Italy with Kids: Virtual Tour & Global Learning Guide

Are you looking forward to learning about Italy with kids but can’t travel there quite yet? Come join us as we travel on a virtual tour of Italy right from home!

Come along with us as we take a virtual trip to Italy and explore from home! Perhaps you’re planning a trip to Italy with kids in the future, or maybe you just want to learn more about the country right from home. Either way, this is a guide to learn about history, culture, food, people, as we take a virtual tour of Italy.

This guide is a great way to connect via heart and mind with those of diverse backgrounds from around the world. We can’t wait to learn more about the beauty and diversity of Italy with kids.

Our family likes to spend 1-2 weeks on a virtual field trip to each country. We typically spread out these activities and pick a couple each day. I hope you enjoy learning with us as we explore these Italian activities for kids!

This post about learning about Italy with kids contains affiliate links, but all opinions are 100% my own. That means I earn a small commission if you purchase through my link, but doesn’t change your price.

ITALY WITH KIDS:

VIRTUAL TOUR OF ITALY TO EXPLORE FROM HOME

Learning about Italy with Kids: Language Arts

• Official language is Italian, a Romance language (97% speak it)
  • Learn basic Italian greetings (3 minutes)
• Questions to ask your kids about Italy
  • TIP: Use as discussion topics or writing prompts!

Reading: Books About Italy for Kids

And you can find lots more book suggestions at this public library site HERE!

Activity Suggestions:

• Read several Italian folk tales (such as Old Befana and Big Anthony)

Facts About Italian History & Government

• Official name Repubblica Italiana (Italian Republic)
• Democratic republic
  • First republic was in Ancient Rome
• One of the 6 founding members of the European Union
• Prime Minister: Giuseppe Conte

• Currency: 1 USD = .93 Euro
• Holidays
  • Epiphany
  • Easter
  • Republic Day
  • Christmas

Video About Ancient Rome for Kids:

Gladiators Video for Kids:

Italian History Activity Suggestions:

• Color a flag of the Italian Republic (or you can cut out strips of green, white, and red construction paper)
  • Green = hope
  • White = faith
  • Red = charity
• Make a diorama of the Colosseum

Videos About Italian History for Kids:

• Animated History of Italy (8 minutes)
• Italy Gondola (7 minutes)

Italian Geography for Kids

• Find Italy on a map or globe
• Rome is the capital of Italy (find the star on the map). It’s called the Eternal City, and is also the biggest city in Italy.
• Italy is shaped like a boot
• It’s a peninsula
  • What is a peninsula?
• The country has a couple of bigger islands and many small islands
  • Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea
  • What is an island?
• Two main mountain ranges – Alps and Apennines (Dolomites are in the Alps)
• Three active volcanoes in Italy – Vesuvius, Etna, Stromboli
• Vatican City is its own country and the smallest country in the world

Italy Geography Activity Suggestions:

• Color in Italy on the map
• Count how many countries Italy borders (6)

Geography of Italy Video (3 minutes)

(Map from HERE)

Italy with Kids: Famous Sites to Know

Imagine a visit to Rome with kids!

• Colosseum (5 minutes)
• Leaning Tower of Pisa (7 minutes)
• Duomo (Florence) (4 minutes)
• Cinque Terre with kids
• Trevi Fountain
• Venice & canals/gondolas
• Duomo di Milano
• Pompeii

Italian Art History with Kids

• Learn about Raphael
• Michaelangelo with kids (Part 1, Part 2)
• Michaelangelo (4 minutes) (also HERE)
• Murano Glass Blowing

Italian Art Activities with Kids

Italian Architecture with Kids

Build a Roman aqueduct with plastic cups! Instructions HERE.

Frescoes & the Sistine Chapel

• We had our kids sketch images from the Sistine Chapel ceiling on a piece of paper. Then we taped those papers under a table and had them color them with markers (or you could do paint if you don’t mind more mess!).
• Italian Renaissance Fresco painting for children
• Fresco painting with kids
• Fresco plaster painting with kids

Religion & Philosophy in Italy for Kids

• 80% of Italy is Christian
• Mostly Roman Catholic
  • Pope Francis
• Dante Alighieri

Movies about Italy for Adults and Kids

• Galileo mini biography (3 minutes)
• Leonardo da Vinci (HERE and HERE)

Italian Food That Kids Will Enjoy

Here are a few staples of Italian food that your kids will love!

• Pasta
• Pizza
• Gelato

Here are a few simple Italian recipes to make with kids:

• Simple and kid-friendly Italian tomato tortellini soup
• Easy fior di latte gelato

Or you could consider going out for pasta or gelato!

Science in Italy

• Italian Inventions
• Fibonacci sequence

STEAM and Craft Activity Suggestions when Studying Italy with Kids

• Make a Roman aqueduct, road, columns, and more!
• Roman column building guide
• Leaning Tower of Pisa challenge
• Design a poster for one of the animals in the National Geographic Italian wildlife video
• Design a gladiator costume & armor and have a pretend event

Italian Music: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons

• Vivaldi (1 minute)
• Four Seasons

Italian Music Activity:

Paint 4 different seasons to go with each of the movements of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. While you’re painting, move your paintbrush along with the music.

Sports in Italy

Football (what Americans call soccer) is extremely popular in Italy!

Thanks for Taking a Virtual Visit to Italy With Us!

We’ve loved putting together this resource to virtually visit Italy. We’d love to hear if you do any of these activities, or if you visit in person! We hope to inspire curiosity and connection through exploring and learning, and we hope this guide helps you and your families. Please share any activities you do with us over on our Instagram. And we’d be delighted if you passed this along to others, as well!

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NOT READY TO EXPLORE ITALY WITH KIDS FROM HOME QUITE YET? PIN THIS POST FOR LATER!