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We have had such a great time on our travel to Morocco from home!
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A little bit about Morocco
- Morocco is in Western North Africa and is the most famous of all the North African countries.
- Morocco’s landscape is desert and tall mountains that see snow most years.
- The Atlas mountains in Morocco run from east to west and separate North Africa from the Sahara.
- The main religion in Morocco is Islam, which was brought when Arabs conquered Morocco from the native tribes called the Berbers.
- When the Arabs conquered Morocco they brought with them the intricate designs of their culture.
- The main language in Morocco is Arabic, although French is widely spoken as is the language of the Berbers.
What to make for your Moroccan Meal
Cous Cous
I spent 2 years of my life in Tunisia (the country next to Morocco). My dad was learning Arabic there when I was 7 until I was 9. Cous Cous is also the national dish of Tunisia and I have eaten my fair share. This recipe is my mom’s recipe that was taught to her by some Tunisian friends.
Unfortunately we haven’t been able to make it yet as my couscous hasn’t come in from amazon. I will post it when it is made. But the recipe has lots of great tips and is easy to follow.
When we were young we really enjoyed couscous with butter and parmesan, so be sure to separate some out if you have picky eaters.
What to watch for your Moroccan movie
Moroccan cinema is not plentiful in the world, nor are movies set in Morocco. We struggled a bit to find something that would help you and your family see what Morocco was like and still watch an interesting movie.
“Prince of Persia”
We chose to watch the Prince of Persia because it is filmed in Morocco and features the Atlas Mountains and some typical cities. Although the plot has nothing to do with Morocco it is a great family movie for older families.
It is the story of a prince and an enemy princess who join forces to protect the land from evil people who want to release The Sands of Time and rule the world. The story is a little confusing at the beginning, but stick with it, it gets better! We all liked it a lot.
Battle scenes with some blood, and some mild swear words.
Rent it here on Amazon Prime
“The Mummy”
Another movie that is set in Morocco although it does not take place there. It was a big favorite of my boys when they were in late elementary school. It is the story of an archaeologist in his search of a fabled treasure. It is funny, cheesy, action packed and a great family friendly movie. If you have young kids who are easily scared, you might want to watch it first so you don’t have nightmares to deal with. My kids were never scared by it.
Some jump scares, mummies, and mild violence.
Rent it here on Amazon Prime
What to read about Morocco
- Sule, Titi (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 84 Pages - 07/27/2019 (Publication Date) - Independently published (Publisher)
If your kids have found the last 2 book choices to be a little bit easy, this one is great for 2nd and 3rd grade readers while still appealing to younger kids. I really like how they weave a story through learning facts about Morocco.
What to craft from Morocco
Moroccan motif art
Moroccan architecture and design are heavily influenced by Islamic design. There is heavy use of tiles, archways, domes, geometric design and floral motifs.
This week we are making our own art that features Moroccan design.
The project is influenced by this tutorial from Delicious and Diy.
Steps to make your art piece
We chose contrasting scrapbooking paper to make our art and created a template for a 10×12 sheet of paper.
I cut the design out of a 4″x4″ piece of cardboard (from a bagel bites box, don’t judge me!). I then cut triangles that were 1″x1″x 1.5″ and taped them to the back and front.
I then made two more stencils by tracing the taped together one. The kids then traced around the cardboard stencil to make 4 shapes.
We laid out the shapes on a 10″ x 12″ piece of plain cardstock and cut one of the shapes in half and the other in quarters. The quarters go on each corner, and the halves on the side, plus the 2 big shapes in the middle.
We used a glue stick to stick all the shapes down and put a heavy book on top of it to help it stay flat.
My oldest decided he would reverse cut the design and laid it out on his paper so that the design was only one piece.
The boys were thrilled with them! We are awaiting frames from amazon and will show you a picture once they are framed and hung in their rooms!
Music from Morocco
This is a YouTube playlist with very traditional North African music.. We listened to it while we ate and had a dance party too.
How else can you explore Morocco from home?
This video is fabulous! It is narrated by kids for kids and had some great photos of Morocco. (If you buy the activity bundle below, your kids will want to refer to the video for the crossword.)
We also learned a few phrases from the Du0lingo app. There are dozens of things you could do to expand this and I want to hear about what you have done!
More of Travel the World from Home
I am starting a Travel the World from Home Facebook group where we can swap ideas and stay connected during this time where we are all physically disconnected. It is an invitation only group and you must be subscribed to this blog series to join.
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Please invite your friends! We have a long time ahead of us and we need all the community we can get!
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Last update on 2023-03-29 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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