G is for Greece: Greece For Kids Virtual Tour

Welcome to G is for Greece for the Global Children’s Book Club! Today we’ll be going on a virtual tour of Greece for kids. Get ready for a fun and inspiring Greece virtual field trip – perfect for global education at home or for a Greece homeschooling unit.

You can find the full list of countries for the book club right HERE. Be sure to sign up for the email list to get all the information in advance and to receive fun extras!

Get your FREE Alphabet Printable Passport here!

Here’s the 2020 Global Children’s Book Club discussion schedule!

This Greece virtual tour 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.

G is for Greece: Greece Virtual Tour for Kids

Featured Greece Book

Sky Cloud City by Maria Kamoulakou-Marangoudakis (Author), Aspasia Arvanitis (Illustrator)

Author Read Aloud

Maria kindly offered to record a read aloud and book chat about Sky Cloud City. Enjoy!

Sky Cloud City Picture Book Discussion Questions

• What is mythology?
• Do you know anyone who is striving to be treated as an equal?
• What was the symbol of peace and friendship?
• Are there any traditions of protection from animals in your culture?
• Do you know any other greek myths? What kind of story could you create from a myth?

Other Greece Books for Kids: Stories & Mythology

Here are some of our favorite Greece books for kids. And don’t forget about Aesop’s Fables – he was a Greek storyteller, too! This is one of our favorite versions of the collection of fables.

Greece Facts

Modern Greece

• The capital of Greece is Athens.
• The official name is the Hellenic Republic (Helliniki Dimokratia).
• Katerina Sakellaropoulou is the current President of Greece.
• Greece is located in southern Europe along the Mediterranean Sea. It is part of the Balkan peninsula.
• Greece borders 4 countries.
• Greek is the official language of Greece.
• The currency in Greece is the Euro. 1 Euro ~ $1.13 USD.
• Greece has a Mediterranean climate with lots of sunshine, dry summers, and damp but mild winters.
• About 90% of the country practices Christianity, within the Greek Orthodox Church.
• The primary industries are tourism, shipping, and industrial products.
• About 60% of Greece’s population lives in urban areas, less than many other European countries.

Ancient Greece

• • The word “school” comes from the Ancient Greek word for “free time.”
  • In Ancient Greece, you could throw an apple at someone to tell them you loved them.
  • Ancient Greeks loved public baths.
  • Statues in Ancient Greece were actually vibrantly colored!
  • The Romans copied much about Ancient Greece, including their gods and architecture.
  • Athens and Sparta were two main cities in Ancient Greece. They sometimes fought each other and they sometimes worked together against others. Sparta was focused on war and training young boys for it, while Athens was focused on the arts and learning.
• Greek History
  • Ancient Greece had 3 main periods:
    • Archaic (the Olympics, and when Homer wrote the Iliad and Odyssey);
    • Classical (time of democracy and Socrates/Plato and ended with death of Alexander the Great);
    • Hellenistic (until rise of Roman Empire in 31 BC)
  • Ancient Greece had the world’s first democracy.
  • The first Olympics took place in 776 BC.
  • Classical Greek culture was mainly between the 5th & 4th centuries BC. It highly influenced the Roman Empire.
  • Between 40-80% of the people who lived in Ancient Athens were enslaved.
  • Alexander the Great became king in 336 BC and conquered much of Asia.
  • In modern times, Greece declared independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1822.

Color in Greece on this map of Europe!

Greece for Kids: Flag Activity

Flag from HERE

HERE is a fun printable Greece flag coloring sheet!

Greece Virtual Tour to a Featured Landmark

Acropolis

The Acropolis of Athens was an ancient fortification in Greece. It’s located on a hill in Athens and there are still remains of several ancient buildings. The word “acropolis” means “high city.”

The most famous building there is the Parthenon. This temple was built for the Greek goddess Athena. There were also other temples and sanctuaries at the Acropolis of Athens. Many beautiful sculptures and architecture sit atop the hill. There are examples of Ionic and Doric styles of architecture here.

Santorini

Santorini is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. It is very rocky and mountainous due to a volcanic eruption in the 16th century BC. The island is part of an archipelago and is the largest of those islands. It is famous for whitewashed buildings with blue roofs. Its official name is Thira.

