Celebrating Cultural and Awareness Days Authentically

In early childhood education, celebrations like Australia Day, Lunar New Year, Diwali, Harmony Day, etc., often appear on the calendar. While these days can provide rich opportunities for learning, they can also risk becoming tokenistic if acknowledged only through surface-level activities or “because everyone else is doing it.”

The EYLF reminds us that culture is dynamic, evolving, and deeply connected to identity. Authentic celebrations should reflect the lived experiences of children, families, and communities, rather than being limited to one-off events. This explainer supports educators to move beyond tokenism and embed cultural and awareness days into meaningful, ongoing practice.

Why Avoid Tokenism?

Tokenism reduces culture to a single day or activity.
It risks stereotyping or oversimplifying traditions.
It misses opportunities to build genuine connections with children and families.

Principles for Authentic Celebrations

Family and Child Voice: Involve families in sharing traditions, stories, and practices.
Ongoing Integration: Embed cultural elements throughout the year, not just on the calendar date.
Critical Reflection: Ask: Why are we celebrating this? Whose voices are represented?
Depth over Decoration: Focus on meaning (food, music, values, stories) rather than just visual displays.
Community Connection: Link celebrations to local events, festivals, and cultural groups.

Examples of Extending Learning

Lunar New Year → Explore zodiac animals, storytelling, and family traditions across the year.
Diwali → Use light as a theme in science, art, and emotional literacy activities.
Harmony Day → Extend into ongoing discussions about fairness, diversity, and inclusion.
Autism Awareness Day → Embed inclusive practices daily, not just once a year.

Displaying Cultural Artifacts Within The Environment

The EYLF doesn’t prescribe a checklist of cultural artefacts for daily display. Instead, it emphasises that environments should be inclusive, meaningful, and responsive to the children, families, and communities you serve.

What EYLF V2.0 Emphasises

Authenticity over tokenism: Displays should reflect the lived experiences of children and families, not just “cultural decorations” for compliance.
Dynamic culture: Culture is evolving and expressed in everyday practices, not only through artefacts or calendar events.
Critical reflection: Educators should ask: Does this display genuinely connect to our children and families, or is it superficial?

Displays in Practice

Not every culture, every day: It’s unrealistic and unnecessary to represent all cultures daily. Instead, focus on what’s relevant to your current group of children and families.
Ongoing representation: Ensure that across the year, children see their identities and cultures reflected in the environment.
Embedded practices: Culture can be represented through books, songs, languages, food, routines, and family contributions—not just posters or flags.
Responsive updates: Displays can change as children’s interests, family input, and community events evolve.

Practical Approach

Create a base environment that reflects diversity broadly (e.g., inclusive books, dolls, cooking utensils, languages).
Layer in specific cultural elements when they connect to children’s lives, family contributions, or current learning.
Use documentation and reflection to show how cultural inclusion is embedded, even if it’s not visually obvious every day.

So, it’s less about “having something from every culture on display daily” and more about embedding cultural responsiveness into everyday practice. Displays are just one piece of the puzzle—authentic engagement, family partnerships, and ongoing reflection matter more.

Reflection Checklist for Educators

Use this when planning celebrations:

Whose culture or identity is being represented?
How does this connect to our children and families?
Are we embedding this learning beyond the calendar date?
What opportunities exist to extend children’s understanding meaningfully?
How are we avoiding stereotypes or superficial activities?

Celebrations should be authentic, inclusive, and ongoing. By embedding cultural and awareness days into everyday practice, educators move beyond tokenism and create meaningful opportunities for children to connect with identity, diversity, and community.