Non-US scrappers...I need your help!

[Tracyfish]

Misty's post in the SAHM thread got me thinking about planning for this summer with my son. I want to do an "Around the World" summer like Misty did with her kids.

So...If you are from a foreign country and can give me some fun kid-like things that might be interesting to make, cook, look up, read about, watch, etc. I would be so appreciative. Also I love her idea of finding a little treat from each country to have for the week to try...so what's a candy or sweet treat that is from your country that I would be able to buy (cheaply) on like Amazon or something? I want to start planning this now so I'm ready to go when school it out in June.

Thanks so much!!!

[Kiki]

Well up in Canada we have Smarties which are like M&Ms only coloured. It's tradition to eat the red ones last. There's also poutine, which is French Fries, cheese curds (you can use shredded mozzarella in a pinch) smothered in gravy. And you can read about Canada's national sports....Hockey in the winter. Lacrosse in the summer!

[Jennilyn]

Originally Posted by Kiki

Well up in Canada we have Smarties which are like M&Ms only coloured. It's tradition to eat the red ones last.

I used to eat the brown ones last, now I just scarf 'em down.. LOL How about poutine? Fries with mozza cheese and gravy...yum!

[jovi_girl]

For Australia, u could do a BBQ (tho please, if you put 'a shrimp on the barbie' please call it a prawn! I can't stand that saying cos it's not what we call them!), you could make pavlovas or lamingtons. Not sure if you can get it there somewhere but vegemite is seriously good on toast or fresh white bread (just don't go overboard with it, u don't need much to get the taste and always have it with butter).

Um as for things to do... Beach if it's an option! Gosh I can't think of anything else much...you could always learn about some Aussie animals-kangaroo, koala etc.

[jacinda]

Originally Posted by jovi_girl

For Australia, u could do a BBQ (tho please, if you put 'a shrimp on the barbie' please call it a prawn! I can't stand that saying cos it's not what we call them!), you could make pavlovas or lamingtons. Not sure if you can get it there somewhere but vegemite is seriously good on toast or fresh white bread (just don't go overboard with it, u don't need much to get the taste and always have it with butter).

Um as for things to do... Beach if it's an option! Gosh I can't think of anything else much...you could always learn about some Aussie animals-kangaroo, koala etc.

New Zealand is pretty much the same as Australia (weather and food wise). I highly recommend baking a pavlova. Kiwifruit is a native fruit too, and there are plenty of recipes for that on the net. Our native bird is the kiwi, found only in New Zealand. In the summer we pretty much go to the beach, the park, etc - anything outdoors and casual.

Haven't done this before, but how cute would it be for the kids to do? Image linked.


Lots of other kiwifruit recipes here. http://www.zesprikiwi.com/recipes.htm

Here's an origami kiwi you could make:

[Jengerbread88]

I'm in the states, but we have hosted 5 exchange students from 3 countries, and I work with an exchange organization so I have kind of an inside scoop

Your best resource for maps and information about the countries you go to can be found if you google "CIA World Factbook." Click on any country, and it will give you TONS of information. I use it to prepare for our international dinner every year.

If you have a Target store nearby, most now sell Milka and Ritter Sport, which are German chocolate-- the stuff in our stores is made in Germany but packaged with English labels. I would suggest my favourite German candy (Kinder Eggs), but they are no longer allowed in the US.

If your children like Oatmeal (::shrugs:: I liked it as a kid, my brother hates it...), try Milchreis http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Oetker-Sues...6628776&sr=8-1

Nutella is a good foreign treat easily found here

You might also look for Haribo- again, Target sells this... gummy bears! Best in the world, I swear

Lingonberry preserves are meant for Swedish meatballs, but if you aren't so adventurous to put fruit flavour on meatball, I can promise you it is excellent on crepes, on top of ice cream, or on pancakes. http://www.amazon.com/Hafi-Lingonber...628861&sr=8-14

These German treats are delicious: http://www.amazon.com/Storck-Knopper...6628971&sr=1-1

And you can find these amazing things at Target. We try to forget they are at Target because a box only lasts about 5 minutes at our house...
http://www.amazon.com/Toffifee-Hazel...6628971&sr=1-7



I also have a cookbook from our international dinner posted on my facebook. You can find it here:

https://www.facebook.com/album.php?a...4&l=c181ac102a

I would stay away from Norwegian food-- they eat horse Kidding... I mean, they eat horse sometimes, but they also have excellent chocolate

It has main dish and dessert recipes, as well as fun facts about the students--including some comparisons between America and their home country!

