Euro-American culture values self-sufficiency, so children will often play alone.
Cultures create universal behaviors, values and norms that extend to the children of a particular society. Culture influences how individuals interact, how they feel and think and how they perceive things. Anyone working with young children must understand how their cultures influence their interactions and behavior.
Adult Interaction
Culture influences young children through adult-child interactions, gender roles, playing and peer interaction, according to M. Diane Klein, Professor of Early Childhood Special Education at California State University. Children from middle-class families are not afraid to initiate conversations with individuals outside of their immediate families. Asian children wait for formal invitations to speak with adults. Asian and Native American children may be silent, out of respect.
Bedtime
A study of 2- to 7-year-olds in "Sleep Medicine" found that socio-economic status and race both affect sleep schedules. African-American children received less sleep because they had later bed times but were still required to get up at the same time each morning as Caucasian children. In addition, children in lower income families also received less sleep resulting in day time drowsiness.
Play
How children play differs among cultures and socio-economic statuses. Euro-American cultures explore individually, becoming self-reliant and independent. African-American, Hispanic-American and Asian-American children play in groups. Families are composed of multiple generations and are interdependent. Children are the center of the family. making them more people-oriented. Asian children play to further their academic understanding.
Art
Children's drawings show the influence their cultures and societies have on them. Cultural influences appear around 5 to 6 years of age. Japanese children create space and spread the figures in their drawings throughout the page. Children in Beijing are more comfortable copying another picture, according to Cathy A. Malchiodi's book, "Understanding Children's Drawings." However, they were not comfortable with spontaneous drawing. What children learn from their families about art influences how they draw and perceive art.
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