Juggling With Kids

Upcycled Child's Art Smock

2013-05-20T17:27:00.000-07:00

If your child loves to paint like my daughter does, then you probably know how much paint can get on their clothes in a matter of minutes. I thought I'd share this clever tip that I got from a Joyful Parenting class that I attended when both my children were toddlers.

Supplies:

-Man's long sleeve button down shirt. Use one that you are about to throw away or donate.

Directions:

Have your child put their arms into the shirt, wearing it backwards. Then button up the back of the shirt.

Then roll up the sleeves up to their wrists (the more skin it covers the less clean-up).

Then let your child paint away. We were finger painting...my daughter loves to paint with her hands.

Look how messy my hands are!

See how much paint she got on herself? Daddy's old shirt saved the day and kept her clothes all clean! Just throw it in the washing machine when they are done painting, and it will be ready to go for the next time.

Another great supply to have on hand when the kids are painting....baby wipes.

Tissue Paper Fish Bowl Lanterns

2013-05-16T13:26:00.000-07:00

My daughter and her friend went to the Environmental Nature Center on Valentine's Day and the craft they made that day were these super cute heart glass jars. It's a very simple and easy project for the kids and it's super cheap too! All you really need is glue, tissue paper and an up-cycled glass jar.

A few days later I just so happened to be googling some ideas for crafts and I stumbled across this DIY Fish Bowl Tissue Paper Lanterns by TD 365. I just couldn't resist having the girls make these very impressive looking fish bowls. I think they would make a great gift for a teacher or grandmother's day.

Supplies:
-Small fish bowl
-White glue
-Warm water
-Tissue paper
-Scissors
-Glitter (optional) I found blue tissue paper that had glitter already inside it, so we didn't use glitter)
-A sponge or paint brush
-Decorative stones (optional)
-Tea light candles
-Lighter (use under supervision of an adult)

Directions:
First take a trip to your local Dollar store...all the supplies listed above can be found there.

To prep for this craft I first cut out some large fish from some rainbow striped tissue paper (I thought it would look pretty with all the colors...but definitely use whatever color you wish). I also cut out some tiny fish out of orange paper, and some seaweed/kelp out of green tissue paper, and tore some blue tissue paper into pieces for the water.

You will also want to prep the paste. About 3 parts white school glue with 1 part warm water is perfect. It doesn't need to be perfect. Your objective is to have paste that is a tad bit more watery.

Next, I had the girls use a foam paint brush and apply the watered down glue over the entire outside of fish bowl.

After covering the entire fish bowl with watered down glue, have the kids cover the entire bowl with blue tissue paper (for the water). It really doesn't matter how perfect the kids lay on the pieces, or if they get wrinkled...this project will come out great no matter how it's done. If the kids want to add a little glitter around the bowl, you can add it during this step too.

After we were finished adding our blue tissue paper, the girls painted the outside of the fish bowl again with one more layer of watered down glue to seal the tissue paper in. Then we started adding our fish and seaweed/kelp to the bowls.

Delicately adding a little gold fish to the bowl...

Once the kids are finished decorating their bowls, make sure one more layer of watered down glue is brushed on, so that the tissue paper is sealed to the bowl. Then let them sit out to dry.

Once the bowls are dry, you can add the decorative stones into the bottom of the bowl.

We then lighted a tea light candle inside our fish bowl. I really wanted a flame-less tea candle so the girls could keep these in their bedrooms as a nightlight, but I couldn't locate any in time to do this craft.

Around the World in 12 Dishes: France: Crepes

2013-04-22T00:08:00.000-07:00

A crepe is a very thin type of pancake that originated in France. Crepes are very versatile and can be either sweet or savory. A common savory crepe may have cheese, ham, spinach, eggs, mushrooms, chicken etc. And a sweet crepe can include sugar, maple syrup, whipped cream, sliced fruits, jam, peanut butter, and chocolate. After looking through a number of recipes online, I chose to go with this crepe recipe from food.com. I noticed that most sweet crepes have sugar in the batter, and savory crepes omit the sugar. So if you're looking to make a savory crepe, I would just omit the sugar.

