Holidays Around the World Mini Unit (Nonfiction & Global Studies)

This hands-on, interactive World Holidays Mini-Unit will bring cultural understanding, global awareness, and meaningful collaboration into your classroom. As the months of celebration roll in across the United States, students are surrounded by familiar traditions. This unit gives them the opportunity to explore holidays celebrated around the world in an engaging, thoughtful, and academically rich way.

This resource spotlights seven global celebrations—Hanukkah (Israel), El Día de Reyes (Mexico/Puerto Rico), Chinese New Year (China), Children’s Day (Japan), Kwanzaa (United States/African-American culture), Ramadan (Middle East), and Carnival (Brazil)—and provides everything you need to guide students through nonfiction research, collaborative learning, and author’s craft study.

Designed as a rotation-style experience, each teacher (or small group of teachers) becomes the “expert” for one holiday. Students move through each rotation, gaining exposure to new cultures and traditions while engaging in activities that promote curiosity, discussion, and community-building. This format makes the unit ideal for grade-level teams, vertical teaching groups, or interdisciplinary blocks. The framework is flexible and can be used as a one-day cultural celebration, a week-long research project, or a month-long global study.

This unit is low prep for teachers. Suggestions for books, websites, videos, and articles are all included (and most likely available in your school library or online!). Note packets are easy to assemble and supplies are minimal for each rotation. Suggested plans are available for each holiday, as well as a list of suggested holidays for the final product.

Students finish the unit by creating a “Recipe for a Holiday”. Blending research, author’s craft, and personal reflection, and after studying the customs, symbols, foods, and values associated with each celebration, students write a recipe-style piece.

Consider this: What ingredients make this holiday meaningful?

• A cup of tradition

• A spoonful of celebration

• A handful of community

• A sprinkle of history

This final product is not only fun and imaginative, it also serves as a powerful assessment tool that showcases student understanding in a unique way. Whether you’re looking for a multicultural holiday resource, an engaging writing extension, or an easy-to-run rotation activity your entire team can use, this mini-unit brings global learning to life. Perfect for December cultural studies, literacy centers, international festivals, or anytime you want to help students see the world beyond their classroom walls. This is also a great mini-unit for high ability pull out groups in months that need a little extra boost of engagement!