According to Maria Montessori the founder of the Montessori education system, “The most important period of life is not the age of university studies, but the first one, the period from birth to age six.”
Children are like a sponge in their early years, they absorb everything happens around them. The environment in which they are being brought up and the people with whom they spend most of their time play a significant role in shaping their personalities.
Every child is the reflection of their parents especially mothers so the parents have to focus as earlier as possible to raise them better global citizens of the future.
Being global citizens means one should have personality possess qualities like patience, optimism, sense of responsibility to own world not just owning a country, respect for other ethnicities and cultures, disciplined, sharing, and determinant. It is not enough to just travel the whole world to let them know about different cultures. It starts at home.
Ten activities are being highlighted in this article which will help in raising the children who will become better global citizens in the future.
1. Talking with toddlers:
Toddlers are very young to speak full sentences and to talk with them it is not important to wait till they start talking properly. Talk about your routine, for example, I am cleaning this table because it is too dirty. Copy their words to encourage them to talk. Respond to them with full attention even when they are at a stage of babbling. Your response will encourage their curiosity and questions.
2. Reading books with them:
Be purposeful when you read with your child though it seems that they are not getting anything but they understand each and everything. Try to read the content of different cultures with them. Show them what people from different places have different foods to eat. It will help to open their minds to accept differences easily in the future. Read them different storybooks like “I am like you, you are like me” by Kelly Cunnane or “All are welcome” by Alexandra Penfold, etc.
3. Sing them songs in different languages:
Singing rhymes or songs of different languages will not only develop their curiosity but it will easier for them to learn any second language in the future. It will connect them easily with different cultures to enhance their career opportunities in the future that will somehow help them to be better citizens globally.
4. Playing with jigsaw puzzles:
Give your toddlers jigsaw puzzles as they are in an early stage of learning in which they have to learn how to hold and fix so grab their attention by providing them puzzles with pictures of different people or countries throughout the world. They will be more focused and remember everything easily while doing this activity.
5. Cooking activities:
Mothers of toddlers are more worried about their intake of food as they are growing up and in a stage when they are more choosy and fussy. By involving them in preparing the food from a different culture will not only help them in providing a variety of food but it will also help them in knowing more about global culture and develop their interest in eating also.
6. Watch cartoons with them :
Watching cartoons that show different cultures will not be a waste of time. If kids have to spend time on TV then something worth watching should be shown. For example, Mulan is about Chinese culture or Dora belongs to Latin America similarly The Lion King cartoon of African Jungles or The Jungle Book shows Indian culture very well.
7. Building blocks:
The building is the most common toy that every child has when he starts to hold things. Children can learn about different shapes, colors, and counting. They have got awareness about the vocabulary words like ‘over’, ‘on top of’, ‘between’ or ‘inside’ etc. Mothers can use the same blocks to teach them about different famous buildings throughout the world. For example, you can say “let’s make the wall of China’ or you can say ‘Let us make Pyramids of Egypt’, etc.
8. Playing in a group:
This activity can be very interesting as children learn more willingly when they are learning something in a group. They just don’t learn easily but they also learn how to share as the child who knows sharing is the better human being for the whole world in the future.
9. Painting or drawing:
Painting and drawing is the most favorite activity of a child as the walls of the house are like a piece of canvas for our young artists. Now the question is, how can it help the child in becoming a good citizen? The answer is simple. Moms can help them by drawing different national animals from different countries or by drawing different national dresses of different countries similarly moms can make paint their faces with different flags or they can paint different flags on paper. There are several activities to make things easier for toddlers if one can believe.
10. Assign simple chores:
Teaching children to become good global citizens through chores is one of the healthy activities. Children who are habitual of doing chores at home are more responsible that will help them to obey rules and helping others as a citizen in the future. For toddlers performing this activity is not paramount. Moms can ask them to just clean up while they are busy cleaning their rooms. They can assign some duties like putting toys in the toy box or putting books on the bookshelf or putting their clothes in their cupboard.
A good global citizen is the one who considers himself a part of the world instead of considering a part of just a specific piece of land.
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They care for others, they take responsibility for their actions, they help others, obey the rules and regulations and the parent must teach their children as earlier as possible so for kids, it isn’t rocket science to become a good global citizen.
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