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World Culture Activities for Kids

Around the World in 12 Dishes: France

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This month, Around the World in 12 Dishes landed in France.

Ah France! It’s the country at the very tip top of my dream travel list, so I was excited to do this month’s projects.

The girls and I haven’t explored much about France, so I decided to start with one of the most recognizable landmarks in the country, the Eiffel Tower. We looked at pictures, learned a few things about the Eiffel Tower, then created some beautiful artwork.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Supplies Needed:

Black paper
Chalk
Scissors
Glue
White pape
Paint

For the first step in this project, we drew the Eiffel Tower.

Wait, I take that back, I drew the Eiffel Tower.

My original plan was to give the girls a pencil outline of the tower, then let them trace it with chalk and fill in the details. They didn’t want to. They wanted to paint. Oh well, we trudged along and I drew their towers.

In case you’re wondering, yes, the chalk will smudge. If you don’t want it to, spray a light coat of hairspray over the drawing (a trick I learned in high school art class).

If you’re like us, and don’t own any hairspray, just be careful not to touch the chalk or redraw any smudged parts. Once you’ve drawn the Tower, cut it out.

While I was drawing, the girls were painting their backgrounds. They painted the sky, a pond, a garden with flowers, and a bright yellow sun. They really got into it and enjoyed spending the time painting.

Once they were finished with their paintings and the paint had dried a bit, we glued their Eiffel Towers to their paintings.

The completed paintings were wonderful! I would have loved to have seen their version of the Eiffel Tower, but you can’t win them all. I don’t want to pressure them when it comes to art because I don’t want to do anything to take away their joy of creating.

Would you like to join in this month? You can download a printable passport page here and a placemat here.

Exploring New York City: Resource Post

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Map image courtesy of DaveCito, Creative Commons License

Do you want to do your own virtual exploration of New York City?

I’ve compiled a list of books, activities, blog posts, videos, and websites that helped us with our project.

Bear with me as this list is quite extensive, but I’m providing it in the hopes to help you create your own virtual journey through New York City.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

New York City Overview

Books:

New York City (Cities) by Joanne Mattern (This book is not easily found to purchase, but this one or other similar books about New York City can be found in the children’s section of your local library.)
123 NYC: A Counting Book of New York City by Joanne Dugan. A fun counting book using actual photographs from New York City.
ABC NYC: A Book About Seeing New York City by Joanne Dugan. Just like 123 NYC, this is an alphabet book using real photographs from New York City.
This Is New York by Miroslav Sasek. This beautifully illustrated book was first published in the 1960’s. The current revision contains updated information.
Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin by Duncan Tonatiah. Two cousins, one in New York City and the other in Mexico, write letters to each other describing their daily lives
Alphabet City by Stephen T. Johnson. An alphabet book using photographs of “found” letters throughout New York City.
Good Night New York City (Good Night Our World) by Adam Gamble. A simple board book which takes you through the day saying good morning and good night to many New York City landmarks.
A Walk in New York by Salvatore Rubbino. Join a young boy and his Dad has they take a walking tour around New York City.
Eloise: A Book for Precocious Grown Ups by Kay Thompson. Read the classic book about Eloise, the little girl who lives in the Plaza Hotel.

Other Book Lists:
Six Great Books About New York City from Design Mom
Kids Books About New York City from Silly Eagle Books

Activities:
Cityscape Printmaking
Roadtrip USA: New York from Confessions of a Homeschooler
New York City coloring page from Education.com

Virtual Tours:
Gray Day in New York City from Imagine Childhood
Exploring Geography: New York City from Mama Smiles
Walking Across the Brooklyn Bridge from 52 Brand New

Statue of Liberty

Books:

The Statue of Liberty (Symbols of Freedom) by Tristan Boyer Binns. A great introduction to The Statue of Liberty containing facts, history, and more.
Emma’s Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty by Emma Glaser. A beautiful tribute to Emma Lazarus and her poem “The New Colossus,” which is carved on The Statue of Liberty.
A Picnic in October by Eve Bunting. A sweet story of a family who celebrates The Statue of Liberty’s birthday every year. A great introduction to immigration and the many things Lady Liberty represents.

Website:

National Park Service: The Statue of Liberty. This is the official Website of The Statue of Liberty. You’ll find fun facts, history, photos, and even a virtual tour.

Activities:

Statue of Liberty Measuring
Statue of Liberty Dress-Up Kit
Making Lady Liberty’s Torch from Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational

The Subway
Books:
A Subway for New York by David Weitzman. A thorough history of the subway system. Better suited for older children, aged 7 and up.
Down in the Subway by Miriam Cohen. A fun story about a young boy’s subway ride and the people he meets.

