As you can tell from other posts, we are a travelling family.  Our 9 year old particularly has travelled more in his first decade than I have for half of my life.  However being homeward bound the last year or so, and probably some months more, we had to satisfy his thirst for travel as much as possible as creatively as we can do.

• Create a home passport and have them travel in different rooms themed with different countries, including flags, cards with little tidbits, and snacks representing that country.
• Sift through pictures and plan a “future” trip; including places to see, food to try, and hotels.  Have the kids help with the research and filter out top 5 of each and choose which ones you can do within a set period of time.  This is actually great for an actual future trip you would like to take when the time comes.
• Order in foods from different countries and watch a movie or a documentary about the same country, you can discuss after (when having dessert) some of the interesting things about that country and have them research online for any lingering questions.
• Randomly go through an atlas or Google Earth, and look in small detail the maps of cities how they relate to the country they are in and with surrounding more “famous” places.
• Do a riddle led “Easter egg hunt” but instead of chocolate eggs, have snacks fro the different countries.  Each riddle can be a specific question and the kids can research it either through an atlas or online to get the answer and get their treats.
• Put on music from certain countries and plan crafts related ot that country, either fake hats, masks or accessories – topped off with what else but food from each country.  Instead of food, and if you have access you may want to pick up sweets/candy that are produced or common in that country as part of the fun.  You may also want to look up some traditional sports or activities and try those out.

This may not be anywhere near the real thing – but it certainly keeps their passion going for learning about other countries.  So when the time comes they will continue to look forward to exploring other cultures and traditions for real – and hopefully soon.