If you need any other information, or anything, I would be happy to try to get you some. I might be able to see if I can scrounge up postcards or photographs of different parts of Germany, Norway, Sweden, Brazil, etc, for you... pm me if there's anything I could help you with!

As far as things to make... I'm drawing a blank, but I'll see if I can find anything.

[Jengerbread88]

The Germans traditionally make this for their children when they start 1st grade... but even if your kids are older than this, it is really cool. The contents are meant to be a surprise.

http://alphamom.com/family-fun/holid...t-school-year/

The traffic lights in East Germany are also amazing...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampelm%C3%A4nnchen
His little hat is so cute! He is called the Ampelmännchen, or "Little Traffic Light Man."

[Chantal Miller]

Well in South Africa we braai (BBQ/Barbie) ALOT in summer. Tradionally with pap and gravy. The gravy is primarily braised tomatoe but tomato a onion in a can flavoured nicely works well too. Pap -very thick maisemeal porridge, which I think is an aquired taste. And a taste I have not yet aquired.

Sweets: Koeksisters -syrupy twisted bread sticks. My gran actually makes a lighter less sugary version which everyone raves about. If you want the recipe I'll get it from her for you.

Games - dominoes, klawerjashttp://dmitrijegels.wordpress.com/klawerjas/ (played with a dec of cards)

read: Fly Eagle Fly is beautiful African Fable

Watch: Invictus Starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon -

[ksbella]

I'm in Australia and you could do a beachy theme or with each state here we have a flower and fauna which is the state mascot type thing, you could print our drawings of each of them for them to colour in.

Popular Aussie foods are Vegemite, Tim Tams (yummy Choc biscuits!), Pavlova and Lamingtons!

Maybe even make Anzac biscuits, they are a great cookie and made a lot around Anzac Day in April.

If you find its expensive on amazon, let me know and I'll happily send you a little care package with some true blue aussie things!

[Milmomma]

Well for here the common SK dish is Kimichi, sushi and rice. For a snack its usually the sushi paper(sea weed wraps) or fortune cookies. for misty I mailed her some chopsticks from here.

[mrshobbes]

I've been wracking my brains on a kid-fun Filipino dish and am coming up blank, lol. Hopefully Jacq or Aggie can pop on here with something

But the Philippines does have some cute and intriguing critters you can check out:
(a) the tarsier which is the tiniest monkey ever. Tourists pose with them on their shoulders or head, though I'm not sure if this is allowed anymore.
(b) the dugong or sea cow, which is found on the southern province of Palawan but is also in Australia They're lumbering and adorable-looking.

More on dugongs:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/pai...printout.shtml

As for customs or whatnot in the summer, we're a tropical country so in the summer (April/May) locals head to the beaches and resorts, which I imagine are similar to others for the most part If you choose to stay in the city there are a gadjillion malls, amusement parks, etc.

[HellePF]

In Denmark (Europe) we have the very famous writer H. C. Andersen who have written a lot of fairytales.

I found this link where the fairytales are written in English:

H. C. Andersen Fairytales

And I have to be honest, I didn't know there were so many of them

If you want me to mention the most famous ones, please let me know.

[Tracyfish]

Wow...you girls are awesome! You're even mentioning countries I hadn't even thought of. I can't wait to get started on some planning for this now. I would like to have it all figured out in February so I can start buying little things here and there that we will need and making a list of some library books to check out.

Keep the ideas coming!!!

[SmallMoments]

My mom is Swedish so I have a ton of Swedish recipes passed down from grandma- Swedish meatballs, peperkakor (a cookie), swedish pancakes, etc. if you'd like those.

I lived in Ecuador for a total of a year & have a few Ecuadorian recipes, too.

Let me know if you're interested!

I'm going to keep my eye on this thread- we're "traveling around the world" once a month with my class, too, this year.

[sugirox]

I live in Singapore.A Merlion is the mascot of SG....Its an imaginary creature with the body of a fish and head of a lion.Since its a tropical country the weather is even throughout the year!!!We go to the beach often and BBQ a lot.Satay, Char Kway Teow and Sea Food are local faves.Ice Kachang is a dessert that you can make at home( http://www.dessertsecipes.com/asian-...ice.php)...Its a fav for singaporean kids.
Also you can make chinese lanterns. Pattern(http://familycrafts.about.com/od/chi.../eplantern.htm)
If anything more comes to mind i'll let you know

[cindys732003]

What a great idea this is! Totally thinking of doing it this summer too...how fun!!

