Learning About Ancient Africa: Fun Ways to Engage Children

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Header image that reads Exploring Ancient African History with an image of the African continent.
 
 

Have you ever wondered about the incredible kings and queens of ancient Africa? Imagine stepping back in time to explore the various civilizations that thrived on the continent centuries ago. A continent full of fascinating people, places, and events. Ancient Africa is also full of incredible stories and achievements! Discover engaging ways for kids to learn about the exciting history and cultures of Africa long ago.

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Books about Ancient Africa

Our Story Starts in Africa
Author: Patrice Lawrence
Illustrator: Jeanetta Gonzales

This book follows Paloma's journey to Trinidad. Her Tante Janet shares a story of their family's rich heritage, starting in Africa. Paloma learns about a ruler in the kingdom of Kush, and how African people passed on their history in stories. Paloma also learns about the difficult times of slavery and how her ancestors built a strong community in the Caribbean. Note: this book discusses Ancient Africa briefly.

The Amazing Zoe: A Queen Like Me!
Author: Valene Campbell
Illustrator: Arooba Bilal

Zoe and her friend Kaitlyn love to play dress-up. When Kaitlyn declares that Zoe can’t play the role of a princess because she’s never seen a princess that looks like Zoe, Zoe is devastated. She runs home and informs her parents who then share with her a number of African princesses and queens.

African Icons: Ten People Who Shaped History
Author: Tracey Baptiste
Illustrator: Hillary D. Wilson

This is a collection of profiles of kings, queens, inventors, scholars, and visionaries who lived in Africa thousands of years ago and changed the continent and the world. Best suited for students in Grades 4+.

Early Civilizations of Africa
Author: Adrienne Shadd

This book is an anthology and part of the Sankofa series. I love that it features a variety of writing/text forms - folk tales, maps, reports, short stories, interviews, poetry, articles, and more. It’s written for grades 4+. If you are an educator, ask your Teacher-Librarian if some of the Sankofa titles could be added to your library. I purchased the series for our K-5 school library.

The following titles are in the Our Ancestories series by Ekiuwa Aire.

“Other” African Kingdoms

Ancient Egypt is a well-known early civilization and this video briefly discusses some of the other African kingdoms - Nubia, Axum, Ghana, Mali, and Zimbabwe.

Ancient African Kingdoms Video

 

Ancient Africa Collaborative Poster

Get your students to work together to create a colorful poster with an important message, “Black history didn’t start with slavery.”

It’s a great visual for your bulletin board, door, wall, etc. Students will color, cut out, and assemble the pieces. There are 3 options included - 18 pieces, 24 pieces, and 36 pieces!

It also includes a word search. It’s in my TPT Store and BP Shop.

 

How to Draw an African Mask

African masks aren't just decorations - they're cultural symbols of tradition and identity within different tribes and societies. They play important roles in ceremonies, storytelling, and spiritual practices, connecting people with their ancestors and spiritual beliefs. The colors, designs, and details all tell stories, creating a deep sense of belonging and pride.

Kids and masks? It's a win-win! Masks spark curiosity about different cultures, history, and storytelling, all through amazing works of art.

Kathy at Art Projects for Kids has an easy-to-follow tutorial for drawing African masks.

Anansi the Spider

Anansi is an Akan folktale character and is well-known in West African, Caribbean, and African American culture. Anansi tales originated in the land now known as Ghana which is in West Africa. In the Akan language, anansi means spider.  Anansi is depicted as a spider with a human face, a man that looks like a spider, or simply a man. Stories were shared orally and passed down from generation to generation.  Storytellers were held in high esteem in African cultures. I wrote reader’s theater scripts for 3 Anansi stories. They’re in my TPT Store and BP Store (click images).

Schools often teach about slavery when they talk about Black history. But that's only part of the story! Learning about Africa before slavery is important too. It shows children the amazing things Black people achieved in Africa for hundreds of years. They built great cities, created impressive works of art, and had strong kingdoms. Teaching kids this whole story helps them understand Black history is about more than just struggle. It's a story of success too!

