How to Celebrate World Religion Day (+5 Activities for Kids)

The world is getting more and more interconnected as people travel more frequently and settle in largely populated cities with many job opportunities. While this is a natural and expected phenomenon, it does mean that we’re now more exposed than ever to different cultures, religions, customs, and ways of life. There are many benefits and opportunities that arise in such a diverse environment, but we can’t forget that for children, it might be a challenge to make sense of everything while they’re still forming their sense of self. 

Fortunately, in a couple of days, World Religion Day is coming up and you can use this fantastic opportunity to teach kids about the many religions in the world, raise awareness, and build tolerance toward those who hold different beliefs than us. Celebrating World Religion Day with kids can serve as the foundation for growing understanding, tolerance, and love. After all, to accept the people around us and respect their identity, we first need to know what makes them who they are. 

In this article, we’ll discuss World Religion Day, its origins and significance, describe the nine largest religions in the world, and provide some helpful activities to celebrate World Religion Day with kids – in the classroom or at the comfort of your home. 

The Origins of the World Religion Day

Before we give you some tips on how to celebrate World Religion Day with kids, let’s talk about what World Religion Day is and how to teach kids about it. 

The concept of having a World Religion Day comes from the Baháʼí Faith beliefs – that all the major religions in the world are fundamentally unified in purpose, even though some of their social practices and interpretations vary greatly. 

Therefore, what it would be good for kids to understand is that World Religion Day is here to remind us that it’s okay if we have different beliefs because deep down we all care for the same universal moral values, allowing us to co-exist peacefully and with mutual respect. 

World Religion Day was initiated by the Baháʼís of the United States at the annual gathering of the National Spiritual Assembly in 1950. In 1951, on the third Sunday of January, World Religion Day was observed for the first time. Ever since then, this day is annually marked by many religious organizations around the world as a way to encourage interfaith understanding and tolerance. 

We can better understand the importance and meaning of World Religion Day by taking a close look at the core principles of the Baháʼí Faith, the religious group responsible for its creation. 

Baháʼí Faith

The Baháʼí Faith is a relatively new monotheistic religion that was founded in Baghdad in the 19th century by Baháʼu’lláh. The teachings of these religions focus on the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. 

This religion has three main figures: Báb, a herald who taught people that God would once again send a prophet. Baháʼu’lláh, the prophet, and ʻAbdu’l-Bahá, the son of Baháʼu’lláh who spread the religion across Europe and the United States. 

The prophet, Baháʼu’lláh, believed in the so-called Manifestations of God, which are prophets and founders of the world religions that include Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, and so on. This includes himself, Baháʼu’lláh, who taught that he’s a more recent prophet, also sent by the same God. 

Unlike the old, major world religions, Baháʼís goal is a unified world order and unity of religions and people, which is why they have always explicitly rejected racism and nationalism.

Seeing the Baháʼí Faith core principles, it becomes evident why they would initiate and advocate for a World Religion Day celebration. 

The religion falls into medium-sized religious groups and enjoys a population of around 7 million followers.

Largest Religious Groups in the World

According to the Swedish Nomad, more than 6 billion people around the world are religious, belonging to one of the estimated 4200 active religions in the world. 

We certainly can’t cover all of them in this guide, but we will take a brief overview of the four major religions in the world and the four medium-sized religions with the most followers.

The first two on our list, Abrahamic and Indian religious groups, comprising of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, represent the four largest religions in the world with followers counted in billions. Three-quarters of the world’s population follows these four religions, even though there are so many. The rest on our list are considered medium-sized religions and have anywhere from 30 to 100 million followers. 

Abrahamic Religions

The Abrahamic religions, also known as Abrahamism, originate from the Semitic cultures and are considered descents from the Judaism of the ancient Israelites. All the religions in this group are monotheistic, worshipping the God of Abraham. Abraham’s sons are considered as founders or the origin of the three major religions in this group. 

Jews and Christians followed the son, Isaac, while Muslims followed the eldest son, Ishmael. 

Christianity

Christianity originated from Judaism and separated itself as a distinct sect somewhere in the 1st century when Jesus began his teachings. The adherents of Jesus believed that he was the Christ or Messiah (savior/liberator of people) as prophesied in the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew Bible is known as the Old Testament in Christianity. The teachings of Jesus Christ are written in the New Testament. 

