Holidays Around the World

I just finished up my favorite product of ALL-TIME…

It’s a Holiday Globe Trot with Scott!

Globe Trot Scott travels around the world to celebrate different holiday traditions. As he visits each location, he will send your students a special package. Inside the package, they will find a letter about his journey and a souvenir. The souvenir may be a fun craft that they will complete or a tasty treat to enjoy.

Here are the places he will be visiting and the souvenirs he will “send” to the class:

France (Buche De Noel treat)
Uganda (small African drum craft)
Italy (little secret napkin notes, Santa vs. La Befana)
Germany (gingerbread man cookie craft and writing activity)
Mexico (tissue paper poinsettia craft)
Sweden (paper roll Tomten craft and writing activity)
Israel (dreidel craft and instructions on how to play Dreidel)
England (holiday card and decorate the "perfect" tree writing activity)
Australia (sandman craft - instead of a snowman!)
China (red envelope with "lucky coins writing activity)
Russia (Russian nesting doll ornament craft)
India (Diwali Lantern craft)
Kwanzaa (unity chain craft)
USA (My Family's Traditions writing activity)
Canada (same as USA)

To kick off the globe trot, students will first watch a video from Scott! EEEEK! I can’t wait to share this with them. You can view the video by clicking on the link below or clicking HERE. The video can also be found in the packet! This was SO, SO, SO much fun to make.

To create the package from Globe Trot Scott, I used an old boot box, but any medium-sized box will work. I just recently saw some great sized boxes at Michael’s for a few dollars. Cover the lid and the bottom of it with brown paper (you could use a grocery bag, if you have one). Write the address of your school and draw stamps on it to make it look well-traveled.

Inside the box, you will want to include the following things for each holiday:

These are the travel journal pages/letters that he will send to the class after “visiting” each destination. My favorite part about these is that REAL pictures are included on each page.

Here’s a close-up of the French and India pages!

These are the fun fact posters! On each poster, I’ve included the language spoken in each country, how to say “Hi” in each language, and each country’s flag!

Along with each holiday Globe Trot Scott visits, you’ll also find a “Teacher To Do” sheet. This sheet provides you with the information to help make Globe Trot Scott’s adventure come to life. I’ve included a section for the materials you will need for the craft/holiday treat, book suggestions (with links), and web resources (with links).

Here’s a closer look at some of the crafts. I know my kiddos will LOVE making these!

This is a paper roll Tomten (Christmas gnome) craft for Sweden:

This is an awesome small African drum craft to complete while learning about holidays in Uganda.

This is a dreidel craft to complete while learning about Hanukkah.

This is a lantern craft to make while learning about Diwali in India:

This is a tissue paper poinsettia to make while learning about Las Posadas in Mexico:

This is a Russian Nesting Doll ornament craft. It’s a perfect craft to remember learning about Russian holiday traditions.

This gingerbread man craft is a simple and fun way to complete after learning about Germany.

This is a unity chain craft to complete after learning about Kwanzaa:

Here’s a close up of some of other activity sheets included in this packet:

Ticket To Anywhere:
After students learn about all of the different holidays from Globe Trot Scott, they will receive a "ticket to anywhere." They will be able to choose the holiday/country they enjoyed learning about the most and will go there to "visit." Students will record what they see, do, and eat in their personal travel journal.

Can You Spot Globe Trot Scott?
This is an excellent activity to complete after learning about all of the different holidays. For this activity, you will give students photographs from Globe Trot Scott's travels (provided for you). Have students look closely at the photographs to locate Globe Trot Scott. Then, have them determine where he was when the picture was taken based on the clues in the picture. They can write their observations on the recording sheet.