 
 

Celebrate Lunar New Year in the Classroom with Pictures Books and Activities

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Celebrating Lunar New Year? Dive into the celebration with these picture books and classroom activities. I've selected engaging resources to make learning about this special holiday a blast for your students. From informational text to dragon tales to heartwarming family stories, these books cover it all. Make learning about Lunar New Year both educational and fun for your students!

This post contains affiliate links.

 
Blog header that reads, "Celebrate Lunar New Year in the Classroom" with symbols such as fans, ingots, coins, mandarins, and blossoms
 
 

Picture Books for Lunar New Year

Picture books act as windows and create a perfect opportunity for elementary students to immerse themselves in the rich traditions of Lunar New Year, fostering appreciation for other cultures.

 

Lunar New Year Mini Books

I created 9-10 page mini books for primary students to learn about the Lunar New Year! It includes basic facts, an explanation of the traditions, a word search, and a “what I’ve learned” page.

Find the Chinese New Year Mini Book in my TPT Store or BP Shop.

Find the Korean New Year (Seollal) Mini Book in my TPT Store or BP Shop.

Find the Vietnamese New Year Mini Book in my TPT Store or BP Shop.

 

Bingo Game

Learning about Lunar New Year traditions can be a fun experience for kids and one way to make it even more enjoyable is by playing games! This bingo game features symbols associated with Chinese traditions. It can help children learn about the customs and traditions of the new year in a fun and engaging way. Available in my TPT Store and BP Shop.

Chinese New Year Video

The TVO Kids series, It’s My Party, has an episode on Chinese New Year! Ashley celebrates Chinese New Year and is preparing for a day of lion dances, feasting, and fireworks with her guest Shazaib.

 

As you incorporate these Lunar New Year resources, I hope your students enjoy the stories and activities. Remember, let's celebrate not only Chinese New Year but also Vietnamese Tet, Korean Seollal, and other Lunar New Year celebrations from around Asia. Here's to creating memorable learning experiences together!

 

Fun Ramadan Activities for the Classroom

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Ramadan is an important month for the world's Muslim community. It is a time of reflection, prayer, and fasting for those who observe it. This year, why not help students acknowledge this holiday by implementing some fun activities in the classroom? Whether your students are all Muslim, just a few, or not at all, these activities will bring the spirit of Ramadan into the classroom and help everyone learn more about this important celebration.

This post contains affiliate links.

 
A picture of a lantern, dates, and prayer beads with the text, "Fun Ramadan Activities for Kids"
 
 

Picture Books for Ramadan

These picture books are a fun way to introduce the concepts of Ramadan to your students in an engaging way.

Rashad’s Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr
Author: Lisa Bullard
Illustrator: Holli Conger

I like this Cloverleaf Books series! Rashad shares how he and his family celebrate Ramadan. A text box on each page contains additional facts about the celebration and traditions. It includes a craft idea and glossary.

Lailah’s Lunchbox
Author: Reem Faruqi
Illustrator: Lea Lyon

Lailah is a young girl whose family has moved from Abu Dhabi to the southern US. It’s her first year fasting for Ramadan and she is nervous about letting her classmates and teacher know as they may not understand. They think she has forgotten her lunch! She finds a confidante in the school librarian and finds the courage to tell others about her culture. At the end, the author, Reem Faruqi reveals that this is an autobiographical tale.

Hannah and the Ramadan Gift
Author: Qasim Rashid
Illustrator: Aaliya Jaleel

Eight-year-old Hannah is disappointed when her Dada Jaan tells her that she is too young to fast for Ramadan. He tells her that she can celebrate Ramadan by saving the world! She spends the day helping others and showing love and kindness.

The Gift of Ramadan
Author: Rabiah York Lumbard
Illustrator: Laura K. Horton

When her grandmother tells her that the heart of a person that fasts for Ramadan is pretty and sparkly, Sophia is determined to fast. Her first day is a struggle. So many temptations! When she succumbs and Grandma sees her eating a box of cookies, Sophia feels horrible. Her grandmother reminds her that there are many other ways to celebrate Ramadan.