Activities:

Subway Acrostic Poetry

Taxis

Books:
Taxi: A Book of City Words by Betsy Maestro. Take a taxi ride through the city and learn many new words along the way.
The Adventures of Taxi Dog by Debra Barracca. Join a stray dog as he rides with a taxi driver throughout New York City

Activities:

Pretend Play – Invisible Taxi from Inner Child Fun

Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) and Andy Warhol

Books:

Andy Warhol (Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists) by Mike Venezia. Part of a fantastic series of art books for kids, this book will give you a thorough overview of Warhol and pop art.
Uncle Andy’s by James Warhola. A delightful book written by Andy Warhol’s nephew describing his uncle and his family’s visits to New York City and Warhol’s house.

Website:

Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). This is the official website of MOMA. Explore the museum and view their collection on-line.

Activities:

Becoming Warhol: Kids Art Activity
Warhol Art Trading Cards from Art Activities for Kids
Warhol-Inspired Wall Art from Red Ted Art
Exploring Pop Art a la Andy Warhol from Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

Other Topics to Explore

Times Square, Wall Street, the Brooklyn Bridge, skyscrapers, Central Park, Broadway, jazz music, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and fashion design.

In truth, there is a wealth of information about New York City. I barely just scratched the surface on this post. I encourage you to explore this great city with your kids; there are so many fun activities to do!

Statue of Liberty Dress-Up Kit

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After working on our Statue of Liberty math experiment, the girls told me that they wanted to dress-up like the Statue of Liberty.

Of course, I was game, so this fun craft project was created.

All it took was one paper plate to make the Statue of Liberty’s torch and crown.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Supplies Needed:

Paper plate (for each kid)
Green paint
Scissors
Hole punch
Yarn
Tape
Yellow construction paper

To begin, we painted out paper plates green.

Once they were dry, the girls cut their plates in half. One half for the crown and the other half for the torch.

To make the crowns, we drew spikes on the backside of our paper plates.

The girls then cut them out.

We took our hole punch and make a hole on each side of the crown.

I ran yarn through the holes and tied them to fit snugly around each girls head. Our crowns were done!

Next, we took the other half of our plates and rolled them to form a cone.

We used tape to hold our cone together.

We cut flames out yellow construction paper and taped them inside the cone. We used tape only because we didn’t want to wait for our glue to dry.

This was such an easy project and it made such a great dress-up kit.

If you want to complete the look, have your kids wrap a sheet around themselves and they could also find a nice thick book to hold. What fun!

Have you ever visited the Statue of Liberty? I’d love to know what you thought!

Statue of Liberty Math and Measurement

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No trip to New York City is complete without a trip to see the Statue of Liberty.

So, as part of our virtual trip, we let the Statue of Liberty inspire a fun math experiment.

The question we tried to answer: how many Lizzies (or AJs) would it take to be as tall as Lady Liberty? To find out, we had to do some Statue of Liberty math.

Play with measurement and nonstandard units with this fun Statue of Liberty math activity. It's a fun addition to an American symbols unit.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Learn about the Statue of Liberty

We began with a simple book, Statue of Liberty by Lynda Sorensen, to learn all about this famous American symbol. (Note: this book is unfortunately out of print. The Statue of Liberty by Lloyd G. Douglas would be a good substitute.)

We learned about when it was built and how it was shipped to America. We learned about what it represents.

But, most importantly to this experiment, we also learned how tall it is: 305 feet. I got out the calculator and translated it into inches: 3660 inches tall. Then I measured each girl in inches.

Play with measurement and nonstandard units with this fun Statue of Liberty math activity. It's a fun addition to an American symbols unit.

Statue of Liberty Math Activity

Next, using a roll of brown wrapping paper, we made a scale model of the Statue of Liberty at 36.6 inches.

Now it was time to measure.

We talked a bit about nonstandard units of measurement, because we weren’t going to use a ruler to measure. We were going to use ourselves. I made tiny squares to stand for each of the girls. (And when I say tiny, they were less than 1/2/”!)

Play with measurement and nonstandard units with this fun Statue of Liberty math activity. It's a fun addition to an American symbols unit.

I showed the girls how to measure with their squares. We laid it down, drew a line along the top, and then placed the square on top of that line. They moved up and up and up until they reached the top.

When we were done, we counted our spaces. Lizzie topped off at 62, and AJ at 64. They were wowed!

Play with measurement and nonstandard units with this fun Statue of Liberty math activity. It's a fun addition to an American symbols unit.

But were we correct?

