Are you stuck at home and can’t travel for a while? Or are you getting the kids excited for your next trip? Then cure your wanderlust by planning a themed night-in, based on your destination of choice. When you can’t travel, use the ideas below to take a trip without traveling.
Whether it’s your favorite location or one you’ve not visited yet, the research alone for this night will have you dreaming of your next trip. You can choose a country in general (Italy would be an easy choice), or narrow it down to a region (Tuscany, anyone?), or a specific city (Rome—hello cacio e pepe).
Create a dinner menu based on the location
Research your destination to discover traditional food. You can plan a dinner and dessert by searching for common food for the area. Either create the menu and try your hand at a new recipe or have food delivered to you. Some examples of great menu ideas are below:
New York City: eat pizza, hot dogs, or deli food (You can even order a food kit from the famous Katz’s Deli). Make a New York-style cheesecake for dessert.
Switzerland: Make fondue, eat Swiss cheese sandwiches, or try this delicious, simple dessert, Appenzeller Rahmfladen.
Japan: Order sushi to go, or make a simple version of Japanese steakhouse steak (brown sliced steak, add soy sauce and butter, serve with rice and broccoli), learn to make dango by watching this video:
Play music unique to the area
Find music that reflects the destination. Do you have fond memories of that trip to Thailand? Find Thai folk music to listen to while going down memory lane. Search for “(country) folk music” on Spotify, Pandora or YouTube. The videos on YouTube have the added benefit of seeing the dances. Check out this video with Thai music and dancing.
Decorate a room with homemade decorations
Enlist the kids to help make decorations themed to the destination. Decorate with flags, country colors and crafts from the region.
There are many good homeschool resources (like this site) for crafts and studies on specific countries. Many of these show decorations, coloring pages, crafts and facts about specific countries. Another good source for information is the Girl Scouts World Thinking Day resources. This page has a ton of good ideas for the theme of Kenya.
Pinterest boards are aflame with ideas for decorating. Search for decorating ideas by typing in your country/city name and “party decorations.” Check out my Pinterest boards for Japan, Thailand, New York City, Italy and Switzerland themed party ideas.
Watch a movie set in the destination
Watching a movie set in another country is a great way to learn about customs, geography and food from that country. Check out this blog for a list of films and how to teach about them.
A few movie suggestions:
- Japan – any Studio Ghibli film, especially My Neighbor Totoro and Ponyo
- Italy – Roman Holiday
- Switzerland – Heidi starring Shirley Temple
- New Zeland – Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Whale Rider
- Nepal – Pahuna
Play a game popular in the region
Search the internet for “traditional games in (name of country)” to find games you can play with your kids. This is a great way to connect with another culture.
When my daughter was in Girl Scouts, she learned about a popular children’s game played in The Netherlands called Spijkerpoepen (Dutch for nailpooping). You tie a nail onto a long string wrapped around your waist, then try to get the nail into a bottle. This website shows how the game is played along with a few other Dutch games.
If it’s not the right time for you to hop on a plane, the next best thing is to plan a night devoted to your country of choice and take a trip without traveling. Using the ideas above, your whole family will be excited about the next time that you can travel.
What ideas have you used to excite your family about your next trip? Tell us in the comments below.
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