Songkran Lesson Ideas

Teaching Songkran to students presents a wonderful opportunity to celebrate diversity, promote cultural understanding, and cultivate empathy. Teaching a variety of holidays helps inspire a lifelong curiosity and appreciation for diverse cultures.  In this blog post, we'll explore creative ways to teach Songkran to students, enriching their cultural knowledge while making learning fun and engaging.

What is Songkran?

Songkran is the Thai New Year festival celebrated in April, marking the end of the dry season and the beginning of the rainy season. It is renowned for its water fights and symbolic water splashing, signifying cleansing, renewal, and good fortune for the year ahead. Songkran is deeply rooted in Thai culture, featuring various customs, rituals, and festivities that emphasize family gatherings, temple visits, cultural performances, and acts of charity. It is a time of joy, gratitude, and community spirit, reflecting the rich cultural heritage of Thailand.

Inquiry based exploration through questioning

I like to start off introducing new topics by putting up a photo and having the students discuss what they see in the photo. This is low stakes and allow all students to be successful in the class dicussion. Some of thew questions I ask when facilitating the discussion is:

What do you see?

What do you think is happening?

Why do you think they are doing that?

Why do you think there are so many people in the street.

Songkran Google Slides Lesson

After we discuss the photos, I teach them about Songkran with the Google slides presentation that I created. We watch some incredible videos as well that I included in the Google Slides lesson. We discuss the information as I present it to them. Click the picture below to check it out. This powerpoint is a great addition to your Holidays Around the World Unit.

National Geographic Kids Article

Then I introduced them to Songkran by reading them an Article From Nat Geo Kids (click the picture below). This was a great connection to our Non-Fiction unit. It introduced them to a different type of Non-fiction text, an online article. We used the article to practice "stop, think and react".

Click Picture to go to Article

Are We there Yet? Songkran Video

Then, we watched a video by Nat Geo Kids Are We there yet? about Songkran on Amazon Prime Video. They did a great job explaining in a kid friendly manner the Songkran Festival.

Songkran STEM Challenges

Finally, during provocation centers, students could learn more about Songkran though play and STEM challenges. They could make a bucket or water drop using rubber bands, geoboards, pattern blocks, sticks, unfix cubes, or Legos. They could also scan QR codes to read more about Songkran.

These centers are included in the Songkran Google Slides lesson.

Global Awareness Centers

Click the picture below to check out more center ideas for different holidays in my Global Awareness Center Packet.