We're off to Vietnam!
Past rice paddies and through jungles to modern cities…
This month we’re headed to Viet Nam
Our latest activity workbook for kids is all designed around Vietnam. It’s got quizzes about Vietnamese animals, a street food tour of Hanoi to taste different Vietnamese specialities and celebrating Vietnamese New Years’ (with some maths!).
Let’s start with a little fact…
So we’ll be using a mixture of Vietnam and Viet Nam - just to keep you guessing!
Viet Nam is absolutely beautiful…
…and there’s plenty to learn
In this workbook we look a Viet Nam with fresh eyes. We dive deep into the history, geography and culture of Viet Nam, covering a broad spectrum of Vietnamese activities and histories. We learned a lot ourselves.
For example, have you heard of the Trung Sisters?
They ruled Viet Nam for a short time, defeating a local representative of the Chinese empire and creating a brief window of freedom for their neighbours.
They’re still talked about in Viet Nam, as evidence of freedom fighters and strong women.
Viet Nam has a long history, and also has some impressive traditions which are still continued today.
Like villages which spend most of the year making incense for Vietnamese festivals…
We created a maths based activity around incense making, getting kids to problem solve, practice maths and learn about a Vietnamese tradition all the same time.
Vietnam also has some pretty amazing animals…
Sun bears
Sun bears are the smallest bears in the world, and the most in danger. They’re named after the ligher patch of fur on their chests, which looks a little like a rising sun
Water Buffalo
Known as the ‘living tractors of the East’, buffalo carry huge loads and help farm fields. They also spend lots of time submerged in water to deal with the heat.
Greater Hornbills
These hornbills have a casque on the top of their beaks. It’s made of keratin, like a fingernail and is hollow. No one know exactly what it’s for, but it’s probably to attract a mate.
We have an activity about Vietnamese animals as well, asking kids to do some simple research tasks to answer whether various statements about the animals are true or false.
We also cover a bunch of other topics, like Vietnamese food, landmines and travelling by train on the Reunification Express.
We even collaborated with a Vietnamese chef to learn more about delicious Vietnamese recipes - that’s one of the activities as well.
It involves finding different Vietnamese specialities, like Pho, Bahn Mi and more. We even wrote a blog post with a bunch off recipes for kids to try cooking. Cooking is great way to learn about different cultures!
We also talk about landmines in our Viet Nam workbook
We believe that it’s important that kids learn about different topics, even ones that may be difficult or a little scary - particularly when it impacts their safety. Landmines are a sad fact of life in many areas of the world, including Viet Nam.
In fact, we wrote an article about landmines, specifically designed for kids, explaining landmines, and how they can stay safe while travelling.
While the language is aimed at children, it may also be useful for adults. At the end of the article are some resources for parents to learn more and tips for further discussion.
Vietnam is one of the countries we’re travelling to this year with our Just the Ticket journeys. Just the Ticket is a 12-month online learning journey, designed for kids aged 7-12. Through our online, self-print activity workbooks and postcards in the mail, kids explore the history, stories, culture, geography, peoples, animals and food of different countries through activities and educational puzzles.
Everything is designed by a Learning Designer with the goal of sparking kids’ curiosity about the world, exploring new cultures and learning difficult history. We’re inspired by Montessori teaching and worldschooling approaches.
To learn more about Just the Ticket, check out our home page or try out one of our workbooks for free!
We currently offer our Lapland activity workbook for anyone to try. It’s got activities involving Christmas traditions, animals in the snow, the Sami people, reindeer adaptations and the scientific explanations for the Aurora Borealis.