[eranslow]

Originally Posted by HellePF

In Denmark (Europe) we have the very famous writer H. C. Andersen who have written a lot of fairytales.

I found this link where the fairytales are written in English:

H. C. Andersen Fairytales

And I have to be honest, I didn't know there were so many of them

If you want me to mention the most famous ones, please let me know.

I love Hans Christian Andersen!! Some of my favorite stories by him are: The PRincess & the Pea, Thumbelisa, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Wild Swans, The Ugly Duckling, and The Snow Queen. He is also known for his paper cuttings (think cut snowflakes) but much more elaborate. http://www.amazon.com/Amazing-Paper-.../dp/0618311092

Fun crafts you could do that are Swedish: (all of these are Christmas crafts - so you could hang onto the decorations for CHristmas if you wish )
-Julgranskaramel (paper candy): it's filled with holiday candies and wrapped in festive tissue.
-Julgranskorg: it's a heart-shaped basket made of woven paper

You could sit down and try rosemaling (which is actually norwegian but whatever! lol) my mom teaches kids each summer how to rosemal at a norwegian camp - if you want to try this let me know and I can ask my mom for good kid samples.

Food - swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes with gravy. or just boiled potatoes with the skin off. I lived off of potatoes when I went there with my grandparents. super yummy! lol you could make rice pudding we would always hide an almond in the pudding -and whoever found the almond would be lucky for the next year You could also make sweet saffron buns (these are served by Lucia - The Queen of Lights on Dec. 13 - the longest night of the year). I could get that recipe for you if you'd like

That's all I could think of right now. I'm sure you'll be swimming with ideas!

[ariesfl326]

Oh how cool is this? I think my daughter would love to learn about other countries over the summer. I'll be keeping an eye on this thread.

[Jengerbread88]

Oh, and this is silly, but if you do a week on Germany, if you have french fries, try dipping them in mayonnaise instead of Ketchup, or try mayo mixed with Ketchup.

You can also try a drink called "Kiba." It is banana nectar and cherry juice, and if you pour it a certain way, it makes layers in the glass, so there is a yellow layer and then a red layer... it is really cool looking. (There is a similar drink called Spetze I think... which is Coke and Orange Fanta layered).

[MamaBee]

what a fun thread... I, too, will be watching...

Tracy... do you have a Cost Plus World Market near you? They have a great food section.

[chloe]

French cuisine is probably too elaborate for kids to really appreciate, but maybe you could try "croque monsieur" (litterally: bite mister... don't ask! LOL). Recipe here. Crème brûlée is a delicious dessert, not too complicated. If you skip the "brûlée" part, you basically have a flan, which is yummy too. Oh, or crêpes, that can be salty or sweet depending on what you add as topping. Here's my recipe (per person): 1 egg, 50g basic flour, 1 pinch of salt and 5 cl of milk or water (or a mix of both). Mix everything, let rest for 30 minutes, cook, enjoy. A tradition we have here is that kids often dress up as "sans culottes" (litterally: without pants... don't ask again!! LOL), the french revolutionaries, for Bastille Day on July 14th.

I'm half swiss too, so I have to add some Swiss stuff too! LOL As food, you can go with anything cheese: fondue, raclette (melted cheese served with potatoes, smoked ham and pickles), and chocolate for dessert. Switzerland is most known for her winter activities/sports, but mountain is fun in Summer too. Oh, something with cows would be fun since they are in the mountains during summer to eat fresh grass. And the story of Heidi, of course!

[DawnMarch]

We did the Highlights Top Secret Adventure kits for my son for a while. Each month, you get a kit about a new country. The "adventure" is that you have to try to figure out a who-done-it kind of mystery by doing different activities related to that country which helps you narrow down the suspects. It's actually quite fun and my son loved doing it for about a year. when he was about 6-7.

http://shop.highlights.com/webapp/wc...egoryId=241891

[aggiefamily]

Ohh you can go to IKEA for Sweeden. They also have a food market.

Have you done the Kidcot stops or passports at Epcot?
http://www.stitchkingdom.com/kidcot/

Or the Kim Possible Adventure?
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/par.../kim-possible/

Those would be great ways to wrap up all you learned over the summer.

[jaylensmom]

this is such a cute idea...i may have to do this with my son...

[Misty Cato]

A couple of other fun things to do.