Here's a wonderful France Placemat you can print our for your child(ren) to color. And a printable passport to learn more about the country.

We made a delicious chocolate hazelnut strawberry banana crepe. Here's how we made it:

Ingredients:
-1 1/2 cups milk
-1 cup flour
-2 eggs
-1 tablespoon oil
-2 tablespoons sugar

-Strawberries
-Bananas
-Hazelnut spread
-Whipped cream

Directions:

Mix together 1 1/2 cups milk, 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon oil and 2 tablespoons sugar.

Add 1 cup flour until combined. We then let the batter rest for about an hour in the refrigerator (hopefully it was enough...we couldn't wait to make our crepes any longer). I noticed many recipes recommending you let the batter rest for a day, and some recommending only 20 minutes. I decided to do a little search on the reasoning for this, and I found one here from a blog called thekitchn.

Heat a nonstick skillet on medium and lightly coat with butter. Remove from heat, pour 1/4 cup batter onto skillet, turn pan to spread batter. Cook until the underside is a golden brown (may take 2-3 minutes). Loosen the edge with a spatula, then with your fingertips, quickly flip the crepe over. Be careful...it's hot! Cook for another minute or so and then flip onto a plate.

Next we cut up some bananas and strawberries to put into our crepe.

My daughter couldn't wait to taste the fruit and started eating from the bowl.

We spread a tablespoon of hazelnut spread and added our fruit.

Here's my daughter again...couldn't wait for mommy to take a photo of the crepes...she had to taste the whipped cream to make sure it was good.

Finally! She is able to taste her creation of this delicious French "pancake". And she loved every bite!

Please join us and all these other fabulous bloggers below in our Around the World in 12 Dishes series:

Adventures In Mommydom, Creative Family Fun, Creative World of Varya, Domestic Goddesque, Enchanted Homeschooling Mom, Glittering Muffins, Here Come The Girls, Kid World Citizen, Kitchen Counter Chronicles, Little Artists, Mermaids' Makings, Montessori Tidbits, Mummymummymum and The Educators' Spin On It

Please link up your French dish below. We would love to see it!

" "

Fishing Snack

2013-04-18T14:00:00.001-07:00

I found this cute snack idea for the little ones on Stacyjulian.com. It's super simple and lots of fun for the kids.

Supplies:
-Blue construction paper
-Scissors
-Small containers or little cupcake liners
-Pretzels (small or large rods)
-Fish crackers
-Cream cheese (we used regular and a berry cream cheese)
-Peanut butter (sunflower butter, almond butter, etc.)

Directions:

First cut out a fun "lake" shape out of the blue construction paper.

Next add your fish crackers to the "lake". Then put your cream cheese or peanut butter in small containers for dipping.

First we used large pretzel rods to fish for our fish crackers.

The girls dipped their fishing poles in their choice of "bait" which was peanut butter, plain cream cheese, and berry cream cheese.

Then they went fishing for a fish cracker.

Yum!

Then we tried out the smaller pretzel rods. I think the girls overall enjoyed using the smaller pretzel rods.

"Look how many fish I caught!"

Around the World in 12 Dishes: Ireland: Apple Cake

2013-03-26T09:39:00.002-07:00

Juggling With Kids still has a couple of countries to catch up on with our Around the World in 12 Dishes series...however we are kicking a second season with our Around the World in 12 Dishes team. This season is starting out in Ireland. Desserts and beverages made from apples are very popular in Ireland, so we decided to try this ultimate Irish Apple Cake recipe that I found on food.com. To learn more about Ireland print out this passport, created by Glittering Muffins. They also created this wonderful place mat for the children to color while they eat their Irish recipe.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter, softened (room temperature)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, beaten (room temperature)
4 granny smith apples, cored, peeled and diced (2 cups)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup all-purpose flour

Directions:
First preheat the oven to 350°F. Then core, peel and dice 2 cups of apples.

Next, generously grease an 8-inch square cake pan.

In a large bowl, cream the 4 Tablespoons of butter and 1 cup of sugar together until light and fluffy.

