Each year, all the families in our group who want to participate, sign up to represent the country of their choice. They spend some time learning about the country and putting together a presentation including things like a display board, food from the country, costumes, and items that represent the country, which can be handmade, but are often souvenirs from a visit to the country by the family or a friend or relative.
Now for the tour...
I did visit Mongolia myself, but in the craziness of trying to take pictures and keep up with my kiddos, I didn't get to talk to "Mr. Mongolia" very long, but my in laws mentioned to me that he really knew his stuff. They were really impressed with how much he'd learned, so, way to go, Mr. Mongolia's Mom. ;-)
I loved Greek Girl's Acropolis shirt (not pictured). The kids here did a great job on their display...
And, here is Ms. Peru, looking lovely in her traditional dress. They had strings on their table for the kids to take. I read the significance of the strings, but I'll be honest and say that I don't recall for sure what it said. All I know is that Josh learned some really cool games with the string that he went around showing everyone for the rest of the night.
I had to explain to Josh that the pancakes in Canada were supposed to be a sample, NOT breakfast! This display was done by one of our teenagers and I always enjoy seeing what he puts together because, if I understand correctly, it's all independent work...and he always does a great job.
We really enjoyed the video of the Ugandan dancers on our visit to Uganda. I may have to swipe the portable DVD player idea for next year.
The kids in China were so excited to tell me about making almond cookies. They were yummy...and isn't the panda bear cute?
We were right next to Ancient Egypt, so I probably learned more about it than anywhere since I was left manning the table while my kid traveled the world...and socialized with their friends. (See? I keep telling people we really aren't unsocialized!) I loved all the cool, handmade crafty things in Ancient Egypt. It looked like the family had so much fun. And, I learned that the Ancient Egyptians were the inventors of marshmallows! Cool, huh?
The German table was really cool. The parents had lived in (or visited?? Don't count on me to be one to have all my facts straight.) Germany, so they had lots of cool stuff that actually came from Germany. My favorite was the little "carousel" that was turned by the heat from the candles.
And, here is our display, Italy, where you can see our salt dough map, Brianna's Leaning Tower, the Mona Lisa and more...
We were also able to visit Morocco, which had lots of cool handmade crafts. My favorites were the drums. They were awesome! The kids had great costumes, too. I should have posted the pictures, but I wanted you to be able to see their great display up close.
We enjoyed Australia, as well. Next year, I might be tempted to trade our salt dough map for a paper mâchè one like we saw in Australia. I also thought their Aboriginal "dream prints" (I got the concept, even if I didn't get the name correct.) were great. My only disappointment was that I forgot to chase down the older girl to get her to play her homemade digeridoo.
The folks from Scotland had a super display, too. Didn't they do a fabulous job on their Loch Ness monster? They had a really nifty layout for their fact sheet (not pictured), as well.
I thought that, once again, everyone had a wonderful display and we learned something new about each country. My kids are already talking about next year.
The last Wednesday of the month, I'll be posting on how to plan your own Around the World Day over at The Homeschool Classroom, so if this looks like something you might like to do with your homeschool group, be sure to be watching for it.
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