My seven-year-old son and I are embarking on an adventure this summer—an educational expedition that will take us around the world over the next 11 weeks.

As armchair travelers, we’ll be learning all sorts of things about each region we visit, including its geography, people and cultures, history, cuisine, contributions to art and literature, and more. We’ll also be devoting time each week to pray for the countries and people in the regions we learn about. Additionally, my son will be recording his travels in a homemade scrapbook. At the end of the adventure, I plan on asking him to jot down five places he would love to someday visit.

Below is our itinerary and some resources that we’ll be using.

Online Resources for Journey Around the World

The following are some suggested resources for your summer travels: 

National Geographic Education ~ With interactive maps, this website is a must for our expedition. Each week, I’ll be downloading maps of continents and countries for my son to color and to expand his knowledge of each region’s geography.

Operation World: Praying for the World ~ As a tool for praying for the world, this website gives general information about each country around the world and the needs of these countries.

KinderArt ~ Includes several multicultural art projects for kids.

BBC History for Kids ~ Contains all sorts of resources about world history.

All Recipes ~ Includes a listing of world cuisine recipe collections.

WEEK #1 ~ Caribbean Islands & Central America 

For the first week, we will be visiting the Caribbean Islands and Central America. Through relief organizations, we sponsor two children that live in this region—one who lives in Guatemala and the other in the Dominican Republic. So, for the most part, we’ll be focusing our geographical learning on these two countries. Additionally, my son and I will be traveling (for real, not virtually) to Florida later this week to visit my grandma. We are hoping to visit a pirate museum in St. Augustine and enjoying a meal at the Columbia Restaurant—a favorite Cuban restaurant in Florida.

The following are some ideas of activities you can enjoy with your kids this week:

• Geography ~ Print out map of the Caribbean and Central America. Take some time to study the countries in the Caribbean and in Central America. Select a country or two for in-depth study,  and print out detailed maps of them. Check out books from the library and use online resources to learn about this region and to further study the country you’ve selected. You can focus on the geography of the area, the people and cultures, and/or its history.

• Cuisine ~ Search online or in cookbooks for recipes for this region.  Have your child choose a recipe and help him make it for a meal one day this week. Or visit a restaurant that serves cuisines from this region.

• Art ~ Because we’ll be traveling this week, I’m planning on keeping art/craft projects simple. We are hoping to visiting the pirate museum in St. Augustine Florida, so one idea I have for an art project is to have my son draw a pirate scene.  For more ideas, click on the art links above.

• Writing ~ Ask your child to write about what they have learned about the region or a country in the region. Or select a fiction writing prompt and have your child write a short story. Some possible writing prompts include:

A pirate who lost his ship.

  A crocodile with a toothache.

  A gecko who goes skydiving.

 A sloth who signs up for a dancing contest.

 An anteater who befriends an ant.

  A howler monkey who gets laryngitis.

Or come up with your own silly prompts. :0)

• Missions/Prayer ~ Visit the Operation World website and learn about the prayer needs of the region. Take time to pray with your child for the countries in this region. Additionally, if you have sponsor children in this region (as we do), take time to write letters to them.  You can also set out a jar for family members to contribute change and dollar bills during the trek around the world. At the end of the adventure, your family could donate the money collected to a charitable organization that helps people in one of the regions/countries you “visited.”

• Final Project ~ Help your child make a scrapbook to record what she learns about the regions she visits, to attach pictures of that area, and to jot down thoughts and observations. She’ll be adding to this scrapbook throughout the summer.

Bon Voyage!!