Christianity is the world’s largest religion, with around 2,5 billion adherents, which is equal to around 31% of the world’s population. In the meantime, Christianity is also one of the most culturally diverse religions with distinct branches in the West and East (Catholic and Orthodox Church).

Islam

Islam is the second-largest religion in the world. Muslims worship Allah, as the absolute one, the all-powerful and all-knowing ruler and creator of the universe. The central scripture of Islam is the Quran, where the words of Allah and the teachings of Muhammad (messenger of God) are written. 

Islam is considered the fastest-growing religion in the world with more than 1,9 billion adherents, which is equal to around 25% of the world’s population. Around 49 countries across the world are Muslim, the majority being mostly in Asia and Africa. 

Judaism

Judaism is probably the oldest religion in the group, but it falls behind Christianity and Islam in the numbers of followers. Today, it’s considered a medium-size religion with around 15 million adherents, or approximately 0,2% of the world population. Still, it’s the tenth-largest religion in the world.

Judaism developed among the ancient Hebrews, around the 18th century BCE in Mesopotamia. It’s also a monotheistic religion worshipping the Hebrew God, who, according to the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), was mainly concerned with the people he created, not other Gods. This concept of a unitary and solitary God is later projected into many monotheistic religions – the so-called ethical monotheism, where people believe that God is connected with the actions of mankind.   

Indian Religions

Indian religions, also known as Dharmic religions, is a group of religions that originated in the  Indian subcontinent. According to many scholars, this is probably the oldest religious group, and the following three religions also belong in the top ten largest religions in the world. 

Hinduism

Hinduism is considered the oldest religion in the world, and the world’s third-largest religion with over 1,1 billion adherents, representing 15% of the world’s population. 

Hinduism is dharma, which means a way of life, although there’s no concrete concept in the Western language to fully capture its meaning. This is why many practitioners might also refer to their religion as Sanātana Dharma, a term that encompasses all the different movements and teachings of the central Hindu scripts, such as the Vedas. The Vedas are believed to be the oldest written text in human history. 

Hinduism includes different philosophies, although some of the main principles (eternal duties) include honesty, patience, self-restraint, and so on. 

Buddhism

Following right after Hinduism, Buddhism is the world’s fourth-largest religion with over 500 million adherents or approximately 7% of the world’s population.  

Buddhism as a religion emerged from the teachings of the Buddha, a philosopher, meditator, and spiritual teacher, somewhere around the 5th or 4th century BCE. The people that followed his teachings are known as Buddhists. There are a variety of different traditions, beliefs, and spiritual practices associated with Buddhism, but they’re mostly based on the interpretations of Buddha’s teachings. 

Sikhism

Unlike Hinduism, Sikhism is the youngest religion among the world’s largest religions. It has around 30 million adherents, although some scholars also include the Nanak Naam Lewas people (120 million) who believe in the Sikh Gurus. If we define it broadly, then Sikhism would be the world’s fifth-largest religion.

Sikhism is a monotheistic religion that originated from the Guru Nanak (the first Guru) and the nine Sikh gurus who succeeded him. The Sikh gurus are considered spiritual masters of Sikhi. The philosophies associated with Sikhism teach people that they should lead an “active, creative, and practical life”, have unity with God, be truthful, pure, and have self-control.  

Chinese Folk Religion

The Chinese folk religion is actually a set of different practices and life-philosophies that are together termed as “religion”, or “popular religion”. This group of teachings, schools, or philosophical practices have anywhere from 80 to 150 followers, depending on the practices included in the group. The most notable and most popular teachings include Taoism, Confucianism, and Chinese syncretic religions. Since Taoism is considered the largest religion in this group, let’s briefly discuss it. 

Taoism

Taoism is considered more of a philosophical tradition, rather than a typical religion. The main idea or teaching of Taoism is living in harmony with Tao. Taoism teaches people how to reach “perfection” by proposing a set of disciplines or rules. The Three Treasures of Taoism are compassion, frugality, and humility.

Please keep in mind that, depending on your location, you may have students who belong to a smaller religious group that’s not on this list. If that’s the case, then make sure to do a little research about that religion and include it in your lesson plan. The more diverse the class is, the more unique and meaningful your lesson is going to be. 

How to Celebrate World Religion Day Through 5 Meaningful Activities for Kids

Finding out how to celebrate World Religion Day with kids starts out by learning a little bit more about the day itself. Since there are so many religions and so much that kids can learn about them, we propose five different approaches that raise awareness and encourage mutual respect and tolerance. 

