Italy for Kids

Read or listen to Italy for Kids, and download the Italy printable pack with some fun activities for you to do. Click the play button in the player above to listen now (or listen in on iTunes or your favorite podcast app).     Information about Italy for Kids (goes along with podcast episode) Welcome to Italy for Kids. Today we are going to be talking about the land of pizza and ice cream. When you think of Italy, what do you think of? Pizza? Eating Gelato Ice cream at a small street café? Gondolas on the water in Venice, with the gondoliers singing soulful songs The leaning tower of Pisa Rome and the Colosseum There are so many things that remind us of Italy, aren’t there? The name Italy comes from the word Italia, meaning “calf land” Some say it was because the bull was a symbol of the Southern Italian tribes. If you look on a map, you will see that the country of Italy is shaped like a boot and has two islands – Sicily near the toe of the boot is home to 5 million people and the biggest island in the Mediterranean.  Sardinia is smaller with stunning beaches and mountains. France, Switzerland Austria and Slovenia border on Italy.   CITIES AND LANDMARKS IN ITALY Milan is known for its fashion designers and the second-largest cathedral in the whole world, Duomo di Milano. Also the opera house – La Scala is there. Genoa on the west coast is where Christopher Columbus was born and shipbuilding continues there today. Venice is a city built on a whole lot of islands. There are canals instead of roads, and boats instead of cars. You can see the sights in Venice by floating through its canals on a gondola. Gondoliers, men in striped shirts sing romantic songs as they propel you along with a long rowing oar. In the central part of Italy, olives and grapes are grown to make olive oil and wine, which are some of Italy’s major exports. In Florence, beautiful architecture and works of art are everywhere. The capital of Italy is ROME. Rome, has influenced the whole world. They built roads to and conquered many lands from England to Africa and their ideas about engineering and culture spread to those lands. Vatican city is the smallest country in the world. It’s inside Rome and it’s where the Pope – the leader of the Roman Catholic Church resides. The country is about an eight of the size of Central Pack in New York. It operates as an independent country, generating revenue from tourism, printing its own money, stamps and passports. Read more interesting things about it here http://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-vatican The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a third of the height of the Washington Monument. It leans because the soil underneath is very waterlogged, which makes it soft. These days it has been stabilized by the removal of soil from underneath the high side of the base and by the adding of 800 tons of lead weights secured with cables.. Italy is the fifth most populated country in Europe, with about 60 million people who call it home. Italy has a president and a prime minister – The president of Italy is Sergio Mattarella.   THE ITALIAN LANGUAGE Italians like to show on the outside what they are feeling on the inside. They talk with their hands a lot. They use loud, expressive voices and lots of emotion and animated movement to add to their speech. They even have specific hand gestures which mean certain things – like their own sign language! Italians like to take their time doing things. They always have time to stop and talk and are not often in a rush. The passeggiata is a pre dinner evening stroll that most Italians partake of. Neighborhoods are very friendly as families live in one place for many generations. Italians dress smartly for this evening walk, wanting to look their best at all times. They walk or or sit at favorite cafes sampling gelato, or specialty coffees like espresso, latte, or cappuccino. They eat and sip at outdoor cafes along city avenues. Supper is eaten much later around 9 or 10pm The official language in Italy is, of course, Italian! There are so many words that you and I say that are actually Italian. Have a look at the video  this fun video on how to pronounce common Italian words: For example pistakkio, and marscapony and brewsketta     Lets try counting in Italian – Uno, Due, Tre, Quattro, Cinque, Sei, Sette, Otto, Nove, Dieci     Hello is Ciao (chow) Goodbye is Addio (ad-dio’) Buongiorno! (= Good day!) Please= Per favore Thank you = Grazie   THE FLAG AND THE CURRENCY, NATIONAL ANTHEM The Italian national anthem is Il Canto Degli Italiani (The song of the Italians).   