Well, I’ll admit I expected we were not. The girls at 3 and 5 weren’t exactly precise. But, they did their best and definitely learned a lot. They were able to better visualize just how tall the Statue of Liberty is and they learned a fun lesson in nonstandard units of measurement.

How far off were we? About 10 units for each girl. Not bad for a preschooler and a Kindergartner using tiny pieces of paper! I think the next time we use nonstandard units, we’ll try measuring with our full bodies!

Have you ever measured with nonstandard units? Give it a try with this Statue of Liberty math activity.

You may also enjoy one of these New York City inspired activities:

Cityscape Printmaking

Statue of Liberty Dress-Up Kit

Subway Acrostic Poetry

New York City Books and Resources

Around the World in 12 Dishes: Austria

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Ah Austria, such a beautiful country! The mountains, the history, the music…I may have taken more liberties with this project than usual, for one very important reason. My all-time favorite movie was set in Austria, The Sound of Music.

The Sound of Music was filmed on location in Austria, mainly Salzburg, and features many beautiful sequences of scenery. The hills were alive with beauty and we watched several clips from the movie to see views of the Alps as well as Salzburg.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

“Cream colored ponies & crisp apple strudel,
Door bells & sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles,
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings,
These are a few of my favorite things.”

Crisp apple strudel, you caught that part didn’t you? Luckily our local grocery store makes very yummy apple strudel bites.

I’m usually quite comfortable in the kitchen, but I fear making pastry.

I wanted the girls to try apple strudel, but there was no way I was going to attempt that recipe. So we cheated… sort of.

Even if we lived in Austria we would be buying our strudel at a bakery. We ate our yummy strudel by watching a few more scenes of the movie, in particular the song “My Favorite Things.”

After we were done watching, it was time to craft.

I gathered markers, construction paper, glue sticks, and our supply of pictures cut from old magazines. I gave each girl a piece of paper in their favorite color, and wrote “These are a few of my favorite things” at the top. I wanted them to find pictures, draw pictures, or write the words of their favorite things.

They got to work finding pictures of flowers, cupcakes, pizza, and tomatoes.

They glued and glued filling up their pages.

Once they were done gluing, they started writing and drawing.

Their song would go a bit like this:

Roses and puppies and slices of pizza
Cupcakes and turtles and red, ripe tomatoes
Beautiful hearts and a long-necked giraffe
These are a few of our favorite things!

Did you enjoy our journey to Austria? Would you like to join along?

Welcome to “Around The World in 12 Dishes”. We will be taking you on a journey around the world, (loosely) following in Phileas Fogg’s footsteps, exploring 12 different countries with our children, by cooking 12 dishes with them. One for each country visited.
 
The world is such a wonderfully diverse and colorful place. Our children see maps, flags and books. They see postcards and maybe they see films about the world.. but let’s really bring it to life through food! Taste and smell don’t often get explored, we think this would be wonderfully fun and interesting for you and your children.
 
Not only is it an exciting and different way to learn about cultures, but cooking with children brings a host of benefits – from numeracy to science. How can you beat that?

Around the World in 12 Dishes

We had started our journey the same way Phileas Fogg did in London, UK, and now are arriving in Athens, capital of Greece!

  • March 4 – First country was the UK
  • April 1 – The second country was Sweden
  • May 6 – The third country was Russia
  • June 3 – The fourth country was India
  • July 7 – The fifth country was Japan
  • August 5 – The sixth country was Australia
  • September 2 -The seventh country was French Polynesia
  • October 7 – The eighth country was Mexico
  • November 4 – The ninth country was Brazil
  • December 2 – The tenth country was Morocco
  • January 13 – The eleventh country was Greece
  • February 3 – The twelfth country is Austria

How to join the fun!

    • The only mandatory part is the dish, the rest is all up to you, we just thought it would be fun and more concrete to the kids as to why we are making a unusual dish.
    • Cook a dish from Austria: The goal is to explore this country through FOOD and activities if you wish. Make a typical dish (sweet or savoury) from the country with the kids, take photos and have fun!
    • Typical dishes: Apfelstrudel, Wiener Schnitzel, Tafelspitz, Kaiserschmarrn, Sachertorte
    • Print your passport: Click here to download, comes with space for a photo of the child with the dish. Here is a little cover for it if you wish 🙂
    • Color a placemat: Once colored/painted or whatever other way you want to do this, you can laminate it or put it between clear contact paper to use it over and over. Great conversation piece for you and your kids. Click here to download it.
    • Make a craft: you can make a country related craft with the kids [optional!]
    • Fun fact: The sewing machine was invented in 1818 by the Austrian Josef Madersperger.