Children Around the World: Homes, Games, and Foods: First Grade Social
Children everywhere on Earth share the same joy of play, love of family, and desire to learn, while expressing their lives through unique homes, games, and traditional foods.
A Big Planet of Beautiful Differences
Across the seven continents, millions of first graders wake up each morning. Some wake up to the sound of rooster crows in rural farming villages, others to the sound of ocean waves crashing on tropical islands, and others to the honking horns of towering cities. While their daily surroundings look different, children everywhere are united in their basic human needs and playful hearts.
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| WHAT ALL CHILDREN SHARE EVERYWHERE |
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| Love of play, games, and laughter |
| Curiosity to learn and explore new ideas |
| Need for warm food, fresh water, and cozy shelter |
| Love and care from families and communities |
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Homes Around the World
The houses children live in are shaped by the climate, available natural building materials, and cultural customs of each region.
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| REGION / CLIMATE | HOME TYPE | BUILDING MATERIALS |
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| Arctic Tundra | Sod or insulated | Wood frames, thick turf, |
| | wooden house | snow barriers |
| Tropical Islands | Stilt house | Bamboo, wooden stilts, |
| | | palm frond thatch roofs |
| Desert Regions | Adobe / Clay home | Sun-baked mud bricks, clay|
| Steppes of Asia | Yurt (Ger) | Wooden lattice, felt wool |
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Stilt Houses in Tropical Coastal Areas
In coastal regions of Southeast Asia and South America where rivers rise during monsoon rains, children live in houses built on tall wooden stilts. The stilts keep living floors high above floodwaters and cool ocean breezes circulate underneath the floorboards to keep rooms comfortable.
Yurts on the Open Steppes of Mongolia
In the windy grasslands of Mongolia, nomadic herding families live in round tent homes called yurts or gers.
A yurt has a circular wooden frame covered with thick sheets of felted sheep wool that keep the family warm during freezing winter blizzards. When the family moves their herds of sheep and horses to new pastures, the entire yurt can be folded up and carried on camels or trucks!
PROFILE OF A MONGOLIAN YURT
/ / \ Conical roof with smoke hole
/====\ Thick felt sheep wool insulation
| [] | Round wooden lattice frame
+------+ Easy to fold and move across plains!
Games Children Play Worldwide
No matter what language a child speaks, games are a universal language of childhood.
Mancala: The Ancient African Strategy Game
Originating thousands of years ago in Africa, Mancala is one of the oldest counting games in the world.
Children scoop up small pebbles, dried beans, or shiny sea shells and drop them one by one into a row of carved wooden pits or small holes dug directly into the sand. It requires strategy, counting, and quick thinking.
A SIMPLE MANCALA BOARD
[ STORE B ] ( o ) ( o ) ( o ) ( o ) ( o ) ( o ) [ STORE A ]
( o ) ( o ) ( o ) ( o ) ( o ) ( o )
Kendama: The Japanese Skill Toy
In Japan, children play with a wooden toy called a Kendama. It has a wooden handle with three cups and a pointed spike, connected by a string to a wooden ball with a hole in it. Children swing the ball up and try to catch it in different cups or land it precisely on the spike!
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| GAME / TOY | ORIGIN COUNTRY | HOW IT IS PLAYED |
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| Mancala | Egypt / Africa | Counting seeds into pits |
| Kendama | Japan | Catching a ball on wooden |
| | | cups and spike |
| Shuttlecock (Jianzi)| China | Kicking a feathered toy up|
| | | without letting it drop |
| Lotería | Mexico | Picture bingo with colorful|
| | | cards and pinto beans |
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Traditional Foods from Many Lands
Food is an exquisite reflection of a culture's climate, agriculture, and celebrations.
Flatbreads of the World
Almost every culture bakes its own special flatbread using local grains. In Mexico, families press corn dough into flat tortillas baked on hot griddles. In India, flatbread called naan or roti is baked against the inside walls of clay tandoor ovens. In the Middle East, fluffy pita pockets are stuffed with hummus and falafel.
FLATBREADS OF THE WORLD
[ Tortilla ] (Mexico) ---> Made from ground corn, baked flat
[ Naan ] (India) ---> Baked in high-heat clay ovens
[ Pita ] (Middle East)---> Puffs up in oven, creates pocket
[ Injera ] (Ethiopia) ---> Spongy, sour flatbread made from teff
Gathering Around the Table
Whether eating with chopsticks in China, rolling injera bread around spicy stews in Ethiopia, or dipping warm bread into tomato sauce in Italy, sharing meals with family brings warmth and connection across every continent.
Exercises and Review
Exercise 1: Why do families in tropical river regions often build their homes on tall wooden stilts?
Exercise 1 Solution: Families build their homes on tall wooden stilts to keep their living spaces safe and dry above rising floodwaters during monsoon rains, and to allow cooling breezes to flow beneath the floorboards in hot humid weather.
Exercise 2: Describe the game of Mancala and explain what natural materials children traditionally use to play it.
Exercise 2 Solution: Mancala is an ancient counting game from Africa where players scoop up seeds, pebbles, or seashells and drop them one by one into hollowed-out pits or holes in the ground to capture the most pieces.