As parents, we want to broaden our children’s view of the world and help them see beyond their own lives, struggles, and desires. We want them to love people from all walks of life. One super fun way to do that is to study countries and cultures around the world!

This doesn’t have to be a daunting task that requires a lot of time or money. You can make it as simple or elaborate as you like, catered to your family and abilities. Read on to see how our family began this worldwide adventure at home.

Our family loves the USA, but we realize God created a wide and diverse world full of amazing people and beautiful scenery. I want to cultivate in my children a curiosity, wonder, and excitement about the amazing patchwork of people and places that make our world.

Just as people often have to learn how to appreciate fine food and art, I believe we can teach children to appreciate the nuances of God’s creation.

Learning about other countries and cultures is really just a way to study people. When we better understand the history and dynamics of people groups outside of our daily lives, we develop more empathy for others who think, look, act, and speak differently than us. It opens our eyes to those beautiful differences among people, as well as the similarities that make us all human. 

Ultimately, I believe, it helps us love others better. In a way, it also helps us better understand ourselves and our place in the world.

In addition to learning about people, studying the land, wildlife, and climate of other countries also gives us greater appreciation for the creativity of creation.

Plus, it’s just really fun to learn and try new things!

While I know immersion is the best way to really learn about a culture, our family is not able to travel to other countries. There are several subscription boxes that introduce interesting details of other cultures, like stories and books or food and drinks. However, those boxes can be quite pricey, as well. 

The good news is physical and economic limitations don’t have to stop us from learning. We can create our own monthly culture study series!

DIY culture study

I am ridiculously excited about this new project, even though I am keeping it simple. Understanding the short attention spans of young children, I may only be able to offer brief, high-level overviews of foreign countries, but it’s a start.

In light of St. Patrick’s Day, it only made sense to begin with Ireland in March.

Of course, the first (and arguably most fun) aspect to research is food! While corned beef seems to be a common St. Patrick’s Day meal, we opted to make a delicious Shepherd’s Pie. I am notorious for using recipes as “suggestions” and substituting my own ingredients when I feel necessary. This time, we used beef instead of lamb. It was sooo good! Also, instead of topping it with plain mashed potatoes, this recipe used a traditional Irish potato dish called colcannon (mashed potatoes and cabbage). The white cheddar really put everything over the top! Of course, the children were skeptical at first (as was my husband!), but we all really liked it.

The next day, because I couldn’t decide on one meal, I made another Irish dish called Bangers and Mash. Again, I substituted bratwursts for authentic bangers sausage because I found bangers cost a small fortune. We ate it with plain mashed potatoes and a side of boiled cabbage and bacon. Meat and potatoes aren’t too far from my family’s comfort food zone. So, these were great starter meals!

While we ate, I shared some interesting tidbits about Ireland focusing on five parts of the country’s culture: geography and wildlife, history and government, entertainment, religion, and food. National Geographic Kids offers great country profiles that make it easy to find most of the information. Of course, a large portion of the time was sharing the history and meaning behind St. Patrick’s Day. If you don’t know the history, you should watch this video with your kids. It’s such a cool story!

The Goal

We could spend all month learning about Ireland. Maybe we will one day. This time, however, my goal was simply to introduce us to the country. I spent about 5 minutes during dinner sharing facts, we watched a couple of short videos as we finished, and I tried to sprinkle in information here and there while we prepared the meal.

My children did engage in the conversation and even brought it back up a few times the following week. My 6-year-old wanted to find Ireland on the globe again. He also started practicing riverdancing (or his version of it, anyway). Even my 4-year-old asked some follow-up questions from what she remembered.

They were listening!

I hope to have more time to include additional hands-on activities during our next culture study. As I learn how to better prepare and the family learns what to expect from these monthly experiences, I believe they will become more interesting and impactful.

I hope this new learning activity will pique the kids’ interest to study further on their own. Who knows, we may even adopt some new games, foods, or traditions for our own family! Maybe we’ll one day have a chance to visit or talk to people from the countries we study.

At the very least, it’s a learning adventure!

Maybe you would like to try this with your own family. You don’t have to wait for next St. Patrick’s Day to study Ireland! I took a few notes on some interesting facts, recipes, and video links we used on the Ireland culture study printable at the bottom.

Up Next

Since we celebrate Easter next month, I hope we can explore the birthplace of the holiday, Israel, and specifically, the Jewish culture. This will be very new for all of us. I’m excited to talk about the places and customs of which Jesus himself was part. 

Have you ever visited or studied other countries as a family? If so, what topics did you discuss? What activities did you do? How did you keep it interesting for the kids? What was the best part of your experience? If you have any related tips, please share! We can all learn from each other.