This
is one of my favourite family traditions.
It started way back in 2002
when the Australian Soccer Team, the Socceroos, made it into the World Cup for the first time in years. I decided that it was a great excuse to learn a little about the world and so, to celebrate the team's achievement, we'd cook and enjoy a meal from each of the countries the Socceroos played.
Brazilian Feijoada was delicious and, while we adore pasta and Tiramisu, our Italian food was a little hard to enjoy after they kicked
us out of the finals!
The
idea also worked really well with this colouring book I'd found in a discount store for my
eldest son...
Rumbo and Jumpo are a koala and kangaroo who take a trip
around the world. Each International Food Night we'd colour in a page, make sure we had the flag
correct and enjoy our out-of-the-ordinary meal. I'm so glad that I've added handwritten notes to the bottom of each page to remember when we "visited" and what food we enjoyed.
Through
the years we've continued the tradition on and off. We've chosen countries based on who the All Blacks were
playing (I'm afraid we support Australia in all things but Rugby- the children have been raised according to their father's "religion"), or the next page in Rumbo and Jumpo, or we just choose at random!
Since the book is now all coloured in, we've added a few other activities:
* We make a flag to hang on the wall in the playroom (we started over again towards the end of last year)...
* We find the country on our globe and read a bit about it in our informative Atlas.
* We complete our passports activity pages. I'm going to do a whole post on this soon and show you where I got the idea, because these are awesome...
* If
a country is famous for something we'll do a little You Tube searching
too. The Edinburgh Military Tattoo for some bagpipe music when we
visited Scotland, some traditional Nyckelharpa music from Sweden (and this Gummi bear clip
the kids thought was hilarious!)
Last week we went to Malaysia. I made a Beef Rending and a Nonya-style Chicken and Lime Curry. Then the kids built their version of Kuala Lumpur's
Patronas Towers.
I
love International Food Night so much because it encourages the children to try new foods and
appreciate the diversity of cuisines. They learn a little bit about
geography and a few facts about other countries too.
I really love all things Italian! Unfortunately none of my girls are big fans of pasta so we rarely have it at home. Love all the ideas you've shared. You've inspired me to make a real event of a cultural evening!! H xo
ReplyDeleteHi Hana,
DeleteI used to love Italian food, but since becoming gluten intolerant there's been a lot less pasta in this house : ( I have, however, mastered a pretty good gf tiramisu!
I am planning a whole post about those amazing passports you made and how we use ours. Hope you're happy for me to rave about your creative brilliance?
Sarah x
What a fantastic idea! The kids would no doubt love this...i think i will have to give this a go in the not too distant future myself, thanks Sarah x
ReplyDeleteIt is heaps of fun. I have lots of great recipes that I know work well, so let me know if you want to try some. S xx
DeleteCan you tell me where I can get these Rumbo & Jumpo books? I cant find them anywhere. Thx
ReplyDelete