“Hey Dad, guess what?” It’s my son, Alex, wearing his Brazil soccer jersey. He’s been on the Internet again.

“What, Alex?”

“Did you know that France didn’t even get to the 2nd round in 2002? And they won the World Cup in 1998!”

“No, I didn’t know that.”

“And Dad, Korea almost made it to the finals and so did Turkey, but they didn’t do so good this year.”

“Really?”

Alex, at eight, knows more about soccer than anyone else I know. It all started innocently enough with me coaching his soccer team this summer. Then we watched several World Cup games together, and then he discovered www.worldcup.com, FIFA’s amazing site that includes video highlights of every game and a comprehensive history of the World Cup going back to the 1930’s.

“Dad, did you know the first World Cup was held in Uruguay?”

Anyway, to make a long story short, Alex got hooked on soccer. And it’s teaching him about the world, which is really cool.

I have a passion for geography, culture, and languages that comes from my Dad, who grew up in Germany and speaks five languages. Alex is lucky enough to have been to Europe once, and through soccer he is learning a tremendous amount about the world.

I think this is great, especially because so many American kids (and adults) know very little about the world. National Geographic’s latest survey concluded that our kids “don’t know much geography”.
“By and large, majorities of young adults fail at a range of questions testing their basic geographic literacy.
Only 37% of young Americans can find Iraq on a map—though U.S. troops have been there since 2003.
6 in 10 young Americans don’t speak a foreign language fluently.
20% of young Americans think Sudan is in Asia. (It’s the largest country in Africa.)
48% of young Americans believe the majority population in India is Muslim. (It’s Hindu—by a landslide.)
Half of young Americans can’t find New York on a map.”

Pretty depressing stuff, no? But I think we have our educational system to blame. I mean, these kids don’t set out to be geographically ignorant. It’s just that geography is often not taught in a way that connects with their interests, whether that interest is sports, history, animals, food, or whatever.

I am amazed by how much Alex is learning about the world through his soccer obsession. He has learned the names of dozens of countries and where they are located. He learned what languages they speak, and why. “Dad, Angola speaks Portugese because Portugal used to rule Angola,” he told me, a fact that I doubt most adult Americans would know.

His interests have since expanded beyond national teams to European club teams, so thanks to the Internet and Fox Soccer Channel we now follow AC Milan (because of Alex’s favorite player, the Brazilian star Kaka), Liverpool, Chelsea, and Manchester United.

And because European soccer (or football, as they call it) is extremely international, Alex continues to learn about other countries. Chelsea’s best player is from Cote d’Ivoire, Manchester United’s best player is Portugese, and so on.

One day I will take Alex to Europe and we will watch some of these teams in person, just like Franklin Foer does in his great book, “How Soccer Explains the World.” But for now, I’m glad we can be armchair travelers, and that he is learning about the world through a sport he loves. It’s also cheaper that way.

Quick – in what continent can you find Rwanda? Given a map of the Middle East, can you point to Saudi Arabia? Sadly, according to a recent poll by National Geographic, most Americans 18-24 do not know that Sudan and Rwanda are in Africa, and 63% cannot find Iraq or Saudi Arabia on a map of the Middle East.

“Lack of geographical knowledge is a big hole in our educational system,” says Bob Galinsky, a former international aid worker and father of three. “And in the case of Africa, the hole is the size of the Grand Canyon. Clearly, we can do a better job in this country of teaching our kids about the world, and the first thing we need to do is to make geography fun.”

A couple of years ago Bob tried to purchase geography puzzles for his son, but there was nothing really good out there, so he founded GeoToys and invented GeoPuzzles. GeoPuzzles are jigsaw puzzles with pieces shaped like individual countries, so children learn and build fine motor, cognitive, language, and problem-solving skills as they put the puzzle together. Currently, GeoPuzzles are available for Europe, Asia and Africa, with more continents coming soon.

“GeoPuzzles are durable and come with a 100% satisfaction guarantee,” says Bob. “They are made from recycled material, because we wouldn’t want to tear up the earth to teach kids about it.”

Clever Parents caught up with Bob to talk about international aid work, the leap from aid worker to toy company founder, and things that parents can do to help their children think globally.

Clever Parents: How did you decide to do international aid work?
Bob Galinsky: I studied in France my senior year in college, travelled around, and got the travel bug. I wanted to do aid work because I wanted to do something rewarding and see the world.

Clever Parents: Tell us about being an international aid worker.
Bob Galinsky: I worked for a small company called Fintrac, working on agricultural development projects in a number of countries, including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Uganda, and Mali. This was when I was 23 until I was 28, pre-kids.

Clever Parents: Have you always been interested in geography?
Bob Galinsky: Yes, my father is from Germany and I used to travel there as a child. He is a history professor and he acts as a tour guide on educational cruises, so we used to accompany him. Because of him I guess, I developed a keen interest in travel and all kinds of things international.

Clever Parents: Aid worker to toy company founder is a pretty big leap – how did that come to be?
Bob Galinsky: In the middle there was business school, and stints working for big companies (I still work full-time as a marketer at Kimberly-Clark). Then a couple of years ago I tried to purchase geography puzzles for my son, but there was nothing really good out there, so I decided to invent the GeoPuzzles.

Clever Parents: What’s next for GeoToys?
Bob Galinsky: We’re still in start-up mode, really. Right now we’re focused on expanding distribution in toy stores, teacher stores, and museum shops. I do have some ideas for a number of other geography toys, but that will have to wait until we establish a good base business.

Clever Parents: What are some ways that parents can help their children to think globally?
Bob Galinsky: Travel is probably the best way to get kids to realize that there is a big world out there. I was fortunate to be able to travel as a child, and I think it definitely had a big impact on me. But even if you don’t travel internationally, if you are interested in other countries, you can share that interest with your children. There are tons of books for kids about different continents and different countries, and you can read those together. You can take them out for Chinese, Italian, Thai, French, or Mexican food. You can take a language class together. And it doesn’t even have to be anything special– I’m finding that my son is learning a lot about geography by watching the World Cup! The main thing is, if you are interested in the world outside the U.S., share that interest with your kids!

Clever Parents: Anything else you’d like to share?
Bob Galinsky: I’m sure you can tell I feel passionately about helping kids learn about the world. I think it makes them more open-minded, and open to more possibilities, than otherwise. And our kids really need help– as National Geographic’s latest poll shows, young Americans have a long way to go before they are geographically literate.

“We also believe that the more children learn about the Earth, the more they will do to protect it when they grow up. And we think that’s important. That’s why, in addition to making geography fun, we donate a portion of our profits to geography education.”

Learn more and buy GeoPuzzles online (for $14.99) on the GeoToys website, www.GeoToyStore.com.