I believe that feeling connected and a strong sense of love and belonging are crucial components of early childhood development. One of the most effective ways we accomplished this was through our Cultural Heritage Unit. We asked each family to fill out a quick questionnaire about their heritage and anything else they wanted to include about their child’s heritage. With that information, we would have a day dedicated to celebrating each child’s heritage. Every meal and snack consisted of foods associated with that specific culture, the games we played were typical games children played, they made a flag that represented that culture, and would find the region on a wall-size map. The art, the science, the books that day were all about that child’s culture. Everything we did on Kenya Day was about Kenya, Everything we did on Germany Day was about Germany, and so on. And what the kids liked best of all… was wearing the little apron with their flag on it, assisting the cook in preparing each meal, and then serving the food to their friends. We started each day with “Happy Polish Day”, “Happy Nigerian Day”, “Happy Irish Day”, or “Happy Jewish Day”… and ended each day the same. This was a concrete and hands-on learning experience, valuing each child’s uniqueness and celebrating their cultural heritage. It was an absolute favorite unit for everyone.