Taking Latin America as a theme for activity in your setting, for example, gives you the opportunity to celebrate another type of culture.
Unfortunately, you will find much less material or advice designed for early years settings; you have to do more research and be more creative.
South America is a diverse continent, so you probably need to concentrate on one country at first. Brazil, itself large and diverse, is one possibility. If you have particular contacts that enable you to take another country for your theme, there is an obvious advantage in that.
I am not aware of any book suitable for direct use with pre-school children about Brazil. B is for Brazil and Cassio's Day, both written by Maria de Fatima Campos and published by Frances Lincoln at 5.99, are intended for primary school children, but can be used for some simple background information and for their pictures.
The Carnival in Rio and the Amazon jungle give you starting points for some imaginative play. Staples of Brazilian cooking, such as rice, okra, beans, tapioca and mangos are all readily available here, at least in larger towns and cities. Try making a typical Brazilian salad with the children, mixing mango, carrots, celery, oranges, chilli and lime juice for a simple, but colourful and different meal. (You can always cut back on the chilli!).
Brazilian music is an exciting blend of music from many different sources, with strong rhythms that young children will appreciate. Two CDs produced in 1999, 'Brasileiro' issued by Putumayo, and 'The Rough Guide to the Music of Brazil' issued by the World Music network, are good anthologies from which you could select tunes.
