If there’s one travel book I would wish for every kid out there – it’s their own travel journal filled with their travel experiences, thoughts, and opinions.
The Cambodia Kids! travel journals are that and more. What are they? They are a series of two guides separated by age group. For kids ages 4-6, there’s the Scout Guide. The Scout Guide includes a story, stickers, activities, and coloring pages. For older kids from ages 7-11, there’s the Trailblazer Guide It’s filled with a story, activities, and stickers.
Both books come to you in one of two ways. You can order a digital download on the Greenfeet Guides website, or purchase a book via Amazon.
The actual books are spiral bound and come with a writing utensil as well as a pen holder. The sturdy backs make it easy to take them anywhere and have a flat surface to journal. Both books are 6-7″ x 9×10″ for easy transport.
Both books have age-appropriate activities. There are 20 activities in the Scout Guide and 25 in the Trailblazers Guide. These are broken into four categories: Story Time!, Before-You-Go, Anytime-Anywhere, and At-The Temple. Some activities were created specifically to be done with family or friends.
Greenfeet Guides provided me with copies for review. All opinions are my own.
Let’s take a look at the guide for the younger kids, the Scout Guide.
Review of Cambodia Kids! Scout Guide
Story Time!
Story Time! helps set the tone of the trip. It’s 20 pages of Cambodian history, people, and culture. The pages are also coloring pages, which I feel help youngsters soak in what they learn. It works for people going to Cambodia, and kids interested in learning more from home.
Before-You-Go
The Before-You-Go activities provide specific information key to travelers. The three activities include mapping, language, and thinking of what they may want to do while in the country. These are all great jumping point for further investigation into the country. Parents can pull out more maps and books, find more phrases kids can learn, and research some of the activities they’ll do on their trip. Again, these are all activities kids could do without visiting Cambodia.
Anytime-Anywhere
The Cambodia-themed Anytime-Anywhere puzzles range from “connect the dot” to “search and find” and anything in between. As the name suggests, they can be done anywhere and anytime. I think they would make a great activity on the plane, or at the end of a day of site-seeing. Kids can compare what they’ve seen in real life with what they see in the journal. However, the activities can also be from ANYWHERE… e
At-The-Temple
At-The-Temple activities must be done while visiting Angkor Wat. Think of it as a travel guide/scavenger hunt. It’s the perfect tool to make sure kids are actively participating in the visit to the temple.
To finish out the book there are some doodling pages (which I would encourage kids to use to save tickets and receipts in and write their thoughts about the trip) – and the stickers to be used within the activities.
More Information:
Age Range: 4-6
Author: Ambika Anand Prokop
Illustrator: Sor Sophany & Prom Ponleu
Publisher: Greenfeet Guides
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-9810953225
Buy the book at Amazon or on the Greenfeet Guides website.
Now let’s look at the Trailblazer Guide for older kids.
Review of the Cambodia Kids! Trailblazer Guide
Story Time!
Story Time! is a comic-style story. The main characters need to solve a riddle. Angkor Wat. As they work through clues, they learn more about some of the important religious figures and history in Cambodia.
Before-You Go
The Before-You-Go activities are 6 different activities that focus on mapping Cambodia, the history, the customs, the food, using the restroom (very important!), and a space to think of what the kid will want to do while visiting. Each of these activities are more in-depth in both information and actual activity than the section in the Scout Guide. Children can discover things that interest them and find more resources for their trip. Perhaps reading about a specific point in history, or trying one of the traditional meals. The journal also suggests other sources for finding out more about Cambodia.
Anytime-Anywhere
The Anytime-Anywhere activities come with a badge for kids who complete all the work. There are 10 different items to complete. They focus on things like city-life, language, food, money, housing, geography and more. Because these are aimed for an older audience, there are right and wrong answers – but don’t worry, the book comes with an answer key so parents can make sure the kids are on the right track.
My favorite part of the Anytime-Anywhere portion of the Trailblazer Guide is the Roving Reporter activity. Here kids are challenged to talk to locals about life in Cambodia. The insightful questions give kids a lot to think about. The only thing to keep in mind is there isn’t enough space for the responses so doodle pages or extra paper will need to be available for the answers. Or kids could just have the conversation without taking notes.
At-The-Temple
Like the Scout Guide, the At-The-Temple section of the Trailblazers Guide is a scavenger hunt of Angkor Wat. The older kids will have to pay closer attention to what they see than the younger kids did, but they are also rewarded with fascinating facts at each stop.
The last two pages of the book are free pages. The prompts included help kids figure out what to do with these pages, so don’t wait until they’re finished reading the book to take a look at what’s there. There are really great ideas.
More Information:
Age Range: 7-11
Author: Ambika Anand Prokop
Illustrator: Sor Sophany & Prom Ponleu
Publisher: Greenfeet Guides
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-9810953232
Buy the book at Amazon or on the Greenfeet Guides website.
Final Thoughts on Cambodia Kids!
What can I say? I love these books. I wish I was planning a trip to Cambodia soon so that my kids could take it with them. Both of my kids (ages 3 and 5) were immediately drawn to the books. Before I had a chance to take a photo of them, my son wanted to color in it. I told him he had to wait and he let me know that these books are for him.
One of my favorite aspects, especially since I have two kids, is that there are different books for different ages. However, what I like most about that is the activities are similar enough in idea that siblings can work on them together. Yet they’re different enough that neither will be bored because it’s too easy, or confused because it’s too difficult. I think some of the activities in the Trailblazer Guide are fun for adults, too.
As I mentioned several times earlier, you don’t need to be in Cambodia to finish many sections of these books. They are a fun way to learn more about the country. However, if you are traveling there – these are a must have. They’re a travel story, a guidebook, an opportunity for kids to get excited about their upcoming trip, a way for them to reflect on the things they saw and did, an easy way to keep them occupied during down time, and most important – an awesome souvenir of their experience.
Finally, if you get this book for your child, please let me know what they thought about it.
Again, here are the links to purchase your copy:
On Greenfeet Guides website or Amazon.
Pin this book review of the journals for kids.
