Bring the excitement and beauty of Japanese festivals into your classroom. Kids with special needs create calendars that reflect special festivals and holidays common to Japanese culture. They start the project by creating a list of...

Students examine ways in which holiday television specials reflect some of the religious, historic and cultural themes of the holidays on which they focus. They create their own holiday television specials in groups, each focusing on a...

Learners make a list of all of the national holidays and explain why we celebrate them. They create a holiday based on their culture, gender, or generation and then debate and defend the creation of their holiday in class. They create...

Students discover facts about the Mexican holiday, Day of the Dead. In this compare and contrast lesson, students explore Halloween and the Day of the Dead. Students create an alter to memorialize a family member or friend that has...

Students investigate the traditions associated with winter holidays. They examine why most of the holidays are associated with light. They examine the origins and customs of these holidays before creating an original holiday.

Fifth graders create a time line listing six national holidays in chronological order of occurrence. In this historical events lesson, 5th graders research holidays and write a paragraph summarizing each one. They then place each holiday...

How much do you know about the holidays around the world? Second graders put their knowledge to the test with a 14-day lesson about global celebrations. They read informational text, employ KWL charts, and compare and contrast the many...

Third graders explore art that reflects their cultural background. In this writing and research activity students compare and contrast the Halloween with El Dia de los Muertos. Students study the visual art of these holidays. Then...

An ESL class writes a description of an aspect of a holiday from another country. They illustrate their description and present their finished work product to their classmates. 

Students identify holidays celebrated by different cultures in Kansas and create a timeline of when they started to be celebrated. In this Kansas holidays lesson plan, students create a timeline wall in their class for each holiday.

Students explore different cultures by researching holidays around the world, and comparing/contrasting their own customs to those of others; students then present their findings to the class.

Students use the internet to gather information about holidays around the world. They create a calendar with all of the holidays outlined and calculate the percentages of countries who celebrate each one. They design a greeting card to...

Students research a country and the national holidays the people of that country celebrates.  In this cultural celebrations lesson, students are assigned a country, research the major holidays of that country, and create a 12-month...

Students study customs of various winter holidays. In this holiday lesson, students read the book The Reasons for the Seasons and complete a winter glyph. Students use graphing software to create a chart of the holidays that are celebrated.

Examine the holidays of La Posada in Mexico, Hanukkah in Israel, and Kwanzaa in the United States. Learners identify the countries on a world map, listen to stories, create art projects for each holiday, and make recipes celebrating...

Students create spreadsheets and bar graphs based on results of survey of favorite holidays.

Learn more about Kwanzaa with a celebratory lesson. As learners analyze My First Kwanzaa Book by Debbi Chocolate, they compare and contrast the celebration to other holiday traditions they know about. Next, they prepare and...

Students investigate the celebration of Chinese New Year. For this Chinese New Year lesson, students discuss their favorite holiday before listening to a read aloud about Chinese New Year. They make red envelopes that are filled with...

Students explore December climates in Southern and Northern Hemispheres, including areas close to the equator. In this surfin' Santa card lesson, students research how Christmas is celebrated in warm climates and create greeting cards to...

Discover the meaning of Columbus Day and/or Thanksgiving by creating art from food. This activity focuses on making edible ships using easy to find food items. The class will investigate the journeys that were taken for either of these...

Students create holiday story while working in cooperative learning groups, using Chris Van Allsburg's Polar Express as a writing prompt.

Students explore the celebration of Christmas as part of an investigation into the multicultural experiences of celebrating holidays. The story written by Richard Paul Evans, "The Light of Christmas" provides the basis for the exploration.

Students research information about the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), a major celebration in Mexican culture, and compare it to similar holidays in other cultures. They discover various folk arts and festive traditions associated...

Students research their country's involvement in various wars and discuss how a person becomes a veteran. They comprehend the significance of Veteran's Day in the U.S. (or similar patriotic holidays in their country) and the roles brave...