Get ready for a week of stories, music, crafts, games, snacks, and guests from other countries!

Kids and Cultures Camp will be held at Harrisburg Area Community College, Lancaster Campus, the week of June 11 to 15.

Campers "visit" a different country each day, create their own travel scrapbooks, and receive a Kids and Cultures Camp T-shirt.

Find more information!

Can't wait? Check out photos and videos from previous years.

During the past three years, more than 1,000 participants have walked and sampled food from around the world in the Kids and Cultures Taste the World experience.

On May 30, Kids and Cultures, along with local restaurants, gave back to Lancaster by organizing a similar event as a fundraiser for the Alpha & Omega Community Center, Lancaster, Pa.

More than 200 participated in this walking and sampling tour and received a taste of France, Italy, Mexico, Thailand, and the Dominican Republic. 

Find the details at www.progressivemeals.com.

Kids and Cultures is getting ready to launch a new interactive storytelling show, Big Dreams Big Deeds. The show features stories of kids around the world doing big things to help their families, communities, and the world.

Big Dreams Big Deeds complements the libraries' 2012 Summer Reading Program theme of Dream Big - Read! by introducing children and their families to kids from around the world who use their imaginations, creativity, and ideas to make a positive impact on those around them.

Ask your youth librarian to book Big Dreams Big Deeds.

Sing your way around the world with our 45-minute interactive show, featuring fun songs, intriguing instruments, and much more from 12 countries, featuring musicians Todd and Merci Brill and their family.

The Kids and Cultures World Music Tour is a quick trip around the world with songs from Mexico, Jamaica, Lesser Antilles, Peru, Brazil, Africa, Israel, Greece, France, Poland, Russia, India, China, Australia, and the United States.

Find booking information, including our special introductory rate for this show, and details about our other presentations.

You and a friend are in for a treat--18 of them, to be exact! Kids and Cultures has launched a new program in which children and adults can "Snack Around the World" after school. Participants will receive a coupon book for nine cultural restaurants in Lancaster, Pa. At each location, they can redeem a coupon for two free snacks, plus take advantage of discounts on menu items. In addition, there will be educational components available for participants to learn a bit about the countries represented by the restaurants.

Coupon books are available at a discount for non-profit organizations, schools, scouts, churches, and other groups to sell as a fundraiser. Your group can earn $3 for each book you sell!

The participating restaurants are: Addisu Ethiopian Restaurant, Cocina Mexicana, El Maizal Colombian Restaurant, La Cocina Restaurant, La Dolce Vita Italian Courthouse Bakery, Manna Restaurant, Rachel's Cafe & Creperie, Spyro Gyros, and Sukothai Restaurant.

Click here to get started!

Timm and Kristina Wenger have announced two significant changes to the organization they founded eight years ago. Kids and Cultures began in 2003 as a non-profit educational organization to introduce children to world cultures. The board voted in February 2011 to authorize the conversion of the organization to a for-profit corporation which will be run by the Wengers. 

In addition to the structural change, the Wengers are also rolling out a new plan to involve more partners, including international presenters and presentation facilitators, in their programs. They are developing a network of storytellers, musicians, and other performers who will be available for schools and other groups. "Since the beginning, we have desired for Kids and Cultures to grow beyond what our family can do," says Timm. "These two changes will bring the flexibility and connections for the programs to expand." Meet our presenters.

Plans for this year include the ninth annual Kids and Cultures Camp, which will be held June 11 to 15, the return of the Taste the World walking and sampling tours in Lancaster, Pa., and the continuation of the Kids and Cultures World Tour program.

The Wengers thank the board members and volunteers who have served throughout the years to enable Kids and Cultures to introduce children to world cultures.

The fourth grade social studies curriculum in the School District of Lancaster, Pa., is a study of world cultures, with a focus on four regions of the world--Africa, Asia, Europe, and Central/South America. Last year, Ross Elementary teachers Svetlana Shubinsky and Kelly Wood wanted to take their students beyond the typical book learning and research. They sought and received a grant from the Lancaster Foundation for Educational Enrichment (LFEE) to invite Kids and Cultures to facilitate six interactive sessions this past spring as part of the new Kids and Cultures World Tour program. Four of the sessions featured guest presenters who were born and grew up in other countries, and now live in the Lancaster area. The presenters told about their home countries; led a hands-on activity, such as a game or craft; shared a folktale, song, or dance; and answered students' questions. "This face-to-face interaction with people from all over the globe will not only enrich the academic knowledge of the students, but will enable them to appreciate the richness of other cultures that's right here in our own country," says Timm Wenger, coordinator of the program. In addition to thinking globally, the students also developed their own cultural profile. 

The teachers also asked Kids and Cultures to coordinate their end-of-year field trip to correspond with the program. At the end of the World Tour series, students took a field trip to Embassy Row in Washington, D.C., to visit three embassies and a cultural restaurant. For more information about the World Tour program or Embassy Row Tours, please contact us.