Many of us dream of showing our kids the world, but time, money and logistics stand in our way. Traveling with several young kids to far-flung places take courage and budgets that certainly we didn’t have when our daughter was younger. So I can just imagine what that decision would be like with several young budding travelers.
This summer, though, we did step outside our comfort-zone and travelled to Cuba. And, no, we did not do the four-star all-inclusive resort experience. We got out on the road, lived in Casas and met the locals. I realize this is by no means a huge stretch, but it was brave for us. In previous years, we had often opted for the road-trip as it’s easy to stuff a car full of stuff and go.
But what if we want to expose our kids to more of our world now, to learn about new countries, landscapes, cultures and customs? I’ve been doing some digging and here are some great sites that do just that.
National Geographic Kids
Easy to navigate and with lots of fun trivia and personal stories from kids, this site is a great start for any parent that wants their kids to learn more about the world. I particularly like the country by country break-down (below is a screenshot of France), the homework help pages and the blog following Aubrey, a young girl on a trip around the world.
Google Earth
OK, so this one might be an obvious one, but have you been to their site lately? There are lots of introductory videos in the showcase section to tour cities, parks, buildings, the oceans, UNESCO sites and view historical imagery. Once you get more comfortable, it’s well-worth your while to download Google Earth to take your own trips.
CNN Student News
This site focuses on middle and high school students, so I would not recommend this for your younger elementary school kids. It’s a ten-minute, commercial-free, daily news program produced by journalists and educators at CNN. Introducing world news in an appropriate way for kids not only helps them learn about current events, but also with a little prompting from us, helps them to start critically analyze world events. Why not spend time to watch this news together and then sit down to discuss what you have seen?
Student News Net
Aimed at kids in grades 3-5, Student News Net includes world news, in-depth reports, features,and a special section on science in the news - some stories even have curricular activities attached to them. Although parts of the site are subscription-based, there is lots of free content that has kept me coming back.
If you know of any great sites that teach kids about our world, please share the links in the comments below.
