The students had their passports ready. They had luggage, too.
"Can I have your passport, Emily?" preschool teacher Kimberly Washington asked one of her students. "Then have a seat and put your luggage under your chair. That was your carry-on."
There was no airport, and the classroom never left Baltimore. But for the next little while, Washington's preschoolers were flying to Canada.
They watched a song about Canada during their pretend journey. Their carry-ons went under their seats. When the flight landed, Washington stood at the front of the classroom waving a Canadian flag.
"Welcome to Canada."
The video is now going viral across social media, with people sharing how much they love the children and their pretend Canadian vacation.
One widely shared reaction summed up the mood: "I've been sitting here crying over this for 5 mins. They are so cute."
The attention comes at an unusual moment. Canada and the United States have spent much of 2026 dealing with tariffs, Donald Trump's repeated 51st-state rhetoric and, most recently, a U.S. executive order renaming Lake Ontario "Lake America" for federal purposes.
Meanwhile, when these preschoolers in Baltimore were asked which country they wanted to visit first, they picked Canada.
Canada was their first choice
Washington told CBC News her students have several countries they plan to visit this year, and she let the class choose the order.
Canada came first.
Washington had a preschool-level theory about why.
"They know how to spell red," she said. "That's probably why."
Once they'd cleared the classroom version of customs, the students got an introduction to the country they'd chosen.
Washington taught them about Niagara Falls, because the children love water. They also learned to count from one to five in French.
Then came the food.
Their first taste of Canada was a butter tart
Washington and her students made butter tarts.
The Canadian dessert got a mixed review from the teacher.
"It was a bit sweet," Washington said. "I said, oh okay, let's take this home."
But the reason Washington gave for organizing the trip is the part that explains why the video is resonating.
"I wanted to just make somebody smile"
"It's so much negative stuff, and I wanted to just make somebody smile," Washington said.
Then she added: "I love Canada."
Washington didn't present the activity as a political statement or a response to anything happening between Ottawa and Washington. She was teaching preschoolers about another country.
But the timing is difficult to ignore.
Canada-U.S. relations have had a rough year
For much of 2026, the biggest stories crossing the border have been considerably less cheerful.
The two countries have been caught in a major trade dispute, while President Donald Trump has repeatedly raised the idea of Canada becoming the 51st U.S. state.
Then came Lake Ontario.
On August 27, Trump signed Executive Order 14422, directing the U.S. government to rename Lake Ontario "Lake America" for federal purposes.
The order directs the Secretary of the Interior and the Board on Geographic Names to update the federal Geographic Names Information System. Federal agencies are also directed to use the new name on government maps, contracts, documents and communications.
The change applies to U.S. federal usage. It does not require Canada to adopt the name.
Against that backdrop, Washington's classroom offers a very different picture of the relationship.
A preschool lesson doesn't change a trade dispute, and the children didn't settle one between snack time and recess.
But a fight between governments doesn't tell the whole story of the people on either side of the border.
In Baltimore, an American teacher handed out paper passports to children who had been allowed to choose which country they wanted to visit first.
They chose Canada.
Canadians are loving the classroom trip
The video has since moved well beyond Washington's classroom, with clips being shared across social media and Canadians reacting to the children waving flags, carrying their little pieces of luggage and learning about the country.
One reaction on X captured much of the response.
"I've been sitting here crying over this for 5 mins. They are so cute."
What seems to be connecting isn't just that the class chose Canada. It's the amount of effort Washington put into making the pretend trip feel like one.
The students brought luggage. They handed over passports. They "flew" to another country. Once they arrived, the lesson moved through food, language and one of Canada's most recognizable landmarks.
And Washington's reason for doing it was uncomplicated.
"It's so much negative stuff, and I wanted to just make somebody smile."
The reaction online suggests that message travelled considerably farther than her Baltimore classroom.
Another "Lake America" story went very differently
The Baltimore video is spreading only days after another Canada-U.S. story involving the words "Lake America" went viral for very different reasons.
A photograph showing an American family apparently wearing matching "Lake America" sweatshirts at Detroit Metropolitan Airport circulated widely online ahead of their trip to Canada.
Except the family wasn't actually wearing them.
The photograph had been altered using AI. As copies moved across social media, that context disappeared and people began treating it as a record of something that had actually happened.
The controversy eventually reached the Michigan credit union where Jane Smith, one of the people pictured, was CEO.
We reported this month that Smith is no longer with Family First Credit Union.
The two viral moments couldn't be much more different.
One showed how quickly anger spreads across the border when the underlying information isn't what it appears to be.
This one is spreading because an American preschool teacher handed her students passports, waved a Canadian flag and took them on an imaginary trip north.
They learned about Niagara Falls, counted in French and tried butter tarts.
And Canada got to be first because, according to their teacher, the kids already knew how to spell red.
The reaction from the CBC studio at the end of the segment summed it up.
"Hats off to Baltimore, and hats off to everyone in that classroom."
Sources
Preschoolers 'travel' to Canada from Baltimore, Md. — The Moment, CBC News
Executive Order 14422, Honoring the American History of the Great Lakes and Renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America — The White House, August 27, 2026
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