 

Ramadan Mini Book

I created a 9-page mini book for primary students to learn about Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr! It includes basic facts, an explanation of the traditions, a word search, and a “what I’ve learned” page. Find it in my TPT Store or BP Shop.

Bingo Game

Learning about Ramadan can be a fun experience for kids and one way to make it even more enjoyable is by playing games! This bingo game features symbols associated with the month. It can help children learn about the customs and traditions of Ramadan in a fun and engaging way. One key symbol of Ramadan is the crescent moon, which marks the beginning of the month. Available in my TPT Store and BP Shop.

Collaborative Poster

Need classroom decor? Get your students to work together to create a colorful poster for Ramadan. They will color, cut out, and assemble the pieces. Decor + collaboration skills? Win-win! There are 3 options included - 18 pieces, 24 pieces, and 36 pieces! It’s in my TPT Store and BP Shop.

 
 

Eid al-Fitr Festival

Eid al-Fitr is a three-day festival that celebrates the end of Ramadan. It means, “Festival of Breaking the Fast” because people stop fasting. It is a time for families and friends to gather, share meals, and exchange gifts.

Eid al-Fitr Video
The TVO Kids series, It’s My Party, has an episode on Eid al-Fitr! Noorah celebrates Ramadan and is preparing to attend an Eid al-Fitr event with her guest Soreya.

Amira’s Picture Day
Author: Reem Faruqi
Illustrator: Fahmida Azim

Amira has dilemma! School picture day is on Eid al-Fitr! Understandably, she doesn’t want to miss either. Can she make it work? This book will help the children that celebrate holidays that aren’t celebrated by the dominant culture to be seen. Hopefully, books like these will lead schools to avoid scheduling events on important religious holidays.

Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr are important events for many students and their families. By allowing students to share stories and traditions related to their culture, teachers are also fostering important conversations. And if you don’t have students that celebrate, books by Islamic authors are a great way to gain perspective. The activities shared in this blog post are a great way to learn about Islamic culture and create a more inclusive classroom.

 

Engaging Ways to Celebrate Tamil Heritage in the Classroom

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Tamil heritage is part of our global culture and I’m sharing ways that you can celebrate and appreciate it. Discover engaging activities to teach your elementary students about Tamil culture. From stories to videos, recognize and celebrate the rich heritage of the Tamil people.

 
A picture of a Bharatanatyam dancer with the text Engaging Ways to Celebrate Tamil Heritage in the Classroom
 
 

Books

Here is a collection of books starring Tamil characters and/or written by Tamil authors. These will give you more insight into the culture.

Where Three Oceans Meet
Author: Rajani LaRocca
Illustrator: Archana Sreenivasan

Sejal and her mother head to India to visit her Pati (grandmother in Tamil). They take a road trip from Bangalore through the state of Tamil Nadu taking in the sights and sounds.  Finally, they reach the southern tip of India - Kanyakumari - where the three oceans meet.

I’ll Go and Come Back
Author: Rajani LaRocca
Illustrator: Sara Palacios

Jyoti visits her Pati in India and despite a language barrier, they can understand each other and bond. At the end of the trip, she doesn’t want to leave, but she remembers the Tamil parting phrase, not “goodbye”, but “I’ll go and come back.” And the following summer when her grandmother visits her in America, she parts with the same sentiment.

Palm Trees Under Snow
Author: Meera Bala
Illustrator: Galina Moleskine

In Sri Lanka, Maya grew up surrounded by palm trees, the ocean, and family. Sadly, her life is upturned by a war that is tearing Sri Lanka apart. In search of safety, Maya's parents decide to immigrate to another country. Without friends and family and unable to speak the language, will Maya ever feel a sense of belonging?

Tomatoes for Neela
Author: Padma Lakshmi
Illustrator: Juana Martinez-Neal

Neela loves cooking with her mother. Neela and her mother go to the market to buy tomatoes - the vegetable that she loves to cook. They make a sauce using her Pati’s recipe. It makes her feel close to her as she’s far away in India.

