The responsibility of parenthood is to prepare your child for the world around us. After all, learning how to operate, to be happy, to pursue your wants and needs, are goals that we always seek no matter how old we are. You can be eighty-five years old and only really think you have a “handle” on things.

That being said, great parenthood and good tuition can help a child go from feeling puzzled at their place in the world to embody a calm, collected, and composed persona. This latter outcome is what most parents hope to achieve, though of course, how you get there can vary.

Most would agree that teaching our children about the world at an age-appropriate level is an important part of keeping them interested in the world around them, and not siloed into their own comfort zone. Travel can be a big part of that, even if your vacations are relatively modest and local, it all has a major positive impact.

But of course, teaching them about humans, what they think and feel, our various cultures, and how to live well within that can be a wonderful gift to provide your little one. While you can always book a vacation, we’re going to offer a few ways to showcase the world without necessarily spending a huge amount of money.

Here are some ways to go about that:

Explore Culture Through Holidays & Food

Now, every parent knows that there's something about celebrations and tasty dishes that tends to earn children's attention and keep them entirely interested. Cooking together can be an engaging way to explore the world because after all, food and different cuisine types absolutely help you understand different people more readily. It’s not a stereotype to get “a taste of India” through a delicious curry, it’s a genuinely riveting cultural export that Indians are deeply proud of - and should be!

Trying out recipes from around the world isn't solely focused on enjoying the taste of course - it's a nice entry point into the stories and traditions behind each dish. For example, discussing why certain ingredients or spices are used, how they're prepared, and what they mean to the people who eat them can make learning about culture more accessible and enjoyable for children. It humanizes something they can see on their plate.

If you have the means, heading to a local restaurant with an authentic style and form of cooking (even if your little one only goes for the kid’s menu), can offer a somewhat matched “style” that provides the backdrop for them to understand more easily.

Explore The Map Together

Of course, you don’t need to spend much money to explain the world around you. Looking at maps can showcase where countries are, the wide world around us, and the makeup of the place. Pointing out different countries, oceans, and landmarks might help their imagination, and cause them to wonder about life in places with different climates or landscapes.

For example, a small child living in England may be very surprised to learn how their home is an island, especially because the shape and positioning are quite unique as far as other countries go. Little facts they can see like this are often very exciting.

If you want to get even more comprehensive, it could be interesting to show where their favorite animals are usually found - such as giraffes only being found on the African continent. Maps can also help explain concepts like time zones or the reasons behind seasonal differences across the globe - you might explain why Australia is actually in the depths of winter right now. It’s a nice way to make your child feel curious about the world.

Watch Age-Appropriate Documentaries

Many excellent national media companies, especially the BBC, have had decades of producing fantastic documentaries for inquiring minds, at various age-appropriate levels. These provide information that can be quite captivating and well-shot.

Better yet, they tend to cover a wide range of topics from nature and animals to space and history. These can introduce complex ideas in ways that are more digestible for kids and may match what they’re learning in school. Watching together allows for discussions and questions, helping to reinforce what they're learning and encouraging them to pose or answer questions about those topics. It’s a fun means of keeping them involved, active, and interested.

Discuss Games & Their Place In Different Societies

With video game consoles quite common possessions among children or early teens, it’s not uncommon for them to understand the world through games and the worlds depicted through them. But did you know games aren’t just a recreational activity where your child disappears in their room to stare at a screen for several hours? They can often be quite engaging and entertaining.

For example, while the “Assassin’s Creed” series is a violent rip-roaring historical narrative perhaps unsuitable to the age of your child or your preferences as a parent, Ubisoft has also released non-combative versions of the game online that allow you to explore their incredible renditions of ancient Greece or Egypt, without any of the mature content.

This can be a fantastic way to showcase historical narrative through a medium your child understands. However, of course, games in general can showcase history and the development of cultures. You might discuss the popularity of Mahjong in China or Chess from medieval Europe. Cultural understanding like this can help explain and explore culture in a novel way.

Gently Discuss The Hardships

Of course, the world isn’t all fun and games and good food. It’s healthy to discuss some of the hardships the world faces at an age-appropriate level that doesn’t make them feel exasperated or too upset. Your discussions might start with some of the difficulties people face in different regions, such as limited access to food, clean water, or education.

While these topics can certainly be heavy, they may help an appreciation for what your family has and encourage thinking about how to help others be that engaging with charity or learning about climate change and the importance of recycling. This helps your little one understand the full picture without focusing too overbearing on that side.

With this advice, you’ll be certain to teach your child about this world, of course, assisting their schooling with a supplemental, helpful parental focus.

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.