Your family doesn’t need a plane ticket to experience the World Cup’s global spirit! With a little planning, your own living room can become a weekly passport stamp to a new country, and the tournament can transform from a single afternoon of watching a match to an ongoing global family experience. You and your children will love learning about the world and engaging with the World Cup in this way—without having to leave the house.
Here are a few easy ways to celebrate the World Cup tournament from the comfort of home.
Before we dive into these engaging at-home activities, consider choosing one country per week—ideally one your family is cheering for or is curious about—so you can build a few small traditions around it.
1. Try an International Recipe
Pick a simple, kid-friendly dish from that week’s country and cook or order it and eat together before a World Cup match. Even something as simple as trying a new fruit, bread, or snack can introduce children to new flavors and get them excited for the next time that country plays. For example, if Japan is playing that week, try making onigiri together—simple rice balls that even young children can help shape and fill!
2. Play the Music
Put together a short playlist featuring music from your chosen country that week and let it play during dinner, homework time, or the drive to school. Music is one of the most effective ways to connect with a country’s culture; you may even be surprised when one of its songs becomes your child’s new favorite! If Colombia is on the schedule, try building a playlist around cumbia—a lively, rhythmic style that’s almost impossible not to move to.
3. Read a Children’s Book
Visit the library or browse online for a children’s book set in or inspired by that week’s country. Reading together adds a quieter, more personal way to explore a new culture, especially for younger children who might not sit through a full World Cup match. For a week featuring Mexico, look for a book set around Day of the Dead traditions or even a soccer-related tale.
4. Learn a Greeting
Teach the whole family how to say hello, goodbye, or good luck in that week’s language. Practicing a new greeting together, even just once a day, can give your children a memorable connection to the country they’re cheering for in the World Cup. If Ghana is playing that week, try learning “akwaaba,” a Twi word meaning welcome, and use it to greet each other before the match starts.
5. Make a Flag Craft
This activity isn’t just for the kids! Set aside twenty minutes to draw, paint, or cut out the country-of-the-week’s flag andang the finished craft somewhere visible, like the fridge or a window, so the whole family can see it build up over the course of the World Cup. South Korea’s flag, with its bold red and blue circle and black trigrams, makes for a fun and slightly more challenging craft project for older children, while Italy’s geometric green, white, and red sections are perfect for the little ones.
6. Explore a World Map
Pull out a world map or globe and find that week’s country together. Talk about what continent it’s on, what countries border it, and anything else that catches your child’s interest. For example, if Portugal comes up, point out how close it is to Spain and talk about how the two countries share the Iberian Peninsula. If you’re looking for even more geography-based ideas, our Around the World in 32 Teams: Fun Facts Kids Will Love blog post offers short country profiles that pair perfectly with this kind of exploration.
Turning a Weekly Habit Into a Family Tradition
Choosing one country per week gives families a simple, repeatable rhythm to follow throughout the tournament and build a sense of global family night into your regular routine. If you want to go even further on match days themselves, our Family Game Night: Bring the World Cup Home blog post has plenty of additional ideas to make those evenings feel extra special.
An Authentic Perspective, Every Day
These World Cup cultural activities at home are a meaningful way to introduce children to the world, but nothing brings a country to life quite like a real, personal connection. Hosting an au pair as intercultural, live-in childcare offers exactly that. Instead of learning about a country from a recipe card or a playlist, your child will experience a new culture in an authentic, everyday way from someone who actually grew up there—long after the tournament ends.
Ready to bring that kind of authentic cultural perspective home?
