Growing Global: Resources Ages 0-5

Raising children to become responsible and caring citizens of the world begins at birth. Books, music, and food are fun ways to introduce other cultures and inspire curiosity about the world while developing important skills.

Growing Global: Resources Ages 0-5 features quality products and resources that help feed the mind, soul, and tummies of our tiniest global citizens. (It’s a great gift guide as well!)

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through, a small commission will be paid to Globe Trottin’ Kids at no additional cost to you. Complimentary products are used for review purposes; however, all opinions are our own. 

Growing Global Featured Resource: Teaching Kids to Read Ages 0-5

When you are reading books, singing lullabies, and describing new foods you are also filling your baby’s world with rich language and building a solid foundation in literacy. Why not optimize these experiences by using tools and strategies that will help your child become globally-aware and a successful reader?

Teaching Kids to Read Ages 0-5 is a self-paced, online course for parents and caregivers wanting to give their child a great start in their education. It is a comprehensive “how-to” guide for teaching literacy skills from birth, while developing the attitudes of a global citizen. It’s filled with practical and effective ideas that are easy to use every day.

The course developer, Bethany Edwards, is an international Elementary educator and Reading and Literacy Specialist who wants to see every child flourish and find joy in reading and literacy when they arrive in Kindergarten. Drawing from her experiences, expertise, and scientific research, she shares how to create a diverse and literacy-rich environment to instill a love and passion for reading, but also for reading the world.

The online course includes:

• video tutorials that are fun, short and easy to understand
• printable checklists and guides
• supplemental reading (over 500 read-aloud books for different ages and topics)
• email support

The 10 Lessons are:

• The Importance of Reading Aloud
• Learning Multiple Languages
• Whole Brain Learning
• Managing a Reading Session
• Pre-Reading Skills
• Beginning Writing
• Beginning Listening
• Beginning Speaking
• Reading the World
• Creating a Reader-Friendly Home and Review

Bethany’s tips, tools and strategies will help you find the absolute joy in teaching your child to read! Invest in your child’s future, and register today.

Global Babies Board Book This bilingual book is a beautiful introduction to 17 cultures around the world through full color photographs of babies. (Babies love to stare at other babies!) It is the first in the Global Baby series from The Global Fund for Children, a nonprofit organization developing books that celebrate our global society. Other books in the series include Global Baby Girls, Global Baby Boys, and Global Baby Bedtimes.

Todd Parr books, including The Family Book (celebrating diversity in families), It’s Okay to Be Different (reminding us to embrace our uniqueness), and The Peace Book (encouraging caring and acceptance).

Hush, Baby, Hush!: Lullabies From Around the World  A collection of illustrated lullabies from around the world, including Australia (Aboriginal), Austria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Hungary, India,
Turkey, USA (Hopi), and West Africa (Yoruba).

The Barefoot Book of Children Discover how other children live, what they eat, what games they play, and how are they different and alike in this beautifully written and illustrated book. See our review.

The Tiny Traveler and Hello World series’ have a variety of globally-themed board books to explore shapes, colors, opposites, and nature.

Bedtime Stories and Poems A collection of free online children’s stories from Storyberries. Choose by age, time, type, topic or conversation (empathy, friendship, gratitude, kindness, love, etc.).

15 Diverse Books for Babies & Toddlers  Multicultural and inclusive book suggestions from The Barefoot Mommy. 

Mama Lisa’s World Explore a website of global songs, rhymes, and traditions – sorted by continent, country, language, and more. Many include translations, song notes, and/or videos.

The World’s Lullabies Listen to submissions of favorite lullabies including Guten Abend Gute Nacht from Germany, Phnom Penh Lullaby from Cambodia, and Baka Pygmy Lullaby from Cameroon. One of our favorites is Kula Bébé by Bernadette Aningi and Anita Daulne. Aningi was a young mother in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where she learned about a Pygmie musical tradition of singing in a group — with each person contributing a note. Following this tradition, Aningi sings Kula Bébé in the Kingwana language with her daughter, Anita Daulne. The song translates, roughly, to “Sleep, baby, sleep. Don’t cry, baby. Don’t cry, child.

Putumayo Kids Take a musical journey around the world with Latin, Asian, African, American, French, Caribbean, and Australian songs for playtime and bedtime.

La luna  Latin Grammy-winner 123 Andrés takes listeners on an imaginary trip to South America with soothing Andean sounds. New and traditional songs, sung mostly in Spanish and featuring a variety of instruments, are perfect for bed time, quiet playtime, or on a peaceful drive. The debut edition of La luna is in Spanish (translation of the lyrics are available here), with an English language edition planned for next year. Regardless of the parents’ language, exposure to a second or third language at a young age helps children pronounce and understand the words better later in life.

Andrés Salguero and Christina Sanabria are the husband-wife team behind 123 Andrés. For this album, they connected with their fans and invited parents to send phone messages with the words they use to send little ones to sleep with love. The messages are sprinkled throughout the album for a special touch. Listeners will hear genres including Loncomeo from Patagonia, Candomble from Uruguay, Huayno from the Andes and Merengue from Venezuela. The songs come to life with instruments including charangos, guitars, cellos, a Cuban tres, a bombo leyero (an ancient traditional drum), and quenas and sikus (flutes and pan pipes).

Andrés and Christina travel the U.S. promoting literacy and bilingualism. “The first years of life are the most important for brain development and the formation of bonds between parents and babies,” says Andrés, who holds a doctorate in music and frequently leads bilingual music workshops for educators. “Music is the perfect vehicle to forge those bonds and create memories.”

Una manta (One blanket)
Dos palomas (Two doves)
Tres estrellas que se asoman (Three stars, peeking through)
Cuatro gatos (Four cats)
Cinco cuervos (Five ravens)
Seis zapatos medio sueltos (Six shoes, with laces untied)
Siete sueños (Seven dreams) …

A special surprise closes the album: Little Miss Ann (a Chicago-­based kindie artist) sings with Andrés on a new bilingual arrangement of her song, “Fly, Shine, Soar.”

Listen to more tracks on Soundcloud.

B. Global Glowball Musical Toy  Featuring 39 global songs and glowing lights. It also makes a fun nightlight!

Bella Luna Toys offers a collection of rhythm instruments for babies and toddlers; pentatonic flutes and harps; glockenspiels and xylophones; kalimbas ukuleles; and more.

Around the World in 80 Purees: Easy Recipes for Global Baby Food  Introduce your baby to a world of flavors with homemade foods that feature healthy ingredients. “Think outside the jar” and create foods that are inspired by countries such as India, Mexico and Morocco.

Feed the Baby Hummus Learn how to incorporate a variety of multicultural practices with these pediatrician-backed secrets from cultures around the world.

Tara’s Multicultural Table Great recipe ideas sorted by continent and categories.

Multicultural Foods Play Set Learn about food from various cultures with 63 food items for role play and dramatic play.

And …

Little Passports Early Explorers Subscription (recommended for ages 3-5) Introduce geography to your preschooler with a monthly delivery of fun activities, educational toys, stickers, and more.

Snuggling up with rich literature; singing, dancing, and sleeping to global sounds, and exploring foods from near and far are just some ways for Growing Global in these early years. Please leave a comment with your own tips and suggestions.

Watch for the next post in our Growing Global series featuring resources for ages 6-12.