Look up how to say a few words in the native language of the country you are visiting, so you can 'greet' each other each morning in that particular language.

Our library has a good music selection so I was able to find music from many of the countries we visited.

Any meal with chopsticks is great fun. We did a dinner one night sitting on cushions on the floor at a low table when we visited Japan - huge hit.

If your kids like to craft you can find instruction online to make instruments relating to some countries (maracas, digeridoo, etc.). Japanese fans are fun too.

I didn't do it last year, but this year I want to make each kid a 'passport' and add some little stamp or sticker too it as we visit different countries.

[Tracyfish]

love the passport idea! this is going to be so fun

[Angie4b1g]

Tracy makes me feel like the biggest slacker mom ever. I just throw them in the pool while I drink sangria all summer.

[Tracyfish]

Whateva Angie! We will do plenty of the pool thing too...I am just a planner and have to have something to do or I'll be bored LOL!

[bellbird425]

well i'm sure u're all australia'd out after oprah (and ITA, they are prawns not shrimp - shrimp means tiny, there's nothing tiny about aussie prawns!)
but i thought i'd share some thoughts as well:

aussie iconic kids picture books:
- where the forest meets the sea -
- possum magic -
- and any of the wombat diary series for an amusing, dry humored look at one of our seemingly lazier animals -

we also for some reason seem to hold a 'thong toss' (with flip flop, shoe thongs) or 'gumboot toss' (wellies, gahloshes (?sp) on australia day - basically whoever throws it furthest wins - thongs are a bit more frisbee-ish but a fullsize men's gumboot is a bit more shotput heavy-ish (in my weak upper body opinion)

u could also do 'dot paintings' with ur son, just dip a small diameter piece of dowel or the wrong end of a paint brush in the paint and make some aboriginal art - u could cover a leftover cardboard tube from Cling Wrap or Aluminium Foil with dot art or splattered hand prints (you know using your hand as a mask basically on, with ur hand flat on paper and blowing runny paint thru a straw to splatter on it and leave a neg space handprint) and call it a digeridoo

[Aggie Aviso]

I'm from the Philippines and most tourists hoard dried mangoes:

(The mango is our national fruit)

I found some sold at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...angoes&x=0&y=0

[Lukasmummy]

I am in the UK, but I am not really into cooking. Maybe you could do roast beef and yorkshire pudding (I don't know if you have those in the US so I linked to a Delia Smith recipe. Or maybe a cream tea scones with Jam and Cream. There's also things like cornish pasties. Battered fish and chips, Welsh Rarebit (cheese on toast), Bread and Butter pudding, and Cadbury's chocolate (although you might need an import store for that one). There are lots of other ideas on the English section on her site. I would be happy to send you some photos from Oxford where we live or London where we visit regularly if you want them. Hugs Crystal xx

[Jengerbread88]

Have you thought about signing up for Postcrossing.com?

What you do is you sign up and you get a name and address to send a postcard to, from where you live. You have to write this code on it... then, you send the postcard to the location (somewhere in the world), telling them about where you live. THEN, when they get it, they type in the code, which unlocks your address for the next random person to get, from somewhere in the world (so, not the person you sent it to, but a totally random person).... like, you might send a postcard to Finland, but receive one from Japan! It's cool, because you never know where your postcard is coming from until it gets there! For every card you send, you get one back!!!

They also have forums, where they do "trades" or "round robins" for all different categories--- chocolate, toys, candy, tea, stickers, etc.... (there are usually rules on them, like "you must send 2 bars of chocolate," or something), but you post "I'll send to the person above me!" and then the person who posts below you sends to you, and you PM people for addresses... then you send someone a goodie, and the person below you sends YOU a goodie... I've gotten all kinds of awesome stuff from around the world... One time I had to send souvenir stuff- pencils, blank postcard, small things like that, and in return I got candy and pencils and things like that from another place!

It's an option... it'll cost you a little money to GET goodies or postcards, and sometimes you have NO idea what you're getting, but it's kind of cool to send someone some reeses and hershey's and stuff, which they're SO excited about, and in return get something cool from a totally different place! For me, it was REALLY worthwhile, and I think when I have kids who are the right age, I'll probably start doing it again. At this point I just don't have space to save all my postcards!

