A Maasai Giraffe (the tallest animal in Kenya) with Britam Tower (the tallest building in Kenya) in the background at Nairobi National Park
Do you want to know more about Kenya? Are you a lover of travel, geography teacher, homeschooling or involved parent, student, or life-long learner? In an effort to make world geography more meaningful and memorable, I’ve compiled all you will need to locate Kenya on a map, cook a Kenyan meal, watch YouTube clips on Kenya, color the flag, create a Kenyan craft, read a great book about Kenya, and more!
Where is Kenya?
Map showing Kenya
Locate Kenya on this map of the Africa. Use this map of Kenya to label the capitol, Nairobi. Mark other relevant features (rivers, mountains, famous locations, etc.) if desired. If you’d like to spend a bit more time researching the country, you can add the language, currency, type of government, religion, and/or famous landmarks. Write them on the back of the map. You can easily find all this information at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya.
Fun Facts on Kenya
Samburu women building a new hut
- The dowry for marriage among some tribes starts at 10 cows.
- Coffee and tourism are the biggest sources of income for Kenya. Even though Kenyans grow coffee, they do not drink it as much as they drink lots of chai tea. They drink their beverages either at room temperature or hot, but never cold.
- There are more than 65 national parks and wildlife preserves in Kenya. Each zone has distinct wildlife. Its rain forests contain more birds species than the whole of Europe. Much of Kenya’s native flora is not found anywhere else in the world.
Info Credit: http://emilyyoung.theworldrace.org/?filename=11-fun-facts-about-kenya
Kenya’s Flag
Flag of Kenya
Print and color the flag of Kenya and learn the history and meaning of it from en.wikipedia.org.
Prepare a Kenyan Meal
Our Kenyan Meal the second time we made it – We added a small spoonful of sweet potato as well. Our “tomato salad” was smaller because most of my children do not like fresh tomatoes.
Our Kenyan Meal the first time we made it
Prepare and serve:
- Kenyan Beef Stew
- Ugali and/or Chapatis (whole wheat flat bread)
- Kenyan Tomato Salad
- Chopped mangos (use fresh ones or buy chopped frozen ones)
- Hot tea (Kenyan if possible — such as Barnes & Watson) with milk and sugar and possibly chai seasonings. If you’d like a drink other than hot tea, serve Fanta (orange-flavored soda), which is a favorite drink on holidays.
Kenyan Beef Stew – Surprisingly one of my children’s favorite dishes during our world studies!
Kenyan Beef Stew
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 lb cubed beef
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 4 chopped tomatoes or 1 (12 ounce) drained can diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 1 cup water
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Saute the onions in the oil for 3-5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and cubed beef and let cook over medium-high for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, water, cilantro, salt. Reduce the heat to low and simmer 15-20 minutes or until the beef is tender. Serve over rice or with chapati or ugali. (This recipe came from kenya-information-guide.com.)
Ugali – which was pretty bland
Ugali
- 4 cups water
- 2-3 tsp. salt
- 2 cups maize meal or finely ground corn meal
Instructions
- Bring the water to a boil. Stir in the salt and corn meal. Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir continuously until thickened, about 10 minutes. Serve on a plate and allow all guests to pull off pieces to eat with the meat dish. (This recipe came from kenya-information-guide.com.)
Chapatis (Kenyan Wholewheat Flatbread) – which was also kind of bland
Prep timeCook timeReady inYields
35 min
5 min
40 min
8
Chapatis (Kenyan Wholewheat Flatbread)
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (plus extra for kneading and rolling out dough)
- 1-2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine flour and salt. Using a wooden spoon, slowly stir in water, until dough forms. Lightly flour a clean board and knead dough until smooth, about 10 minutes. Rest dough in bowl, covered with damp towel for 20 minutes. Preheat a griddle over medium heat. Divide dough into 8 equal balls. Using a floured rolling pin, roll balls out on floured board to 7 inches in diameter, about 1/4-inch thick. Place the rolled out dough onto griddle. Flip when raised bumps appear on the surface of the dough, about 1 to 2 minutes. Cook second side until it turns golden. Do not cook too long or flatbread will become brittle. Cover flatbread with a towel up to 20 minutes before serving. (This recipe came from food.com.)
