Hands-On Activities for Young Thinkers

12 Children Around the World

Foster awareness about social environments around the globe by exploring how children do similar things differently around the globe.

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12 Children Around the World

Dialogue

Foster awareness about social environments around the globe by exploring how children do similar things differently around the globe.

Making it Inclusive

See the animated short documentary The Little Prince, made in 2015 about the artist Matej Peljhan, for inspiration.

Task 1: What do we know about children around the world?

Show the James Mollison website Where Children Sleep. Find out what children would like to know about children's lives around the world and see if they can draw what they imagine other children do.

Discussion Plan: Children Around the World

What is surprising about seeing what happens to children around the world?
What can we imagine about other children?
What is hard to imagine?
What do photographs not capture? (For example smells, sounds, feelings.)
What should photographers also record?
Is it possible to build a story from a photograph?
What will our parents say when they see our own photos?
What will other children say?
Is it beautiful to see photos of children around the world?
Why are there so many differences around the world?

Task 2: What can we show about Children in our Country?

Invite children to decide what they would like others to know about their lives. Using photographs of themselves, places or activities, help them create a personal photo display to share with their families.

Task 3: Show and tell to others in the school

After collecting information and taking photos with children about the item they have selected, discuss together how to show it to the rest of the kindergarten. Go around other classrooms and help children present their project to others. Then think together on how to transfer all to a digital format for parents to see. Encourage children to discuss sustainability issues they have encountered, think critically about the digital information they encounter, and reflect on how inclusion can be practiced in everyday situations.

Variations

Playgrounds and Cities around the world Make a similar project with cities and playgrounds around the world.
Parents around the World Make a similar project with parents around the world.

Further Ideas

Unknown places in the world Investigate which places are the most unknown and look for children's bedrooms and toys, playgrounds and parents.
What will it look like in the future? Try to imagine what the future of children's bedrooms and toys, playgrounds and parents will look like in different places around the world.