Photo by Sharon J. Alfred Simone Short and Taja Backer sample grapes provided at the grape-tasting party held at the Youth Center on Bolling AFB.

The children not only studied food, but they also were exposed to all the facets of the nation’s culture, said 4-H Extension Agent Chris Coggins. He spearheads the foreign-nation immersion that the children have been experiencing.

‘‘We wanted to give the children a taste of the products that France produces,” said Miranda Williams, a child⁄youth program assistant.

France is well known for wine, so the Youth Center staff decided to give the children the fruit that wine is made from, grapes.

At the tasting party, there were Ruby seedless (red) grapes, Thompson seedless (green) grapes, Black Beauty (purple) grapes, and grape jam and croissants.

‘‘We even had raisins and frozen grapes,” Coggins said. ‘‘The children really seemed to enjoy everything (in the sampling.”

Before the tasting party began, Coggins told the children that grapes help the body stay healthy because they lower cholesterol, protect against disease, and provide the body with antioxidants.

In another familiar aspect of French culture, some well-known French artists were impressionists.

‘‘We’re studying impressionism, too,” Coggins said. An outline of a drawing is made, and kids fill in the subject art by small strokes or dot-painting.

As earlier reported, Youth Center Director Joyce Sheridan took the 4-H Bear with her on her vacation to France, and then brought it back to the youths at the base.

Sue Gregory, another child⁄ youth program assistant, acquainted the Youth Center children with the French language and France’s weather conditions.

The intent behind the program is to make the children less anxious and more comfortable if a parent is deployed to another country, or if a parent moves the child’s whole family to another base outside the United States.

Coggins announced that the next country that will be studied by children at the Youth Center will be Germany. This is an ideal country to study because their memories of Octoberfest at the base will still be fresh.

Sharon Potmesil, the school-age coordinator, said that the German fairy tale of ‘‘Hansel and Gretel” will most certainly be read. And, she is looking into whether the kids can get involved in building a gingerbread house.