Published March 10, 2025 Written by [email protected]

Embedding other cultures in your setting

Inclusion means that all children feel seen, heard and valued in their setting. Embedding a variety of cultures into your practice improves their sense of self and supports positive mental health.

Here are some top tips to embed all cultures into your setting:

Promote cultural awareness in staff training and consider the representation of ethnicities and traditions on images, posters and learning materials

Audit your resources to identify if they are culturally diverse. Books and stories should feature diverse characters, traditions and languages. Play music from a variety of cultures and perhaps learn some well know nursery rhymes in some other languages. Dolls and toys should reflect an array of different cultural backgrounds

Celebrate a wide range of festivals and cultural celebrations. Include festivals from a range of cultures, e.g. Chinese New Year, Eid, Diwali, Christmas, Hanukkah, Holi etc. Involve children in traditional crafts, dances and making foods related to each festival and draw comparisons and similarities between each event.

You could ask families to share their own traditions during each festival time – perhaps invite them to lead a short workshop for the children to teach them about different cultures

Use dual-language books to create an atmosphere where children want to share their home language/s with you. Display welcome signs in a variety of languages and learn some key words in the children’s home languages

Advocate for inclusive play and learning opportunities. Have fun exploring traditional games from other countries and provide creative activities from other cultures, such as rangoli patterns and African printmaking. Spend time discussing homes, clothing and traditions with the children in an open and respectful way without stereotyping, i.e. not everyone in Africa lives in a mud hut

Engage families and communities. There is a wealth of knowledge in your communities and amongst family members. Encourage families to contribute resources or cultural items to enrich your provision. Host celebrations where families can join in and always be open to feedback about how you can continually improve cultural inclusivity.

Looking for ways to embed diverse cultures into your nursery setting?

Our ‘Children with English as an Additional Language in nurseries‘ factsheet is filled with practical tips to help you create an inclusive environment where all children feel represented, valued, and engaged.

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Disclaimer: Activities with children must always be risk assessed, including for allergies or choking. Children must always have adequate supervision. Resources and materials must always be appropriate for children’s age and stage of development.

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Embedding other cultures in your setting

Here are some top tips to embed all cultures into your setting:

Looking for ways to embed diverse cultures into your nursery setting?

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