Nursery World - Unique Child: Nutrition

Cultural and religious festivals are great for celebrating diversity, and there are few more enjoyable things to focus on than food. Snapdragons’ Mary Llewellin shares ideas for creative creations

While considering this piece about celebrating festivals in our nurseries, I stumbled across an article written in Nursery World in October 2001, just a few weeks after the events of 9/11 in America.

In the article, Judith Napier wondered whether celebrating religious festivals merely paid lip-service to the world’s faiths and investigated how nurseries tackled awareness of diversity, often by focusing on exotic and colourful customs. Was this, she asked, the best way to promote understanding of the variety of cultures in our society?

Nearly 15 years later, we are still asking the same questions. With continuing conflicts and economic crises sweeping the world, our cultural mix has become even richer as we welcome people seeking a safe haven. Many of the latest additions to our country have come from other culturally similar European countries, but the new traditions they bring can still seem excitingly unfamiliar.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included