Learn About World Religions

Children are easily overstimulated, especially with large, traditional books that feature no pictures. Their motivation will go down instantly if they’re faced with unfamiliar names and years, without any relatedness to the material. 

Fortunately, there are some children’s books that turn religions’ history into captivating stories. Here’s our choice of the best children’s book about world religions:

• Comparative Religion: Investigate the World Through Religious Tradition (Inquire and Investigate) by Carla Mooney.
• The Kids Book of World Religions by Jennifer Glossop and John Mantha.
• See Inside World Religions by Alex Frith. 
• World Religions (2015): A Voyage of Discovery 4th Edition by Jeffrey Brodd.
• The Usborne Encyclopedia of World Religions: Internet-linked (World Cultures) by Susan Meredith, Clare Hickman, and Kirsteen Rogers.
• World Religions: The Great Faiths Explored and Explained by John Bowker. 

Worksheet Bundles About World Religions

Another fun way for kids to familiarize themselves with different religions is through interactive worksheets. It’s a great approach when you want to consolidate the knowledge from the lesson without overwhelming them with a standard test or making the lesson too serious. 

Best of all, you can use the worksheets after a standard lecture, in group activities, after a student’s presentation, or in combination with almost anything else you have in mind. 

On our website, we have a special Religion section, where you’ll find all the relevant worksheets and more. We have covered all the major religions as well as some essential figures, customs, and rituals of the most prevalent religions in the United States.   

Let Children Present About Different Religions

Using our list of the largest religious groups, you can give your students assignments to make a presentation about one of the religions. They should include some basic information about the religion, where it originated, what the customs and traditions are, etc. 

Researching on their own will connect kids to a whole new culture and they’ll witness how much there is to be learned about all the people around the world. 

It’s better to assign kids to present about their own religion if you have a diverse class, as they’ll be able to share their own personal experience and view of the religion. 

Make an Interfaith Principle Board

You can also celebrate World Religion Day with students or kids by making a temporary or a permanent interfaith principle board and hang it on the wall of your classroom (alternative: make a virtual board). 

The main idea behind this activity is for kids to see that the same principle or value can take many forms. In other words, what looks like a totally different practice can stem from one moral value. 

Together with your kids, you can analyse and write the universal principles that all religions share on the board. 

Visit a Religious Institution

To visit a religious institution, or organize a field trip and visit different religious institutions, would be an amazing experience for kids, as for a moment they’ll see what it’s like to be a part of a community they might think of as weird or extremely foreign. 

This experience has the power to make children from different religious backgrounds feel closer to each other and be more understanding. 

Unfortunately, we’re aware that in the current situation with the coronavirus, not everyone will be in a position to organize such a field trip. A good alternative to this activity is to call a priest, a rabbi, or a different religious leader (or a couple of them) to talk in front of the class about the core values and customs of their religion.

Organize an Interfaith Discussion

Finally, don’t forget to organize a discussion before you end the lesson. This is especially beneficial for older kids and students who can develop a deeper and more fundamental debate about the common misconceptions in society regarding different religions, current customs, holidays, and many other things that will allow them to get to know each other better and be more tolerant over their differences. 

Also, hearing their classmates discuss and share opinions can have a lot more impact on children’s perceptions, than hearing the same thing from an authority figure like a teacher or a parent. Just, don’t forget to set the rules and mediate the whole discussion in order to make sure that everyone can express their opinion. 

Before You Leave

If you weren’t sure how to celebrate World Religion Day with your kids or students this year, hopefully, our article gave you some inspiration. We aimed to briefly describe the origin and significance of this day, so you can know exactly how to present it to your kids. We also believed it would be useful to share a brief description of the major world religions, as it would help you in building an inclusive lesson plan. Another thing you can do is follow the links, download your worksheets, and divide the classroom into groups, where every group will be assigned to work on a different religion. 

There are many ways to celebrate World Religion Day, which is why we made sure to inspire you with some fun and practical activities for kids. However, you can always follow your intuition and organize a unique lesson depending on the diversity of your classroom. In any case, we can always support you with high-quality and interactive teaching resources. Simply, browse through our large collection of worksheet bundles to find something for your specific needs. 

Finally, don’t forget to also check out our blog, as we regularly share insightful content, such as this article, on many different topics regarding children’s education.