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A Toddler's Heritage
Introducing Children to Their Culture
By Shannon McKelden
Field trips are another great way to teach kids about heritage. Museums, cultural fairs and parades can be found in many parts of the country, and many are appropriate for children. For them it's a fun activity, but you can sneak learning in also.
"One thing we do is attend the St. Lucia Pageant at the Scandinavian Heritage Museum each Christmas season," Hansen says. "It's free and is quite lovely. Along with the girls and boys coming in for the St. Lucia part of the festival, there are traditional crafts related to the season for kids to do, Scandinavian baked goods and dancing by the various country-specific classes. I think Elsa was 2 the first time we went. We've also gone through the museum itself, of course."
Craft projects are another fun way to teach kids. Tanja Cilia of Fleur de Lys, Malta, wanted to teach her children to love their Maltese heritage. She found that the more opportunities, the better.
"Leave books and pictures lying around, even if they are for an older age group than your child," Cilia says. "You can also have projects like the equivalent of 'Let's draw the eight-pointed cross of the Knights of Saint John.' Or have fun in the kitchen cooking traditional fare, and if there is a story behind it, you [tell] it."