Italy is part of the European Union, and they use the Euro as their currency. Right now, in October 2017, with one Euro, you can buy $1.19 US dollars, 90p British cents (that’s just less than one British Pound), and R15 South African Rand. The Italian flag has three vertical stripes, green, white, and red. The green represents the country’s plains and hills, white represents the snow-capped Alps, and red, blood spilt in the Wars of Italian Independence. The colours of the flag also represent, Faith, hope and charity THE UNIFICATION OF ITALY The Kingdom of Sardinia defeated the foreign countries that controlled parts of Italy and unified Italy as one country. In 1848, the Milanese soldiers defeated the Austrians, who controlled much of Northern Italy. Finally, about 150 years ago, in 1870, Rome was captured and the Kingdom of Italy was formed.   WHAT IS THE WEATHER LIKE? In Northern Italy, the summers are very hot and humid and the winters cold. In the South, the winters are mild and the summers hot and dry.   WHAT ARE THE HOMES LIKE? The typical Italian house is two-level, made of bricks or stone. The roof is often tiled and the house usually includes an enclosed yard. Semi-detaches Some families live in apartments in buildings with grocery stores or bookshops facing the streets and the apartments on the inside of the buildings facing a pretty garden courtyards where neighbors sit and visit. INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT ITALY There are three active volcanoes in Italy (they are not extinct). That means that they could still erupt, though they haven’t for many years. Mount Vesuvius, Mount Etna and Stromboli. Mount Vesuvius and Mount Etna are very dangerous as they are near big cities. Mount Vesuvius is one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, and it’s very near Naples! If you look at your map of Italy, you will see that Naples is on the west coast halfway between the toe of the boot and the city of Rome. The city of Pompeii is where an ancient Roman city was buried by a volcano. After the famous Pompeii volcano erupted all those years ago, it has erupted again a few times. The last time was in 1944, when 26 people were killed, nearby villages were destroyed and US airplanes based at the Pompeii airfield nearby were coated with a thick layer of ash. Imagine living at the foot of a volcano after that! Have you heard of truffles? They are like the diamond of the kitchen. Truffles are very rare and expensive and they taste and smell amazing! You could say that truffles are the fruit of a fungus. The fungus grows around tree roots and the fruity body is formed. They are highly sought after by chefs. Hunting for truffles is a rewarding pastime in Italy. Most of the world’s truffles come from Northern Italy. Dogs are used to go truffle hunting. They sniff around until they find one and then it is dug up and sold for huge amounts of money! In 2007, a dog named Rocco discovered a truffle in Tuscany that weighed 3.3 pounds. It was sold for $333,000, a world record for a truffle. About 3000 euros is thrown into the Trevi fountain in Rome every day by tourists – that’s around 1.5 million each year! Legend has it that if you throw one coin into the fountain you will someday return to Rome and if you throw two then you will find romance there. The fountain fills up so fast with coins that the workers sweep it every day to collect the coins. The collected coins are cleaned, weighed, counted, and delivered to Catholic charity. The organization has used the money for many things, including building a grocery store for the poor and supporting a shelter for AIDS patients. http://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-money-is-thrown-into-romes-trevi-fountain-and-where-it-goes-2017-6 UNUSUAL LAWS In the city of Turin, dog owners must walk their dog at least three times a day or risk being fined! On the beaches of Eraclea on the Venetian Lido, it’s illegal to make sandcastles or any other kind of sand structure. By law gondolas in Venice must be painted black. Pity, they might look nice with a flower design or  hearts? It is also rumored that citizens of Milan are required to smile in public places at all times, except during funerals and hospital visits. I’m not sure if that’s true. A publicized law was passed back in 2012 in the town of Falciano del Massico in Campania. (pronounce) Because the town’s cemetery is full, the mayor, Giulio Fava, passed a law making it illegal for the town’s residents to die. The mayor told the press that his town’s residents were happy with the new law, but unfortunately two elderly citizens had disobeyed it. I’m sure the law forbidding dying is more tongue-in-cheek than strictly administered, I do wonder who in Turin is counting the dog walkers, while the thought of a warden in uniform handing out non-smiling fines in Milan makes me smile.   OTHER FUN FACTS In 2011 an Italian cat inherited over €10 million after its 94-year old owner passed away, making it the third richest animal in the world (there are richer animals than that). The owner Maria Assunta left her “entire estate” to the cat under the care of a trusted nurse (you may not be surprised that Italian law does not allow animals to inherit directly). The city of Venice  – remember the city with the gondoliers – that  is built on water – is made up of 119 islands. Venice is sinking!...