A themed dinner and a movie is a great combo to introduce your child to different cultures.

Kids find foreign cultures easier to swallow than you think.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—You don't have to travel the world to raise a cosmopolitan kid full of world knowledge and respect for other cultures. And with a shaky economy, that is certainly good news for parents who are pinching pennies and turning to educational (but fun) "staycations" at home rather than jet-setting to foreign countries.

So why do it?

"Positive experiences with the world’s cultures enhance our lives, and we might grow up to be peacemakers. The other side is that we live in a rapidly changing world, where we know that globalization shapes our daily lives and is a major determinant to financial, career, and personal success," says Homa Sabet Tavangar, author of Growing Up Global: Raising Children to Be At Home in the World (Ballantine Books, 2009).

"People of all different backgrounds work and live side-by-side; our jobs might stay here because of global opportunities, or they might be outsourced abroad, eliminated due to global competition or so many factors influenced by a global community," Tavangar adds. Planning a cultural, stay-at-home vacation can be a bit of a challenge, but once you settle on a theme and focus on five components of raising happy kids while teaching them about others cultures, it's easy. And the best part? "It makes life more interesting, too," says Tavangar. "You really break up your routine and make a whole fun journey out of creating a theme for your weekend. It's like planning a vacation."

Shortly after 9/11, Tavangar, a mother of three with a background in global business development, started compiling positive and helpful resources to teach her children to look at the world in a different way. A year later, she was in China for the first anniversary of September 11th and decided to fold her research into a book for parents, a collection of activities to help their children experience other cultures at home, and on the cheap. The way kids were being educated in China was a big part of her motivation. "I saw a contrast in how they were greeting the anniversary of that horrible day, and training their children, and how seriously they were learning to speak foreign languages and learn about the world," she says. "I didn't see that happening here."

Here are five tips for raising happy kids full of worldly knowledge without breaking the bank.