At Empatico, one of our favorite parts of the winter season is learning about the holidays and traditions that are important to our friends and colleagues. This year, our team hopes to help kids around the world feel the same joy we do when we learn about new ways to observe the holidays.
Today, we’re excited to introduce the Winter Holiday Quest: a journey through the Great Empatico Expedition so that kids can share the joy of their favorite holidays and celebrate with one another. Watch your students’ joy unfold as they discover unexpected similarities with others who may appear very different from them.
Embarking on this quest is easy! In the coming weeks, lead your class through the 5 activities below:
- A Conversation about Celebrations: This introductory activity engages students in a conversation about their favorite holidays and special traditions. Add your students’ reflections to our community Padlet board and check out posts from other classes!
- Sounds of Celebration: Engineering Challenge: In this activity co-created with EiE: Engineering is Elementary, challenge students to design, create, and share a musical instrument that they can play as part of a celebration.
- Empathy Book Club: Cultural Celebrations: Created with CommonLit, this activity teaches kids about celebrations around the world through short story readings and reflections.
- Community Celebrations: Kahoot! Collection: Students have the chance to learn about holidays that are celebrated in different countries. This activity features a Kahoot! game collection created by educators in the Empatico community!
- Festivals Around the World: Virtual Exchange: To finish the quest, students will learn about festivals celebrated by their partner class and share about a holiday that is important to them. This activity was created in partnership with Educurious!
The activities in the Winter Holiday Quest are ideal for engaging your students’ natural curiosity and excitement during the end of this calendar year. For any questions, feel free to reach out to noah@empatico.org. We hope that your holiday season is off to a great start, and we can’t wait to hear how your classes enjoy their quests!