Bharatanatyam

Bharatanatyam is a form of Indian classical dance. The oldest, in fact! The dance style originated in Tamil Nadu, India. Bharatanatyam is known for its form: hand gestures, facial expressions, plie-like squat, and, fixed upper torso.

Bharatanatyam in Ballet Shoes
Author: Mahak Jain
Illustrator: Anu Chouhan

Bharatanatyam in Ballet Shoes is a beautifully illustrated book. Paro comes from a dancing family. She learned Bharatanatyam from her mother and is quite good at it. In her new ballet class, Paro finds the new poses and skills to be tricky so she decides to quit Bharatanatyam to focus solely on ballet. But can she do both? Are the dance styles that different from one another?

 
 

Kolam

Kolam is a tradition that began thousands of years ago. It is a drawing made on the floor using colored rice flour. It is used to decorate the home and to welcome the goddess Lakshmi. The simplest form is made by dots of rice in a grid. They are joined together to make shapes or designs, such as flowers and animals. Kolam is similar to rangoli.

Pongal Pot Kolam Video

Pongal Festival

Pongal is an ancient harvest festival celebrated in the Tamil community in South India, Sri Lanka, and around the world. It is also known as Thai Pongal. The celebration lasts for four days in mid-January.  It includes traditional rituals such as decorating homes, offering thanksgiving prayers to gods, cooking dishes like pongal, and paying respect to cattle.

Video Series
The TVO Kids series, It’s My Party, has an episode on Thai Pongal! Annalyia celebrates Thai Pongal and shares her culture with Delano.

Thai Pongal
Author: Majura Thayalan and Neera Thubeeshan

Written in both English and Tamil, this book teaches readers about Thai Pongal traditions. It was written in response to the dearth of books about this important Tamil festival!

Pongal Mini Book
I created a 9-page mini book for primary students to learn about the festival! It includes basic facts, an explanation of the traditions, important symbols, a word search, and a “what I’ve learned” page. Find it in my TPT Store or BP Shop.

 

I hope you’ll consider sharing Tamil Heritage with your students!

 

5 Great Resources for Learning about Celebrations in the Primary Classroom

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I love learning about other people’s cultures and traditions. This has translated into recognizing celebrations in the classroom. When we learn about the traditions and celebrations of others, we can make connections because we indeed have many things in common! It’s also important to foster understanding and be respectful of our differences. Give your students the opportunity to develop an understanding of why people have different practices and beliefs.

In this post, I will be sharing some of my favorite go-to resources for learning about traditions and celebrations.

Video Series

It’s My Party is a TVO Kids series where children explore the various elements of a celebration. Each 22-minute episode has 2 children that have never met - the party host and a guest. The host is the child celebrating the event and sharing their culture. The guest is somewhat unfamiliar with the event and is eager to learn and participate. I love that the series includes a variety of multicultural holidays and events such as Holi, Purim, Eid al-Fitr, and a Pow Wow. You can also find season 1 and season 2 on YouTube.

Articles and Book Series

CBC Kids - a collection of interesting and informative articles about many holidays and festivals. It also highlights a wide variety of celebrations such as Basant, Eid al-Adha, and Yom Kippur.

Epic has been a lifesaver, especially when it comes to teaching online! Epic is a digital reading platform for kids with thousands of books. There are TONS of books for a wide variety of holidays and celebrations. I’ve created a few collections - just click the links to check them out!

I would also recommend reading #ownvoices books for celebrations, whether fiction or non-fiction. In this context, the books would be created by writers and/or illustrators who share the heritage or culture presented in the books.

 
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Classroom Visitors

Inviting students’ family members to share their celebrations is a great way for families to engage in the classroom. You could also invite leaders of different faith traditions. Visitors can bring in personal artifacts, culturing clothing, and answer any questions that your students may have. Depending on your school policies, you could also prepare and/or eat traditional foods.

 
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Printable and Digital Activities

I have also turned this love of learning about history and culture into a resource collection: Holiday Mini Books!

Each mini book is 8-10 pages and includes:

  • basic facts about the celebration

  • the history and/or religious background

  • explanations of traditions and special foods

  • an activity (word search, maze, secret code, word jumble, etc.)

