Welcome to V is for Venezuela for the Global Children’s Book Club! Today we’ll be going on a virtual tour of Venezuela with kids. Get ready for a fun and inspiring Venezuela virtual field trip – perfect for global education at home or for a Venezuela 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!
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Here’s the 2020 Global Children’s Book Club discussion schedule!
This Venezuela 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.
V is for Venezuela: Venezuela Virtual Tour for Kids
Featured Venezuela Book
Wings and Dreams: The Legend of Angel Falls by by Irania Macias Patterson (Author) and Catherine Courtland McElvane (Author)
Author Read Aloud
Wings and Dreams: The Legend of Angel Falls Picture Book Discussion Questions
Other Venezuela Books for Kids
Venezuela Facts
Basic Facts
- The capital of Venezuela is Caracas.
- The official name is the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (República Bolivariana de Venezuela) .
- Nicolás Maduro is the current President of Venezuela.
- Venezuela is located at the northern end of South America.
- Venezuela is bounded by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to the north, Guyana to the east, Brazil to the south, and Colombia to the southwest and west.
- Spanish is the language spoken by the majority of Venezuelans. Chinese, Portuguese and Italian are the most spoken languages in Venezuela after the official language of Spanish.
- The currency in Venezuela is Venezuelan bolivar. $1 USD = VEF 9.98750 Venezuelan Bolivares
- Venezuela has only two seasons: Summer and Winter (dry and rainy season). Rainy season goes from May to November. The rest of the year is summer.
- About 88 % of the population is Christian, primarily Roman Catholic (71%), and the remaining 17% is Protestant.
- The biggest industries in Venezuela are oil and heavy industry products, like steel, cement and aluminum.
Interesting Facts
- Venezuela has a fairly authoritarian government that strictly manages food shopping. Residents may only shop on certain days of the week depending on their ID card numbers.
- Venezuela has the cheapest gas prices in the world.
- Canaima National Park, which houses Angel Falls, is one of the largest national parks in the world.
- Venezuela is the first country to stop using the death penalty.
- Between December 16-24th each year, the roads in Caracas are closed to allow people to roller skate to Christmas mass.
- Venezuela has had a significant humanitarian crisis, which has just gotten worse since the 2018 election. Many refugees are fleeing the country due to unemployment and poverty. The emergency has become even worse with the COVID-19 pandemic. Even before, there was already a medicine and healthcare shortage, which has only gotten worse. Many medical staff are leaving, and infant and maternal mortality rates are skyrocketing.
Color in Venezuela on this map of South America!
Warning: This video may be better suited to older children and adults due to the distressing nature of some of the challenges within the country.
Venezuela with Kids: Flag Activity
The Venezuela flag has a horizontal tricolor of yellow, blue, and red, a set of stars and an optional coat of arms at the upper-left corner.
Flag from HERE
HERE is a fun printable Venezuela flag coloring sheet!
Venezuela Virtual Tour to a Featured Landmark
Angel Falls
Angel Falls is the highest uninterrupted waterfall in the world! Its Spanish name is Salto Angel, and the name in the indigenous Pemon language is Kerepakupai Meru, which means “waterfall of the deepest place.” The waterfall is 3,212 feet high – over half a mile! – and has a plunge of 2,648 ft. The waterfall is within the Canaima National Park in Venezuela at the brink of the Auyán-tepui mountain.
National Pantheon of Venezuela
The National Pantheon of Venezuela (Panteón Nacional de Venezuela) is a burial site national heroes. Near the city of Caracas, there used to be an old and ruined church, so the Pantheon was created there in the 1970s.
Featured Venezuelan Artist: Carolina Herrera
Carolina Herrera is a Venezuelan fashion designer. She is known for having a beautiful but unfussy style. She is also famous for having dressed numerous United States First Ladies.
Carolina became “accustomed to seeing pretty things” after her grandmother took her to fashion shows and purchased her clothing from expensive designers. Here’s her spring 2020 runway show!
Featured Important Venezuelan Person: Simon Bolivar
Simon Bolivar was a Venezuelan soldier who led many of the South American revolutions for independence from the Spanish. He was called El Libertador, or the Liberator. He was a military and political leader who eventually helped what are now 6 countries become independent: Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Panama.
At the height of his rule, Bolivar led an area from the Argentine border all the way to the Caribbean Sea. He fought over 100 battles and rode nearly 50,000 miles on horseback during his campaigns for independence. That’s 10x more than Hannibal, 3x more than Napoleon, and 2x more than Alexander the Great!
Featured Venezuelan Food: Venezuelan Recipes for Kids
- Arepas are prime Venezuelan street food. An arepa is a bit like a corn pita filled with anything from beans and cheese to meat or eggs. Leftovers are popular filings!
- Pabellón criollo is the Venezuelan version of the traditional South American rice/beans/meat plate. This version uses a stewed meat, rice, and black beans.
- If you’d prefer something for breakfast, perico is Venezuelan scrambled eggs with onion.
- Cocada is a delicious and refreshing coconut smoothie-like drink!
- Finally, this Venezuelan coconut pudding looks simple and yummy!
Venezuelan Craft & Culture Activity for Kids: Angel Falls Art Craft for Kids
Angel Falls Art Craft for Kids
Print or view a landscape of Angel Falls before doing the “waterfall” painting.
Materials
- Paint
- Pipettes
- White construction paper
- Small cups or jars
- Smocks (optional)
- Easel (or just prop up your paper somehow)
- Choose different shades of blue (or mix up different tints by adding different amounts of white). Place paint in small cups or jars. Thin slightly with water so it is a pipeable consistency.
- Fill pipettes with different shades of blue.
- With paper upright, pipe color from the top of the page so it drips down like a waterfall!
Carolina Herrera Fashion Design Art Project
Take a look at some of the looks designed by Carolina Herrera over the years, especially for the First Ladies of the United States. Here’s a wedding dress she designed for Caroline Kennedy. What are some similarities between the dresses? Has anything remained consistent over the years? What has changed?
Materials
- Construction paper
- Pencil
- Oil pastels
- Imagine you are Carolina Herrera. Using your pencil, sketch an outfit for today’s President or First Lady.
- Fill in and shade with oil pastels.
Other Venezuela Kids Activities
Animals in Venezuela
Venezuela Movement Activities
Baseball is the most popular sport in Venezuela and the professional league started in 1945.
Venezuela Music
Toros Coleados
Toros coleados is also popular. It is similar to a rodeo, with cowboys on horses. They’re often side events, often when a religious festival is taking place.
Venezuelan Folk Dance: Joropo
Kid Movies About Venezuela
Venezuela Conversations with a Local: Culture, History, & Food Discussion Video
Venezuela with Kids Discussion Questions
- If you were on your way to a special religious ceremony for a holiday, what would be your preferred way of getting there? Would you roller skate? Jog? Drive?
- If every other country were still using the death penalty, would you decide to stop using it?
- If food were rationed, what are some things you would do to ensure you could eat properly?
- Angel Falls has become very popular in recent years. What are some measures the country can take to protect the falls while still allowing visitors to enjoy them?
- Design your ideal arepa – what would you put inside it?
Thanks for Taking a Virtual Visit to Venezuela With Us!
We’ve loved putting together this resource to virtually visit Venezuela. We’d love to hear if you do any of these activities for a homeschooling Venezuela 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 Venezuela for kids virtual tour and homeschooling resource along to others, as well!
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