Global Kids Activity Deck
The Global Kids activity deck is a helpful tool for raising the next generation of global citizens in the home, classroom, and beyond!
Engage kids with more than 50 crafts, food, recipes, games, festivals, and community service activities from around the world.
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The Global Kids Deck
The Global Kids deck is divided into 5 categories that offer a variety of activities to #OpenTheirWorld throughout the year!
- Create unique arts & crafts, like Maasai-Inspired Beadwork from Kenya and batik art from Indonesia.
- Play games, such as Sapo from Peru and Mancala from Egypt. And try dance moves, like the Thumka from India.
- Eat and learn about food! Invite friends for Apple Tea (Turkey) and use your senses to explore spices from around the globe.
- Celebrate special days with fun traditions. Make a German Schultüte (school cone) for the first day of school and a Diwali lantern for India’s Festival of Lights.
- Help Out by serving our planet and people. Track water use, reduce waste, do good deeds, and more!
The front of each activity card includes the category stamp, making it helpful for choosing and sorting activities. It also provides a brief introduction to the meaning or history behind the activity.
The back of each card details what you’ll need and the steps for completing the activity. Many of the materials needed can often be found around your home or classroom, and no technology is required – making the cards even more versatile.
The activity cards are beautiful! The bright artwork by Sophie Fatus is fun and inviting – and makes the steps easy to follow.
The deck format is helpful, allowing you to pull only the cards you need.
Store the cards in their sturdy box or hang them on a ring for easy access.
Global Kids can be used in a variety of fun and engaging ways to promote cultural understanding and world knowledge.
Parents, grandparents, caregivers, teachers, librarians, and community organizers will find it helpful and easy to use.
Download a Free Activity Sampler
Try three projects from the Global Kids deck with this activity sampler from Barefoot Books: make a Diwali Lantern (India), Wishing Tree (Japan), and Fruit Smoothie (Vietnam).
The Creators of Global Kids
Global Kids was written by global education expert Homa Tavangar, author of Growing Up Global: Raising Children to Be At Home in the World.
The activities were developed with early childhood expert Stefanie Paige Wieder, M.S.Ed. and reviewed for accuracy by experts from each represented culture.
Using the Global Kids Activity Deck
We recommend starting with the Travel the World card (Create).
Introduce what a passport is and how it’s used, and then have kids make their own passports to document their journey around the world using the activities in the Global Kids deck.
Try This! Global Kids Stations
Perfect for learning centers, early finishers, indoor recess, free-choice time, small group and independent projects, home connections, clubs, and more!
Preparation
- Print our free organizers for students to record and reflect on the activities they complete. There is one for each category, plus a final checklist.
- Print our world map for students to locate and color the countries representing the activities they complete. Optional map activities can include adding Antarctica, identifying the continents, labeling and coloring the oceans, drawing and labeling the equator, reviewing the compass rose and creating a map key.
- Choose the station activities. You may want to pick one activity from each of the categories, or you may want to offer several activities from just one of the categories. The options are many!
- Plan the days, times, and how students will rotate through the stations (i.e, independently, partners, small groups).
Introduce the Stations
- Distribute the world map and activity organizer(s).
- Introduce each activity. Show how and where the card and materials will be stored.
- Model each activity or leave a sample of a finished product for reference.
- Answer any clarifying questions from the students before they begin.
Station Rotations
- Students rotate through the stations until everyone has completed the different activities.
- Switch out the cards for future rotations to keep the stations fun and new.
Have kids share their discoveries and/or finished products with their peers and families.
Try This! Global Kids Secret Missions
Fun for home or remote learning projects.
Choose 2-3 cards to put in a “Secret Mission” envelope for each student. Or you can have the students randomly choose cards – from specific categories or from the whole deck – to put in their envelopes.
Students complete their ”secret mission” multicultural projects and choose how to share their discoveries and/or projects with their classmates. They could create a video, Google slide show, poster, food dish, craft, or any other creative idea you or they think of.
Purchase a deck for the little global citizens in your life. Available on Barefoot Books and Amazon.
Recommended Supplemental Resources
- world wall map
- globe
- atlas
- global learning websites, including our own Globe Trottin’ Kids free website
- related books, music, photographs, country or cultural artifacts
- guest visitors from related countries/cultures
Additional Global Learning Products
- My Place in My World Free Geography Flipbook
- Games Around the World 35 Games from 23 Countries
- The Global Minute 400 Discovery Cards
- Country Research Projects for Young Explorers 20 Country Projects