[Sarah8914]

Originally Posted by Aggie Aviso

I'm from the Philippines and most tourists hoard dried mangoes:

(The mango is our national fruit)

I found some sold at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...angoes&x=0&y=0

You can get these at walmart too. We LOVE them! but it's like 5 bucks for a bag so we don't get them often at all! but, good idea

[Jengerbread88]

Walmart sells Apple Soda in the Hispanic section, for VERY little cost... it's popular in Germany and Mexico for sure. I think.

[Tracyfish]

Originally Posted by Jengerbread88

Have you thought about signing up for Postcrossing.com?

Awesome idea! I think we will start this now. I'm gonna get a world map this week so we can mark the places we receive cards from.

Thanks everyone! I am making my weekly plans now and planning my first trip to Cost Plus (I found one less than an hour away) in the next month or so.

[Jengerbread88]

This is kind of "silly" stuff, but I found these on Oriental Trading. Might be kind of fun? I don't know. I'm just throwing out suggestions now

http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/br...259&sku=3/1308

http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/br...59&sku=12/3723

http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/br...er+Puppets#RL6

[Tracyfish]

I love the silly stuff. My son is 5 so he's still into silly

[Jengerbread88]

Originally Posted by Tracyfish

I love the silly stuff. My son is 5 so he's still into silly

(I think I may be more excited about your plans than you are...)

[jessica31876]

this is such a cool idea Tracy!! I never thought to do stuff like this with my kids when they were little.

I think it would be cool to spend a few days on studying Florida too. There are tons of stuff to learn about here. If youve never been you could take him to Fort Christmas or to the fort in St Augustine. And do a whole seafood theme for dinner with some sort of orange dessert or key lime pie for dessert (since that is our state pie)

[Tracyfish]

If anyone else is interested, I did find this printable passport.
http://www.fiarcircle.com/downloads/...c_passport.pdf

[DeepGirl]

I am from Slovakia and we really do have excellent snacks, candy etc. Not so famous as Belgian or Suisse sweets, but they are worthy a sin

I have found an e-shop that sells Slovak and Czech food in USA and Canada here...
http://www.jmimport.com/

I definitelly recommend these:
Mint and chocolate wafers: http://www.jmimport.com/mata-wafer-p-148.html
(a real must-have, I think it is produced in Slovakia only and it is fabulous!)

and also other stuff from this section:
http://www.jmimport.com/wafers-more-wafers-c-26_33.html

especially:
Mila wafers: http://www.jmimport.com/mila-p-78.html
Coffee wafers: http://www.jmimport.com/kavenky-p-76.html


Then...
Tatranky: http://www.jmimport.com/tatranky-p-501.html
3 Bit wafers: http://www.jmimport.com/3-bit-p-71.html
Tatiana Chocolate stick: http://www.jmimport.com/tatiana-p-172.html
Bubble Chocolate: http://www.jmimport.com/figaro-sladk...ilk-p-235.html

and finally:
http://www.jmimport.com/white-vinea-...ink-p-425.html
A very special Slovak-only non-alcoholic grape drink. Very yummy. All Slovaks living abroad are starving for this Not sure but maybe it has gained some Euroegistered trademark as local special food.

Recently also a variation made from red grape is produced:
http://www.jmimport.com/vinea-natura...ink-p-427.html

[Jengerbread88]

Today Plum District has a deal-- $40 worth of stuff from Handstand Kids for $20. You get a voucher to use for whatever you want.

They have international cookbook sets that have recipes for ages 3-12, with four difficulty levels, and all of the ingredient lists are written in English AND the language of the cookbook set you choose (so like, English AND Mandarin, or English AND Italian)

Deal is here: http://www.plumdistrict.com/deals/the-handstand-kids-cookbook-company-20-for-40-worth-of-kids-cookbooks-from-the-ha?sub=true&utm_source=Subscribers+List&utm_campai gn=1996a989db-021011+-+Plum+Deal:+$20+for+$40+Worth+of+Kids'+Int&utm_med ium=email

You can check out the site here: http://handstandkids.com/order.html

[tonia]

This is such an AWESOME idea!!! What a great way to show your kids about other countries and their cultures. I'm in Australia, and what the other girls said about Vegemite, pavlova, lamingtons, the beach, BBQ's and our unique Aussie animals pretty much sum it up - but I did think that maybe to read a short story book about each country, something like "Possum Magic" by Mem Fox is fun as it shows some of the animals from our land and the foods. You could read the book and then make some of the foods - YUM!

Have fun with it - also, love the idea of the passport for the countries you 'visit', then if you decide to revisit the idea next year, the kids can use the same passport and add to their cultural knowledge