Kenyan Tomato Salad – great for two of my children who love tomatoes
Prep timeReady inYields
15 min
15 min
4-6
Kenyan Tomato Salad
- 3 sliced large tomatoes
- 1 finely chopped onion
- 1 minced garlic clove
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- salt to taste
- freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Arrange sliced tomatoes and onions on a salad plate. Mix together the garlic, lime juice, salt, and pepper. Pour the dressing over the tomatoes and onion. (This recipe came from food.com.)
Kenyan Craft: Masai-inspired Necklaces
“Beaded” necklace made with a sturdy paper plate, glue, & colored pasta
Create a paper plate Masai-inspired beaded necklace by following these directions from thebestkidsbooksite.com. (We used dyed dried pasta and dried beans as our “beads.”)
Is NAIROBI The BEST Next City To Visit? | Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2024
Is a Masai Mara Safari Worth the Hype?
A Super Quick History of Kenya
The Last Ceremony – Kenyan Trilogy
Read a book on Kenya
Mama Panya’s Pancakes by Mary Chamberlin – Book images are from amazon.com
1 / 7
- Mama Panya’s Pancakes by Mary Chamberlin is a fun village tale about a boy who invites everyone in the village over for pancakes.
- For You Are a Kenyan Child (Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award) by Kelly Cunnane is about a young boy in a small village in Kenya who is supposed to watch his grandfather’s cows, but he keeps getting distracted by everything going on around him in his village. I did note on the amazon.com review, that the author makes a number of mistakes with her Swahili translations. The amazon reviewer, Jennifer M., lists them. You can check the list if you would like to note the correct translations. It is still a delightful book nonetheless.
- Rhino in the House : The Story of Saving Samia by Daniel Kirk – We read a few books on Samia and this was our favorite.
- Moto and Me : My Year as a Wildcat’s Foster Mom by Suzi Eszterhas
- Wangari Maathai : The Woman Who Planted Millions of Trees by Franck Prévot
- Cultural Traditions in Kenya by Kylie Burns
- A Passion for Elephants : The Real Life Adventure of Field Scientist Cynthia Moss by Toni Buzzeo
- My Name Is Blessing by Eric Walters
- Chirchir Is Singing by Kelly Cunnane
- 14 Cows for America by Agra Carmen Deedy
- Lila and the Secret of Rain by David Conway
- Thunder Cave by Roland Smith was an excellent chapter book about a boy searching for his father in Kenya. It does contain some mysticism but it introduces so much about the culture of the country. We listened to the audio version.
Pray for the people of Kenya
Image credit: https://thepurplesplash.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/prayer-training-day-pic.jpg?w=1200
- To find out about the religious nature of Kenya and specific ways you can pray for the country, go to operationworld.org.
- If desired, specifically pray for and possibly financially support His Cherished Ones, which is a Christian ministry that strengthens families and serves as an orphanage in Nakuru, Kenya. Find out more at https://hcofamily.org/ .
Where is Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city?
Other countries starting with the letter K
Would you prefer to study a different country? Try one of these.
Kazakhstan
Kiribati
Kosovo
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Ready to visit other countries?
Go to around-the-world-in-26-letters to find links to all the countries we “visited.” Each web page features a menu, craft, books, video clips, worksheets, and more!
© 2011 Shannon
What first comes to mind when you think of Kenya? – Or just leave a note to let me know you dropped by! I love getting feedback from you!
Shannon (author) from Florida on December 15, 2012:
@Spectresoft: Thank you! My husband hopes to visit Kenya someday as well. He would just love to go on a safari!
Spectresoft on December 15, 2012:
I just saw your Japan lens, and now this one. Great info, and I really want to visit Kenya one day!
anonymous on April 27, 2012:
Great information about Kenya… I especially loved the recipes bit!
anonymous on February 26, 2012:
A great way to describe Kenya …Great Work!!!
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