Long ago, people in China made a shiny cloth. It was called silk. Silkworms spin the thread for it. People in faraway lands wanted silk. So traders set off to sell it. A trader is a person who buys and sells things.
Many paths west
The traders took many paths, not one road. Together we call them the Silk Road. The paths joined China to lands far to the west. They began more than 2,000 years ago. Tap the button to travel with a caravan.
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The caravan
Traders went in a group called a caravan. A caravan is travelers and animals going together. Being together kept them safer. Camels carried the goods across deserts. Camels can go many days without water.
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A night at the inn
At night, the caravan stops at a caravanserai. That is an inn for travelers. Traders and camels rest there. People share news and stories with other travelers.
Silkshiny clothSpicesflavor for foodPaper
More than silk
On the way, traders sold spices and paper too. Ideas and inventions traveled with them. That is how papermaking reached Baghdad. The Silk Road joined people who lived far apart.
For parents
Goal: Your child learns what the Silk Road was, how traders traveled, and what moved along it.
Ask: why did traders travel together in caravans?
Talk about something at home that came from far away, like a spice or a piece of clothing.
Away from the screen: Find China and Baghdad on a globe or map. Trace a path between them with a piece of string.
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