Hungary

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We have discovered Kate Seredy’s beautifully written historical fiction novels about Hungary! We touched a bit on the Austro-Hungarian empire when we studied Austria, so this made it feel complete.

Navigate this page: Missions, Booklists, Science, Field Trip, Cooking, Composer Study, Folk Dance, Game, Movies, Videos

Free Printables

Missions Spotlight

  • Prayercast.com/Hungary: Prayer Points, Summary, Quick Facts
    **parents should preview the short prayercast.com video for sensitive topics that may not be age appropriate.

Top 3 Book List

The following lists are a sampling of my favorite books for different age groups. (These are Amazon affiliate links that do not increase your price. I may earn a few cents on qualifying purchases.)

Preschool/Elementary

Elementary

Late Elem/Middle School

Reference Books for Hungary

Science/Easy Field Trip idea

Have you heard of Hungarian paprika? It’s commonly used in Hungarian cooking. I had grand plans to bring my kids to the local spice store and sniff the different types of paprika, but it was closed due to Covid. I was able to do a store pickup at Penzey’s and we did our sniff and taste test at home! Learn about paprika with this video: Spicing Up Hungary For 200 Years.

I had one of my kids guess the ingredients for Hungarian hot chocolate…that’s right, paprika! They didn’t like it as much but I thought it added an interesting flavor!

Paprika Tasting
Hungarian Hot Chocolate
Chocolate Cake in a Cup with Paprika

Cooking Hungarian Food with Kids

We studied Hungary around Easter, so read about the Easter traditions that they have. We made a delicious Hungarian Easter Wreath Bread and played the egg knocking game that is commonly played in Central and Eastern European countries.

Here are the other recipes that we tried :

  • Chicken Paprikash
  • Hungarian Gulyás (Goulash)
  • Hungarian Cabbage Rolls
  • Hungarian Chicken (with paprika)

Composer Study

Two more of my favorite composers are from Hungary: Franz Liszt and Bela Bartok. Along with Kodaly, they utilized Hungarian folk music in their compositions. If you have a piano student in your home, Bartok wrote music for all levels. His pedagogical work for beginners is called “Mikrokosmos.”

Folk Dance and Music

The csárdás is mentioned in the books by Kate Seredy, so watch these youtube videos as you read “The Good Master” and “The Singing Tree.” The music of the Romani, or gypsy, people is the major type of folk music referenced in the books, as well.

Here are a few youtube videos:

Games

We played Hungarian Dominoes and I learned how to do a Rubik’s Cube! It really got my brain thinking in a different and spatial way. The Rubik’s Cube was invented by Hungarian architect and inventor Ernö Rubik. My husband taught my 8-year old boys how to do it this past year and I bought them more challenging versions of the Rubik’s Cube to figure out. If you’re up for the challenge, here are some algorithms that you can try:

Movies!

We watched “A Kid in King Arthur’s Court” which has nothing to do with Hungary but has scenes that were filmed in Budapest, which is the capital of Hungary. The kids thought it was pretty fun!

YouTube Videos

  • Rick Steves and Geography Now! are a fun and informative resources geared towards adults and older kids; I recommend that parents pre-watch before showing to younger kids.

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