Featured Greek Artist: Maria Callas

Maria Callas was a Greek operatic soprano. She was born in the United States, where her parents had moved from Greece not long before her birth. Her family moved back to Greece when she was a teenager, where she eventually trained at the Athens Conservatoire. She established her career in Italy and was famous for her bel canto technique.

Featured Important Greek Person: Socrates

Socrates was an Ancient Greek philosopher and is one of the founders of Western philosophy. He’s thought to be the first Western moral philosopher. He did not make writings of his own, but is known through the writings of his student Plato. It’s through Plato that we get the Socratic method, or a way of argument by asking questions to get to conclusions.

Featured Greek Food: Greek Recipes for Kids

Authentic Greek tzatziki is a perfect accompaniment to any Greek food and is super simple to make. Be sure to get good quality Greek yogurt for the best flavor!

Spanakopita is delicious, but have you tried tiropitas? They’re little Greek, cheese-filled phyllo pastries and they’re the greatest.

Stuffed peppers are always a favorite, and these passed down from Greek family look amazing. Great as stuffed tomatoes, too!

Or if you want something simple and light, you can’t go wrong with a fresh and easy Greek salad.

Greek Craft & Culture Activity for Kids: Greek Friezes

Greeks had a pediment (the triangular part of a roof slope) and also friezes (the part that goes along the top on the inside of the building). These places were used to tell stories of Greek mythology, particularly those of the god to whom certain temples were dedicated.

You can decorate your own mini friezes and pediments out of modeling clay!

Materials needed:

• Air dry clay
• Toothpicks for carving out shapes
• Optional: paint and paint brushes (the ancient Greeks used lots of bright colors to paint theirs!)

Here’s a video on the 3 main classical orders, or architectural forms!

Greece Art Books

Other Greece Kids Activities

• Here’s an Athena toilet paper roll craft!
• Make a laurel or olive leaf crown for your Olympic winners
• Build a model of the Parthenon out of LEGOs or blocks (we love these!)
• Here’s a Greek architecture STEM challenge – it just uses baking sheets and disposable cups!

Host Your Own Greek Olympics at Home

It’s really fun to host your own Ancient Greek Olympics for kids at home! Here are some ideas:

• Opening ceremony
• Obstacle course
• Wrestling in a circle (belt on pillows so no one gets hurt!) – try to push each other out of the circle!
• Equestrian (use bikes for horses and race in a parking lot)
• Discus (throw a frisbee)
• Running
• Boxing – pillow fight in the circle!
• Jumping
• Awards ceremony

Don’t forget to make awards, hang flags, and stand on a podium! Or make some Spartan armor out of cardboard!

Animals in Greece

Greece has a number of land and marine animals. The monk seal and Mediterranean sea turtle are on the endangered species list, and can be found in Greece. Brown bears also live in Greece, and are the largest carnivorous mammals in mainland Europe! You can read more about animals in Greece here.

Greece Movement Activities

Greek Dance

Kid Movies About Greece

Plan a Trip to Greece with Kids!

After having all this fun, consider planning a virtual or real trip. What sites or cities would you visit? What food would you eat? Here’s a list of 11 things to do in Santorini with kids.

Greece Conversations with a Local: Culture, History, & Food Discussion Video

Greece for Kids Discussion Questions

• Though Athens was known as the first main democracy, not everyone was equal and not everyone could vote. In fact, only male citizens over the age of 18 could. This means that out of the ~260,000 people, only 40,000 people could vote. Do you think this was fair? Is it better to have a small, informed group decide, or to allow everyone input?
• Even if voting is technically legal, covert voter suppression still happens. How can we help ensure equal voting access in our countries today?
• How does Greece’s Mediterranean climate contribute to the foods they eat?
• What colors are common for buildings in Greece? Why is that?
• Can you learn how to say “thank you” in Greek? (ευχαριστώ, or efcharistó)

Thanks for Taking a Virtual Visit to Greece With Us!

We’ve loved putting together this resource to virtually visit Greece. We’d love to hear if you do any of these activities for a homeschooling Greece unit, 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 Greece for kids virtual tour and homeschooling resource along to others, as well!

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