3 Easy ways you can introduce your family to new cultures

The benefits of learning about a new culture are endless for both adults and children! It helps promote curiosity, engagement with others, and developing an understanding of cultural diversity. 

Through designing experiences around dance, sports, music, art, and food, Irie Camp Jamaica immerses children into the local Jamaican culture. These engaging and culturally unique activities help your children to develop a firsthand understanding of Jamaicans’ ways of life and customs. 

Of course, you don’t have to wait until your plane lands in a foreign country to start exploring the culture – you can do it right from your living room!

Check out 3 easy ways you can explore a new culture.
First things first! Choose a country by dusting off that old globe in your storage closet. Ask your child to twirl it around and pick a spot at random. If you don’t have a globe, you can use a world map to point to a country, too. 

Once you and your family have chosen your destination, you can begin to make some interesting discoveries. 

1) Let’s boogie!
Did you know that many cultures around the world have a traditional dance? Traditional dances are often intertwined with storytelling. Cultural groups all over the world used a combination of storytelling and dances to pass on their histories from generation to generation.

Dance is a great way to express yourself. It also helps children with improvisation skills and encourages creative decision-making. Not to mention you will be able to add some new tunes to your playlist!

2) What’s cooking?
We know that food is an awesome opportunity to learn about another culture and a great way to get the whole family involved. Our culinary exploration at Irie Camp Jamaica is always a crowd favorite.

You’ll get to see what other families eat. How food brings them together and what traditions they may have. 

What are some of your family traditions? You may see some similarities with other cultures or discover something new to add to the next family gathering!

This can also be an opportunity to test out some new recipes and sneak in a few more veggies!

3) Who, what, wear?
See if you can pick out traditional outfits or a style that is unique to the culture you are learning about. You will see how styles evolve and change throughout history... and maybe even how they influence fashion in other places. 

Clothing has always been a way to showcase cultural identities and personal expression. For example you may notice some cultures use clothing to show unity or communicate a person’s status or occupation. Clothing is also a great introduction to learning about how different cultures celebrate as traditional garments are often worn for special occasions. One of my personal favorites is the Sari which is an everyday garment for many women, I love the bright colors!

Now that everyone has learned a little something new and hopefully had fun along the way, you can save these as ideas as inspiration for your next family trip.

Add Jamaica to your list and check out our camp sessions at Irie Camp Jamaica. We make planning a cultural family experience a breeze!

---