Hello in a hundred ways

Children learn greetings in diverse European languages and greet peers around the circle.

Steps

1. The teacher shows a map of Europe and audio clips of greetings in multiple languages.
2. Children repeat: hello, hallo, bonjour, ciao, hola, dobrý den, labas, dzień dobry.
3. Game: children move to music; when the music pauses, they greet the nearest peer in a randomly drawn language.
4. Older students look for cognates and shared roots across European tongues (e.g. mama, taxi, banana).
5. Children create a language passport card recording newly learned greetings.

Tip: Ask if any child speaks another language at home; invite them to lead that portion of the activity.

Materials needed

• Wall map of Europe (1 piece)