classroom.

Throw a mini holiday party in your classroom where everyone shares a food or tradition that they like to celebrate together as their own community. If they can’t think of one, they can always bring in something that they learned over the course of the unit. That’s the holiday spirit!

To support this unit, use the Sleigh All Day Creativity Page.