When you have a class of 20-30 students, you learn to never expect anything. You never know precisely what each of your students’ backgrounds, families, and values are. While celebrating holidays throughout the year is important, particularly in elementary school, we need to be aware of including every student and make them feel welcome and a part of the community.
Easter Activities
Yes, Easter is on my mind today. Bunnies and Easter egg hunts are great, and students always love the crafts. In Australia, it marks the end of the first term and leads into the first school holidays of the year. It is certainly something worth celebrating, and having plenty of fun, crafty activities up your sleeve can help get your students into the spirit of the holiday or manage them when they’re already very spirited.
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Most of the time, it can be tricky to get them to focus on anything but the holidays at this time. I like to sneak in as much curriculum learning as possible into my Easter activities (like hiding the veggies in the bolognese). I also take this time to focus more on their interpersonal and social skills and their feelings of community. Helping the community by making hampers or making a map of the school to record the best egg hiding locations are simple ideas that I’ve used before.
Treats
My younger sister had type 1 diabetes and severe dairy intolerance growing up. This was a nightmare for her teachers, as they would always forget, and she would end up without any food if it was being supplied. One of my parents always needed to go on school camp with her to make sure that there would be enough food that she could eat.
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Most students don’t have nearly this many issues with food, but it really affected her as a kid when the teacher would bring in treats, and she wasn’t allowed to have any. If you’re bringing in treats for your class, make sure you have some dairy-free, gluten-free, and sugar-free options at the very least. Alternatively, send a letter home with your intentions and invite any parents to supply their own treats if they would prefer. Most parents with students with complicated food issues would be more than happy to do this, as they’ve seen their kids miss out many times before.
Religion
This one can be tricky. My advice is that if your school is not usually religious, take it easy on the religious side of the holiday. It is a public holiday, and you can’t escape its religious aspects, but make sure that every student feels like they have something to celebrate.
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Discuss why this day is important to Christians as this is important for people of all faiths to know, especially in the majority Christian countries where our holidays are also public holidays. Still, you don’t want to force anyone to celebrate it as such by feeling like their entire school day is about Christianity. Getting together with family is something that everyone can appreciate, and every student I know also enjoys Easter bunnies and chocolate eggs, so make sure that plenty of these aspects are also included.
