Closing In On The End

As we are approaching the end of our Thailand tour, we have been meal planning and wrapping up unfinished details. We have shared books, made Kohn Masks, eaten sesame balls, learned a little bit of the Thai language and made shadow puppets, that means that there are are only a couple of things left to do before we are packing up our virtual suitcases and headed to another country. First, we had to stamp our passports, and scratch our map. Then, we will be celebrating Thailand listening to the music, reviewing what we've learned in the form of a trivia game and sampling the cuisine.


So, here is the first step of the wrap up. As with most months, I made a potato stamp for us to stamp our passports with. 

After stamping the passports, it was time to scratch Thailand off of our map. This is always fun for the kids and they always argue over who gets to scratch it, so no matter what size the country is, they always both get to do part of it. 

I love this part of our tour, because even though it only lasts for a few minutes, they get to see where each country is located in relation to where we are. At the start of every new tour, we look at the globe and locate the country of the month, and we revisit it throughout the month. For some reason, though, seeing it on a map and having the moment to focus on the borders of the country does something new. It not only gives them an understanding of the flat map vs. the round globe, but it also helps them understand that each country shares is borders, whether there is land or water at the borders, each country has it's own shape, location and neighbors. The neighbors are especially important to me, this way the kids can see how we all have a place in the world. 


I hope you'll check in on Monday to see the wrap up of our Thailand Celebration. Then, next Thursday, I will be sharing some images from Thailand and featuring another Traveling Friend.