Celebrations Reflection Paper Essay Samples

Even as celebrations and festivals differ from community to community, they have a common purpose as far as children are concerned: they foster a feeling of security and togetherness. Celebrations along with learning help children to stretch out and grow. The very fact that all societies do not value celebrations the same way significantly affects the development of children. The author emphasizes the need for conducting meaningful celebrations in early childhood programs and schools. As schools have a powerful influence in shaping the future of children, common celebrations that teach them the value of relationships and highlight the dazzling side of humanity would definitely help them become responsible future citizens. As most schools do not encourage children through common celebrations, local celebrations that communicate hatred for the values and beliefs held by other cultures would adversely affect the development of growing children. Encouraging celebrations in early schools is all the more important as it promotes good interpersonal relationships since children are exposed to the beliefs and values unique to different cultures and ethnicities.
First and foremost, celebrations relax the minds of children and promote creativity. Secondly, celebrations develop good relationships as children get an opportunity to deeply understand their classmates. In light of many celebrations in various societies losing the traditional gaiety, children are denied the opportunity to learn more about their ancestral beliefs and customs. Identifying the ancient celebrations inherent to different cultures and promoting them in early school would help children appreciate the values of different societies; also, children can establish healthy relationships with others setting aside stereotypes and other racial or religious biases.
Getting involved in celebrations while learning gives an opportunity to the children to go an extra mile; in other words, celebrations is a way of teaching certain values that help them to grow. As celebrations give children an opportunity to involve themselves in activities that bring out their inborn talents, they help them in exploring new opportunities and avenues as they grow up. In other words, incorporating celebrations with early childhood programs enables children to sharpen several innate talents which would never come out without an opportunity to prove them before an audience.
Societies across the world have different beliefs and values. Obviously, their festivals and celebrations reflect their values. In addition, as certain societies have forgotten traditional celebrations, the children are denied the opportunity to understand their very identity. Therefore, schools are responsible to teach children certain forgotten values as well through celebrations. It is also equally important that schools take extra care to customize the festivals and celebrations in such a manner that the celebrations do not contradict the beliefs and values of the school.
More importantly, school authorities should ensure that all children participate in the programs without any bias. Involving the parents in the celebrations and valuing their feedbacks would help school authorities to modify the programs. Parents also learn the role of festivals in the intellectual and social development of their and appreciate celebrations as a tool to promote peace rather than hatred. Also, for the children to make the most out of such celebrations the age of the children is to be taken into account while planning celebrations. For instance, they should be able to connect with the decorations and characters portrayed in them; instead of depicting certain historical events, children would connect well with current events.
Festivals and celebrations are occasions for bringing together and amusing children and adults. Sadly, many of the festivals today have lost their traditional significance and have narrowed down to entertaining the adults alone. Identifying celebrations unique to different cultures and integrating the same into the curriculum would enable the participant children to build effective relationships with each other.