Five Screen-Free Ways to Explore the World: Sparking Global Curiosity in Young Children

Have you ever wished for a pause button in a world of endless scrolling and glowing screens? A chance to reconnect and share a moment of simple, wide-eyed wonder with your child?

At Storytime Scarves, we believe the most incredible adventures don’t require a passport or a password. They begin with a spark of imagination and a shared story. The journey to understanding our rich, diverse world can start right in your living room, turning everyday moments into a gentle exploration of global cultures. It’s a chance to move beyond disposable plastic and choose meaningful, ethical children’s gifts that last a lifetime.

Here are five thoughtful, screen-free activities to help your child explore global stories through food, music, stories, art, and family traditions.

1. A Kitchen Journey: Exploring Culture Through Food

The kitchen is one of the best screen-free classrooms for a curious child. Grounded in a universal, sensory experience, cooking together lets children explore textures, smells, and tastes while connecting to traditions from around the world. The goal is communicating through the shared, respectful act of preparing food.

Try saying, "Today, we're going to make a special flatbread called chapati that families in India often enjoy". This specificity avoids generalisation. As your child presses the dough, you can share that chapatis are a staple in the Indian subcontinent, with a history that may trace back to the Indus Valley Civilisation. You could also explore making corn tortillas, which originated with the Indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica, or even discuss Indigenous Australian traditions of making "bush bread" or "seedcakes" from native seeds. This distinct and ancient practice predates the "damper" created by European settlers.

2. Listen to the World’s Heartbeat Through Music

Music is a powerful, nonverbal way to connect with global cultures. Young children should focus on listening and feeling. Play high-quality recordings and ask, "How does this music make your body feel?"

Listen to the sounds of the steelpan, the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago, which was created in the 1930s as an act of cultural resistance by the descendants of enslaved Africans. Explore the music of the Kora, a 21-string harp-lute central to the Mandinka people of West Africa and their griot storytellers, who are the living libraries of their people's history.

A critical pitfall to avoid is making a "craft-i-fact," such as an oatmeal-container "drum." This can trivialise the profound craftsmanship and history of the real instruments. Instead, focus on inspired exploration: tap on a metal mixing bowl to understand the resonance of a steelpan, or pluck rubber bands stretched over a box to explore how strings vibrate. This approach honours the inspiration while respectfully acknowledging the real instrument and its creators.

3. Share the World's Great Stories

Stories are how cultures transmit values and history. As parents, we must be discerning curators of these tales. An excellent, age-appropriate example is the story of Anansi the Spider, a clever trickster from the folklore of the Akan people in Ghana. These stories travelled to the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade, symbolising how wit could triumph over brute force. You can frame it: "This is a fun story about a clever spider named Anansi that parents in Ghana have told their children for a long time".

In contrast, a folktale like Lou Carcolh from France, about a terrifying monster, is entirely unsuitable for young children. It's crucial to seek out high-quality, authentic retellings, preferably from authors and illustrators who belong to the source culture.

4. Explore the Weaver's Art Through Inspired Patterns

Textiles offer a rich, tactile way to explore cultural expression. It's essential to be specific and dismantle the monolithic idea of "African fabric". You can explore the beauty of Ghanaian Kente cloth, a royal and sacred textile where patterns and colours hold specific meanings, like gold for royalty or green for growth. Or you could look at Adire, an indigo resist-dyed cloth by Yoruba women in Nigeria.

The focus for a young child should be on the creative process, not on replicating a sacred design. Frame the activity as, "Let's look at the beautiful Kente cloth from Ghana and use its bright colours to inspire our art today". A child could use strips of coloured paper to weave into a collage to explore strip-weaving, or draw with a white crayon and paint over it with blue watercolour to learn about resist-dyeing. This connects the activity to the cultural inspiration without making a false claim of authenticity.

5. The Story Box of Us: Building Family Culture

The most meaningful way for a child to understand “culture” is through their own story. Create a “keepsake box” filled with small treasures with family meaning, a seashell from a holiday, a recipe card from a grandparent, or a baby blanket folded with care. As you take out each item, share its story. This practice shows children that culture is not distant or abstract; it lives within their family, memories, and traditions. It’s the beginning of empathy and belonging.

Your Story is Waiting

These moments aren’t lessons to teach but invitations to share. By exploring food, music, stories, art, and your own family traditions, you’re giving your child meaningful, screen-free activities that nurture their curiosity about the world and highlight our shared humanity.

What stories does your family love to share? We’d love to know if you can join the conversation at #StorytimeScarvesStories.