How to Create a Booth for Cultures Day

Display a doll to show cultural dresses.

Cultural Day is a chance to display your heritage. Create a booth to host your exhibition. Take the opportunity to use the event as a chance to demonstrate the history, migration, values and economy of the culture -- even if the traditions you are presenting are not your own. Make the booth enlightening, exciting and educative. Consult with Cultural Day coordinators -- school staff or non-profit volunteers, for example -- to ensure your booth meets criteria and excels on all levels.

Things You'll Need

• Table
• Poster Board
• Glue
• Felt
• Scissors
• Construction paper
• Pictures
• Glitter
• Paint
• Markers
• Computer
• Cultural objects
• Cultural garments
• Cultural music

Instructions

1. Drape the booth table in a fabric with significant cultural colors to add aesthetic appeal to your display.

2. Create a tri-fold poster board backdrop. Set the backdrop upright on a booth table and have it include exhibitions, images and educational information.

3. Title the poster board. Create a title suitable to your exhibit: "Latin American Culture Project" or "African American History Display," for example. Cut out bold and vivid letters from construction paper. Glue the letters to the top of the poster board, such as at the center.

4. List the history and genealogy of the culture on the left side of the tri-fold backdrop. Discuss the history of the culture, including migratory maps and charts. Create a genealogy chart dating back at least four generations -- if it is a personal project -- to show the progression of lineages. Use history books, personal records and/or records from your state Department of Vital Statistics to accumulate genealogy data.

5. Add color and visual enhancement to the middle of the tri-fold backdrop. Attach national flags or examples of garment fabric, for example. Provide captions for all objects -- on the poster board or otherwise -- to keep observers abreast of what they are seeing and why it is significant.

6. Include economic, religious and social information on the right side of the tri-fold backdrop. Specifically, provide examples of the culture's currency, spiritual beliefs and practices and the roles of men and women in society.

7. Set out three dimensional objects around the tri-fold backdrop. Lay out musical instruments, books or toys significant to the culture, for example. Include captions -- no longer than a paragraph -- for each three-dimensional object.

8. Play cultural music at a low level in the background to give off an authentic atmosphere.

References

• CET-Taiwan; Cultural Fair Resource Guide; Patricia and Peter Watson