World Religions Quiz - Kids

Hinduism is one of the oldest religions in the world. It began thousands of years ago in India, and it is the main religion of India today. People who follow the ideas of Hinduism are called Hindus.

Today, Christians make up the largest religious group in the world. About 2 1/4 billion people follow Christianity. It is the major religion in Europe, North and South America, and Australia. Many Christians also live in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific Islands.

Shinto is the oldest religion that people in Japan still follow. The word Shinto means the way of the gods. Shintoists worship many gods, called kami. They believe the kami are in mountains, rivers, rocks, trees, and other things in nature. The kami are also the force in such things as sickness, growing, healing, and being creative.

Shiva is one of the two leading gods of Hinduism. Vishnu is the other. Holi is a Hindu festival.

Buddha, whose name was Siddhartha Gautama, left his rich family when he was about 29. He then traveled for about six years in search of enlightenment, or religious truth. He found enlightenment and spent the rest of his life teaching people.

Taoists believe there are two basic forces in the world—yin (female) and yang (male). These forces sometimes work together and sometimes work against each other, but they need each other for the world to be complete. The sign of yin and yang looks somewhat like two fish swimming head-to-tail inside a circle.

Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. It is one of the world's oldest major religions.

Anubis, in Egyptian mythology, was the god of mummification. Mummification is the ancient Egyptian technique of preserving dead bodies.

Muslims follow the Five Pillars of Islam: (1) saying they believe that there is no God but Allah, and that Muhammad is his messenger; (2) praying five times a day; (3) giving alms, such as money or gifts, to the poor; (4) fasting from sunrise to sunset every day during Ramadan, a holy month of the Islamic year; and (5) making a pilgrimage to Mecca, the birthplace of Muhammad in Saudi Arabia, at least once during their lifetime if they are able.

Confucianism is a system of values. It teaches people how to live good lives. Its ideas came from a Chinese philosopher named Kong Qiu, who lived about 2,500 years ago. People in the West called Kong Qiu Confucius.