The Best Lesson: A Big Pretend Trip Around the World

I’ve been toying with a way to bring a world globe to life to teach kids about other countries in an entertaining way. My solution? We could spin the globe, pick a spot, and take a pretend trip. After a few times, we’ll get ourselves around the world.

Miss T spun first and chose Sweden (not arbitrarily since her friend’s mom is from there). Little N will pick next time.

What to Cover on our Pretend Trip

It’s summertime and I don’t want to force a school project on the grandkids, so our trip is meant to be just a cursory visit. The kids will still learn a few things from the exercise:

• Gain an overview of the country at a tourist level
• Recognize the country on a map
• Recognize the country’s flag
• Learn a little about the food
• Participate in a craft project

If this were strictly a learning exercise, we would also delve into the type of government, the history of the country, famous citizens, customs, demographics, and so forth. But we are traveling on a brief summer vacation!

Planning for the Trip

For the game play, there are several components:

• Flight
• Arrival and passport control
• Sightseeing (travel video)
• Dining (kids prepare the meal)
• Making a postcard to retain a visual image of the country
• Drawing a flag
• Making a related craft project

Our entire travel experience lasted four or five hours, including lunch. One of my tourists had just turned nine and the other will be six in a few weeks; both were fully engaged.

Materials Needed

• Passport–I made mine with a Cricut, but you could buy passports from outlets like Amazon. I found one that gives you 12 passports and stickers for $13–a good buy if you have 12 kids participating; not so much if you have just two.
• Official-looking travel stamps or stickers–I happened to have Martha Stewart Crafts World Travel Clear Stamps so I used them, but you may find other stamps more suited to this purpose. (You will need a clear acrylic stamp block if using clear stamps)
• Bottled drinks, snack packets, cocktail napkins and shoe box lids for airline trays
• Little suitcases (optional); I commandeered one from Miss T’s doll; the other was in my craft room, holding power cords.
• Map of the country; print it off the Internet
• Blank white cardstock to make postcards and to draw the country’s flag
• Arts and craft supplies: crayons, markers, scissors, and glue stick
• Ingredients for lunch of the country

Making a Passport

I designed a passport cover using my Cricut cutting machine, but I didn’t know how to create a template for the inside pages. If you’re Cricut-capable, you can edit my posted design to make the entire thing completely on the Cricut. If not, do as I did, cut the cover on your Cricut, then hand cut the rest. Use a sewing machine to stitch the pages together.

Country Research

Our “travels” require some research ahead of time. First, I searched for kid-appropriate travel videos on YouTube. I also researched the country’s flag and cuisine, and looked for a craft project related to the country. Once you’ve gathered this information, you’re ready to set up the day for the kids.

The Airport

I used the console next to the dining room as the passport control station. Each child handed me their passport, which I stamped as they entered the country, when they left the country, and when they arrived home.

Flight for the Pretend Trip

For the flight, I set out four dinner chairs in two rows.

Then, I found two shoebox lids for the inflight trays. For the snack service, we had single-serve packages of Teddy Grahams, a bottle of Martinelli’s sparkling cider, plastic cups, and cocktail napkins.

To add to the inflight experience, I emptied the top shelf of the small rolling cart from my craft room to roll through the airplane aisle and distribute the snacks.

Destination: Sweden

Neither the kids nor I had been to Sweden, so we had to rely solely on the Internet.

Here’s what we used for our pretend trip to Sweden:

• For a travel overview of the country, a YouTube video, Amazing Places to Visit in Sweden
• Viking ship template and instructions from Crayola
• Recipe for open prawn sandwiches (räksmörgås)
• Background on Swedish cuisine

Lunchtime in Sweden

The Swedish open-face prawn sandwich (räksmörgås) was a good choice for our lunch because the prawns and eggs were cooked ahead. The children peeled the eggs, and washed the lettuce and tomatoes. We set all the sandwich fixings on a small sheet pan so everyone could assemble their sandwiches.

Making Postcards and Flags

I wanted the kids to retain something about Sweden from watching the video, so I told them in advance that they would be making postcards to represent their trip.

Miss T created a scene very similar to one on the video, featuring craggy rocks, a river, and a forest. Little N drew a lighthouse that had caught his eye.

Then the kids each made a flag of Sweden.

Crafting in Sweden on our Pretend Trip

I told the kids that we would no doubt be going to a Viking history museum in Sweden so we made a Viking ship, complete with oars.

What We Learned from this Activity

Pretend travel was fun, with many associated activities to keep the kids busy. The children learned about Sweden, found its position on the globe, and made craft projects that related to the country.

We’ll continue to do a few more trips to get to various parts of the globe. By keeping the sizes of the postcards and flags consistent from country to country, we’ll end up with a lovely souvenir collection for each child.

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