I don’t think my family will be jetting overseas anytime soon, but giving my kids a taste of world cultures is something I’d love for them to experience. Because Japanese take-out doesn’t exactly do the trick on its own, my husband queues up the Internet radio to a lite-rock Tokyo station. Let’s just say eating sushi will never be ho-hum again. When mealtime is through, we love to crank up the CD player with other types of ethnic music meant for tender ears, like European Playground from Putumayo Kids. My 3-year-old loves to bang on her instruments in a rhythm that is clearly her own, and I can’t help but marvel at her ability to tune out the world–and tune into the beat. I love the fact that we can now extend our cultural music jam session into playtime with Putumayo Kids’ new series of coloring and sticker books
. Each of the themed coloring books feature over-sized pages with cultural landmarks and plenty of space to add a personal touch to these masterpieces. In the Europe Coloring Book, there’s a page to design your own world flag, with a facing page containing various country flags for inspiration, and another page to create a European landscape. The sticker collection books are equally imaginative, boasting fold-out pages of scenery that kids can decorate with reusable stickers. Available in a sturdy hardcover format, these books work well in the car or wherever else kids are on the go.
In a Nutshell: Expand your kids’ horizons with culturally-influenced coloring and sticker books that travel well.
