| The 2006 soccer World Cup is being held in Germany, | | | | food or Pasta from Italy, but how about trying some |
| and all around the world people old and young, male | | | | Sushi from Japan or Couscous from Tunisia? And you |
| and female will be looking forward to a feast of | | | | could always have some good old Roast Beef and |
| football. Whether you love or loathe the 'beautiful | | | | Yorkshire Pudding from England. |
| game' you can make the World Cup both a fun and | | | | 4) Costume: Dress up in the national and ethnic |
| educational experience for your kids! There are 32 | | | | costumes of competing nations - how about a Spanish |
| countries competing in the World Cup 2006, so take | | | | flamenco outfit, a grass skirt from the Ivory Coast or a |
| the opportunity to find out more about some of the | | | | Japanese Kimono? |
| countries which are competing. | | | | 5) Sport: Get a football out and have a kick around - |
| 1) Geography: Get out an atlas or globe and find out | | | | especially if you've been sitting in front of the TV all |
| the capital cities of all the competing nations (you can | | | | week! |
| check the full list of teams at FIFA's website) and | | | | Of course a big part of the fun of a major sporting |
| which continent each country is in. | | | | event such as the World Cup is following a team, so |
| 2) Art: Try and make drawings of the national flags of | | | | persuade your children to randomly choose a team |
| the countries taking part. Some will be easier than | | | | (not your own national team if they have reached the |
| others! Many, such as France, Italy and Holland, are | | | | finals!). Then help them to become a mini expert on |
| simple and so are good choices for younger children. | | | | that country so as they can then cheer on 'their' team |
| Countries such as Saudi Arabia, Angola or Ecuador will | | | | with a little bit of background knowledge of that nation. |
| be more of a challenge! | | | | They could find out about the customs of the country, |
| 3) Cookery: Try out some national dishes from | | | | the language, the teams top players and whether |
| competing nations. You may know you like Mexican | | | | soccer is a major sport in that country. |