  • a prompt for children to list what they’ve learned

  • a corresponding Google Slide version

I have created a mini book for Chinese New Year, Christmas, Day of the Dead, Diwali, Easter, Halloween, Hanukkah, Holi, Kwanzaa, Las Posadas, New Year’s Day, Passover, Purim, Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, Remembrance Day, Rosh Hashanah, St. Patrick’s Day, Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, and Yom Kippur with more to come! See the collection in my TPT Store or BP Shop!

 
 
 
 

To summarize, here are my 5 fave resources for learning about classroom celebrations:

  1. It’s My Party from TVO Kids

  2. CBC Kids Articles

  3. Epic Books

  4. Classroom Visitors

  5. My Holiday Mini Books

How do you learn about celebrations?

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6 Boo-rific Books and Halloween Reading and Writing Fun

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I've compiled a list of some of my fave Halloween picture books. These stories have amazing illustrations and although some of them aren't necessarily Halloween stories, they do tie in well with the theme.

This post contains affiliate links.

 
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Crankenstein
Author: Samantha Berger
Illustrator: Dan Santat

When faced with frustrating situations, Crankenstein becomes a very cranky little boy. We all can be a Crankenstein sometimes!

 
 
 

Creepy Carrots!
Author: Aaron Reynolds
Illustrator: Peter Brown

Jasper the rabbit loves carrots and to his dismay, some creepy carrots begin to stalk him. They are determined to keep Jasper from eating them. Be sure to check out the sequel - Creepy Pair of Underwear!

 
 
 

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat!
Author: Lucille Colandro
Illustrator: Jared Lee

This book is part of a series based on There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. This old lady swallows a bat, a cat, a ghost, some bones, and more - much to the delight of kids.

 
 
 

How to Catch a Monster
Author: Adam Wallace
Illustrator: Andy Elkerton

A little kid plays the role of a ninja in the school play. Feeling emboldened and ready to face his fears, they plan to trap the monster in their closet. Great lesson in the end. Perfect opportunity to create monster traps as a fun S.T.E.M. challenge.

 
 
 

Monster Trouble
Author: Lane Frederickson
Illustrator: Michael Robertson

Winifred isn't scared of monsters, but is literally tired of them because they will not let her sleep. She struggles with fatigue during the day. This clever and resourceful girl is determined to find a way to chase away the monsters.

 

Room on the Broom
Author: Julia Donaldson
Illustrator: Axel Scheffler

A kind witch and her cat are flying around as they usually do, but strong winds cause items to fly off the broom. During each pit stop to retrieve their item, a new friend wants to hop on their broom. Is there room on the broom?

 
 

LITERACY ACTIVITIES

Take a look at the following resources - writing prompts, non-fiction reader, chapter book response, and a poem.

 
 
 
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Christmas Fractions Fun: Crafting Holiday Cheer in Math Class

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Ahhh...Christmas time!  I know that I'm not the only teacher who sometimes struggles with fitting in all of the curriculum as well as allowing for some "fun" throughout the year, especially around certain holidays and celebrations. 

Years ago, I was teaching my first-grade students about structures in science class and I didn't have the money (nor the patience!) to build gingerbread houses.  I should mention that we did have a classroom budget, but I didn't want to spend a huge chunk on one day's activities.

In math, we were learning about fractions so I headed to my go-to resource sites - TPT and Pinterest - to look for a craftivity for fractions and Christmas.  I didn't find any that would work for my kids so (gasp!) I made one myself! 

 
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I am really happy with how it turned out and had a hard time deciding which craftivity to do with my class!  I went with the Christmas tree.  All of the cutting and gluing took awhile, but at least they were practicing math facts and making a cute Christmas craft at the same time!

Check out my samples.

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I put both the Christmas Tree and Christmas Gift together as one resource available for purchase in my TPT Store and BP Shop.  If you already have your Christmas projects planned, you may want to consider it for next year!  If you do try it out, I would love feedback - let me know how it went!  Good or bad :)

 
 

Here's to making it to Christmas Break!