We are the Ostmo family and we love learning about countries and people. Our oldest daughter, Melaya has tons of friends all around the world and all of them love fruit!
Aurora in Liverpool Loves Strawberries
Melaya has a friend named Aurora who lives in Liverpool, England. Aurora was telling Melaya about her favorite fruit. She said it was red, juicy, and very delicious. Could you guess what fruit that might be? It’s strawberry! Aurora explained how amazing it tastes and that it’s originally from Europe.
Wow! That means each fruit has its own place of origin! What is your favorite fruit?
Over in Indonesia, Aditya’s Favorite Fruit is Durian
In Bandung, Indonesia, over 7,000 miles away from London, lives another of Melaya’s friends, named Aditya. He and Melaya chatted a while ago and Aditya told Melaya that he recently started growing his own potatoes.
This is called agriculture. Agriculture involves planting seeds in the soil and carefully taking care of them till they bear fruit. That’s amazing! don’t you think?
Aditya said his favorite fruit is durian. He explained that durians are a sweet fruit with spiky skin and a lot of vitamins, but it smells so bad–like stinky cheese, so it’s banned from being on the bus and in some hotels.
Aditya said he has eaten countless fruits but durians are still his favorites.
Chidinma’s Favorite Food is Agbalumo
Melaya has a friend named Chidinma who lives in Nigeria. It’s almost 3,000 miles from Melaya’s hometown in London!
Chidinma loves gardening and farming. She hopes to be a farmer one day like her dad. The last time Chidinma and Melaya talked, she told her she’s been growing arugula, which has tons of calcium and helps your bones grow strong.
Chidinma’s favorite fruit is agbalumo. This fruit is small, orange, and juicy, and when you peel it, it looks like a star. That’s why it’s also known as African star apple!
Chidinma loves agbalumo so much, she can eat 20 of them in one sitting. She can’t just eat one, she has to eat the whole bag!
Olivia Loves Carving Pumpkins for Halloween in California
Over in California, lives a girl named Olivia who is also Melaya’s friend. Just like every kid in the United States, Olivia loves Halloween, not only because of the free candy but also because she gets to use her favorite fruit for scary decorations, that’s right, Olivia’s favorite fruit is pumpkins! She helps her mom carve spooky faces on pumpkins, these are called Jack-o’-lanterns.
Will you make any Jack-o- lanterns this Halloween? Don’t forget to ask your parents for help carving the pumpkins!
In São Paulo Lives Miguel Who Loves Maracuja
Melaya has a friend named Miguel who lives in São Paulo, Brazil, nearly 6,000 miles from London! Miguel’s family is vegan, which means they don’t eat meat or any products that come from animals, like eggs and cheese. Miguel loves fruits but his favorite is maracuja, known in other places as Passion Fruit.
He explained to Melaya that to eat this exotic fruit, you need to open the rind to expose the colorful, juicy flesh and seeds. You can eat seeds too and don’t worry, a bunch of maracujas will not start growing in your tummy.
Dylan in Auckland Loves Kiwi Smoothies
Melaya has a friend named Dylan who lives in Auckland, New Zealand. The last time he talked to Melaya, he told her that he loves fruit smoothies. His mom makes him a smoothie almost every day after school, and his favorite is the strawberry and kiwi smoothie.
We already know strawberries but what about the kiwi? Dylan splained to Melaya that kiwis are brown fruit with some kind of hairy texture on the outside but green and sweet on the inside. Kiwis have a lot of vitamin C which boosts your immune system and prevents you from getting sick, and they’re also very delicious!
Did you know that there are small flightless birds that are also named kiwi? Yeah, they’re kinda cute don’t you think?
Melaya also loves fruit, especially blueberries, cherries, and apples, whenever she eats one she gets to its core in no time! There are a lot more delicious fruits from around the world that Melaya would like to try, like PawPaws and Mangoes.
Tell us in the comments what your favorite fruits are! If you want to learn more, make sure to download the activity pack. We have flashcards, a learning guide, handwriting sheets, and drawings pages all dedicated to various fruits from around the world!
Melaya loves chatting with kids from all over the world! If you want to teach Melaya about where you live or your favorite activities, please tell your mom or dad to use @learningtail on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok to get in touch with us.
Ciao friends, until next time!
