ORONO – Twenty-two area children, ages 5-10 years, are learning about foreign countries and other cultures this week during Passport to the World Camp at the University of Maine Page Farm and Home Museum.

The children visit the museum on the Orono campus from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily to explore cultures, traditions, food and songs from central Europe, Scandinavia, South and Central America and the United States. Program coordinators are Stillwater Montessori School teacher Joanne Alex and local parents Elisabeth Daub, Sally Healey and Rebecca Green.

Passport to the World Camp at the Page Farm and Home Museum was created to take advantage of the international experiences being shared during the three-week Children’s International Summer Village program currently being held in Old Town.

At 1 p.m. Friday, July 15, the local children are scheduled to end the week with a trip to meet children from around the world who are participating in the Children’s International Summer Village camp.

Each day of the week at UMaine, local pupils “visit” a different global region, mark the countries in home-crafted passports, read stories and learn songs from various cultures and engage in associated art projects. The children have made T-shirts, are working on a quilt and will build a model Eiffel Tower as they study Germany, France and Canada, said museum director Patricia Henner.

Children’s afternoon snacks take on the flavor of the countries they are visiting. For instance, when they visit South and Central America, they’ll have guacamole and tortilla chips. On Monday, they made their own butter to go with lunch.

When the focus is the United States, the children will cover American life and experience a session in the museum’s one-room schoolhouse. They’ll also spend an hour cleaning the school as part of a service-learning component.

Information and schedules for activities at the Page Farm and Home Museum are available by calling Patricia Henner at 581-3756.