Sociology of Holidays and Customs (Create Your Own Holiday Project)

Design Your Celebration - Exploring Cultural Customs

This lesson explores the world of celebrations and customs, offering a an in-depth look at how culture is woven into unique cultural traditions. Then, students will go about making celebrations and customs of their own, set for a hypothetical culture of their choosing! In the meantime they might consider the sociological perspective and how strange celebrations can seem when you aren't socialized into them. The product includes:

Slide Presentation with more than 20 Slides:

• Introduction to Cultural Celebrations

• Thinking about how customs and societies are connected

• Talking about how celebrations are a product of culture

• Looking at different holidays, like: Diwali - Festival of Lights (India), American Christmas, Hanami - Enjoying Cherry Blossoms (Japan), Chinese New Year - Lunar New Year (China), Eid al-Fitr, End of Ramadan (Many Islamic countries), Day of the Dead - Remembering Family (Mexico+)

• Instructions for the activity where students design their own custom or tradition within a hypothetical culture

• Making up your own tradition

• Comparing exemplars of effective and ineffective celebration projects

Student Worksheet and Activity:

• Worksheet: Major Cultural Customs and Celebrations

• Activity: Making a custom or a celebration

This lesson is made to expand your students' worldview, and also to get them thinking about what celebrations mean in relation to culture. The engaging presentation, corresponding worksheet, and interactive activities promise to get your students thinking about the relationship between customs and culture.