🌍✈️Around the World, One Month at a Time

A year of food, fun, and culture at nursery!

How It All Began 💡

Back at the end of 2022, I started to notice something at work. The children were learning lots about the “big” celebrations—Christmas, Easter, Halloween—all lovely and important in their own ways. But it made me realise just how much of the wider world they weren’t getting to see.

I wanted them to know that beyond the UK, there’s a whole globe full of cultures, traditions, foods, music, colours, and celebrations waiting to be explored.

And then… cue the lightbulb moment 💡

I took the idea to our kitchen supervisor—who also happens to be my mum 🤭 (how that works is a story for another time!)—and together we pitched Country of the Month to the nursery manager. She loved it instantly. Of course, it still needed approval from the big boss lady (the nursery owner), but thankfully, she was just as enthusiastic.

Bonus? It’s a dream project for OFSTED too—showing inclusivity, cultural awareness, and learning beyond the usual calendar events.

The Planning Process 🗺️

So… what does Country of the Month actually involve?

Around April or May, each room team—Babies, Toddlers, Pre-School—along with the manager and us in the kitchen, chooses three countries each. Some teams pick randomly, others sit down and carefully choose places they’re excited to explore.

This means we plan way ahead. By May 2025, for example, we already had our countries lined up for the whole of 2026.

Once the list is finalised, Mum and I get to work. We spend hours researching recipes that are:

Kid-friendly 👶
As authentic as possible 🍲
Realistic for a busy nursery kitchen ⏱️

But it doesn’t stop at food. I also research:

National holidays and celebrations 🎉
Fun activities staff can do with the children (art, music, dancing, storytelling)
Little cultural details that help each country really shine ✨

In the Kitchen 🍴

This is where the real magic happens.

For each country, we plan:

Morning snack alongside fruit (breads, porridge, dumplings, and similar)
Main dinner with pudding (for example, Malta’s baked rice and broccoli, followed by Maltese orange cake)
High tea with a small pudding (soups, wraps, salads, biscuits, mini cakes, and more)

Everything is handmade onsite—from breads and cakes to sauces—always kept as healthy and low-sugar as possible.

Once we’ve chosen our recipes, we sit down and work out:

What can be prepped ahead
What’s realistic time-wise
What needs to be cooked fresh without causing chaos

We also carefully plan the monthly order, making sure there’s a good mix of continents throughout the year. And we always make sure that the August country (when I’m off work for school summer break with my kids) is simple enough for one person to manage solo.

Countries We’ve Explored So Far 🌍

Over the years, Country of the Month has taken us all over the world—from Europe to Africa, Asia, the Americas, and beyond. Each year brings new flavours, traditions, and learning experiences for the children (and the adults!).

Year	Countries
2023	USA 🇺🇸 France 🇫🇷 Sweden 🇸🇪 Mexico 🇲🇽 Italy 🇮🇹 Australia 🇦🇺 Poland 🇵🇱 Lebanon 🇱🇧 Greece 🇬🇷 Denmark 🇩🇰 Brazil 🇧🇷 Germany 🇩🇪
2024	China 🇨🇳 Egypt 🇪🇬 Ireland 🇮🇪 Spain 🇪🇸 Japan 🇯🇵 Norway 🇳🇴 Jamaica 🇯🇲 Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 St Helena 🇸🇭 Canada 🇨🇦 Thailand 🇹🇭 New Zealand 🇳🇿
2025 (Last Year)	Romania 🇷🇴 Philippines 🇵🇭 Madagascar 🇲🇬 England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Cameroon 🇨🇲 Peru 🇵🇪 The Maldives 🇲🇻 Morocco 🇲🇦 Malta 🇲🇹 Cuba 🇨🇺 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Belgium 🇧🇪
2026 (This Year)	South Korea 🇰🇷 Switzerland 🇨🇭 St Vincent & The Grenadines 🇻🇨 Fiji 🇫🇯 Cyprus 🇨🇾 Ecuador 🇪🇨 Democratic Republic of Congo 🇨🇩 Guernsey 🇬🇬 Panama 🇵🇦 Singapore 🇸🇬 Barbados 🇧🇧 Papua New Guinea 🇵🇬

Bringing Countries to Life 🎨

Each room has its own display board showcasing artwork, photos, and projects linked to the current country. In the dining room, we have three dedicated boards:

This Month’s Country Board – featuring the menu, children’s artwork, photos, and souvenirs
Souvenir & Finds Board – filled with charity shop treasures and borrowed items (including mini bagpipes for Scotland from my O.H.)
Year Board – a rotating display showing every country we explore across the year

To preserve everything, we also create a scrapbook each year. The manager orders the blank book, I fire up my Cricut for the cover and country name cut-outs, and as the months go by, I add artwork and photos. It becomes a beautiful keepsake of the children’s cultural journey.

We also keep a recipe folder in the entrance hall, so parents, carers, staff, visitors—and yes, even OFSTED inspectors—can browse recipes or check allergen information at any time.

A Real Community Project 👩‍👩‍👧‍👦

One of the most special parts of this project is how much it brings families together.

Parents with roots in different countries have come in to read stories or talk to the children in their first language. We’ve had Polish, Italian, and more—and it’s genuinely heart-warming to see how proud the children are when their family’s culture is being celebrated.

Why It’s Worth It ✨

What started as a simple idea back in late 2022 has grown into one of the most exciting, colourful, and rewarding projects at nursery.

It blends food, culture, learning, art, music, and fun all into one experience. The children get a window into the wider world, staff enjoy learning and trying new things, parents love seeing the creativity, and OFSTED values the inclusivity.

And me? I get to combine my love of food, planning, and a little bit of crafting magic.
Win-win all around. 🌍💖

Join In 💌

Do you have a favourite family recipe from your own culture? Or a tradition you’d love to see explored? Drop a comment below or send us a message—we’re always excited to find new ways to make Country of the Month even more magical.

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