How Can We Help Kids Learn About Holidays and Traditions in Meaningful and Respectful Ways?
By Julie Diamond, Founder & CEO Diamond Teachers Group
This week marks the start of three meaningful celebrations around the world: Ramadan, Lent, and Lunar New Year. Each of these holidays is an opportunity for children to explore important values such as kindness, generosity, gratitude, reflection, and community. Whether your family observes these holidays or simply wants to learn more to support friends, classmates, and neighbours, there are many meaningful and engaging ways to introduce children to these special times.
Explaining Holidays in Kid-Friendly Ways
When teaching children about holidays, focus on the values and meaning behind the celebrations, rather than expecting them to participate in religious rituals.
Simple explanations help children understand and empathize:
Ramadan:
“Ramadan is a special time when many Muslim families focus on being kind, helping people in need, spending time with family, and practicing gratitude.”
Lent:
“Lent is a season when many people think about how they can be kinder, help others, and reflect on what matters most in life.”
Lunar New Year:
“Lunar New Year is a time when families celebrate new beginnings, spend time together, share traditions, and wish each other good luck and happiness for the year ahead.”
Encourage children to ask questions and have open conversations. This builds understanding, empathy, and curiosity about different cultures and traditions.
Hands-On Activities to Explore Holidays at Home
Children learn best through experiences, and hands-on activities help bring the meaning of holidays to life.
The focus of these activities is to nurture empathy, gratitude, and understanding, rather than to replicate religious practices.
1. Kindness or Reflection Calendar
Ramadan & Lent: Each day, write a small act of kindness or reflection:
Helping a sibling with homework
Writing a thank-you note
Donating toys or books
Preparing a meal for someone in need
Lunar New Year: Include small acts that celebrate family, gratitude, or generosity, such as helping cook a family meal or making a card for a grandparent.
2. Explore Cultural Symbols
Ramadan: Track moon phases and create crescent moon crafts to connect with the lunar calendar.
Lent: Make a “gratitude tree” or reflection chart to add leaves for acts of kindness or things they are thankful for.
Lunar New Year: Learn about zodiac animals, lanterns, and red envelopes. Make simple crafts to understand what they symbolize.
3. Food and Community
Ramadan: Prepare an iftar meal together or bake treats to share with friends or neighbours who celebrate. Iftar meals often balance nutritious, hydrating foods to break the fast with comforting, hearty dishes to replenish energy.
Lent: Cook a family meal that emphasizes sharing or preparing food for someone else, highlighting generosity and reflection.
Lunar New Year: Prepare traditional foods like dumplings, noodles, or rice cakes, and share them with family while discussing themes of luck, family, and renewal.
4. Gratitude or Reflection Jar
Invite your child to decorate a jar and write down one thing they are thankful for or one kind act they did each day. At the end of the holiday, read them together and reflect on gratitude, generosity, and mindfulness.
Children’s Books That Help Explain Holidays
Reading stories is a wonderful way for children to connect emotionally and culturally to traditions:
Ramadan: Lailah’s Lunchbox, Ramadan Moon, Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns
Lent: The Easter Story, The Little Lenten Book
Lunar New Year: Bringing In the New Year, The Great Race: The Story of the Chinese Zodiac, Dragon Dance
Reading together opens the door for meaningful discussions and questions.
Thoughtful Ways to Acknowledge Friends and Community
Helping children learn to respectfully acknowledge celebrations builds social awareness and inclusivity:
Teach greetings:
Ramadan: “Ramadan Mubarak” or “Ramadan Kareem”
Lent: “Wishing you a reflective Lent”
Lunar New Year: “Happy Lunar New Year” or “Gong Xi Fa Cai / Xin Nian Kuai Le”
Encourage children to:
Ask respectful questions about friends’ celebrations
Include friends in kindness or reflection activities
Show understanding if friends are fasting, observing traditions, or celebrating differently
These small gestures help children learn to celebrate diversity with sincerity and respect.
Building Lasting Lessons Beyond Holidays
Teaching children about different holidays is not just about facts it’s, about helping them understand values that benefit everyone. Conversations about patience, gratitude, reflection, and helping others are universal lessons that children can carry throughout their lives.
Families can extend these lessons by modeling empathy, encouraging community service, and exploring the traditions that make our communities vibrant and inclusive. When children learn about cultural and religious celebrations different from their own, they grow into compassionate, open-minded individuals.
Exploring holidays at home does not require extensive knowledge or elaborate plans. Simple conversations, meaningful activities, shared stories, and thoughtful gestures can help children develop understanding and respect. These experiences teach children about important global traditions while nurturing kindness, curiosity, and connection, lessons that shine far beyond a single season or month.