Add one egg,

1/4 cup chopped walnuts, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract,

and 2 cups of apples and stir well.

Sift in the dry ingredients

and mix well.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake about 45 minutes, until the cake is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let the cake set in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove from pan.

Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Yummy! My daughter and I really enjoyed this cake. My son wasn't too interested, but only because he's never interested in any baked goods with fruit.

Please join us and all these other fabulous bloggers below in our Around the World in 12 Dishes series:

Adventures In Mommydom, Creative Family Fun, Domestic Goddesque, Enchanted Homeschooling Mom, Glittering Muffins, Here Come The Girls, Kid World Citizen, Kitchen Counter Chronicles, Little Artists, Mermaids' Makings, Montessori Tidbits, Mummymummymum and The Educators' Spin On It

Please link up your Irish dish below. We would love to see it!

" "

Booking Across the USA: California

2013-02-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

We are exciting to be a part of "Booking Across the USA", which is a collaborative blogging project hosted by Jodie at Growing Book by Book. Over 50 bloggers have come together to choose a picture book that represents their state, and have put together a craft or activity to go along with the books.

Living in California, we chose a phenomenal picture book that blended both factual narrative and an adventure of California's Redwood forests. Jason Chin's Redwoods follows a young boy as he learns about the redwood forests. As he reads, the information unfolds, and his imagination travels him all the way to California to climb into the Redwood canopy. The information was probably a bit too much for my 4 year old to understand, however my son, who is a first grader, loved this book.

Some interesting facts that we learned from this book:

"The coast redwoods are among the oldest trees in the world. Their ancestors lived about 165 million years ago, during the Jurassic period."

"They are the tallest living things on the planet. Redwoods regularly grow to be more than 200 feet tall."

"If you see a ring of redwoods in the forest, they probably sprouted from the same stump."

"It takes a long time for water to travel all the way from the roots to the top of a redwood, and the fog helps the trees by preventing them from losing moisture to evaporation."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To make your very own Redwood forest, here are some supplies you will need...

Supplies:

-Paper towel tubes (quantity depends on how many trees you want)

-Paint (brown and black)
-Foam paint brushes

-Green craft paper (12x12")

-Twigs (optional)

-Tissue paper (green)

-Scissors

-Large cardboard box

-White glue/glue gun

Directions:
We first used a brown acrylic craft paint to paint our tree trunks brown, using a foam paint brush to apply the paint.

We then cut out a side from a cardboard box and painted it brown also. The size will depend on how big you want your redwood forest to be.

While we were waiting for the paint to dry, we made the tops of the trees, simply by using a 12x12 piece of green scrapbook paper.

First we folded that paper in half and then drew a straight line from one corner of the paper to the other end.

And then we cut along the line, making a large triangle.

We then cut two slits across from one another on one end of the paper towel tube.

And then inserted the tree top into the two slits.

My son had the idea of puncturing holes in the side of the paper towel tube so we could insert twigs to make some tree branches (he used a tiny screw driver to make the holes). Please also note in the photo below that we cut multiple slits at the bottom of the tube and folded them out for easier gluing onto our cardboard box.

We collected some thin twigs from our tree outside and inserted them into the holes.

Next my son took a small sponge brush and painted a little roadway for the cars to travel on, because there are some Redwood trees in Northern CA that are drive-thru trees.

Next we used white glue to glue green tissue paper around the road, to create the effect of the plants growing around the trees.

And lastly we glued our trees on our cardboard with a glue gun (it dries faster and holds better).

My kids had a great time playing with our Redwood forest that we created.

My daughter had a box of tiny worry dolls, which were perfect size little people to show off the grandness of of our forest, so she used them in her pretend play.

My son also had the perfect toy cars called micro charger cars, which were the perfect size to go through our drive-thru trees.

Some dolls got out of their car to view the trees.

Hopefully, one of these days, we'll take a road trip up to Northern California so we can experience the tallest living thing on the planet ourselves.

If you are looking for more fun crafts representing a different state, please check out the list of blogs below.

Alabama: Everyday Sanpshots Alaska: Little Wonders’ Days Arizona: Simply Kinder Arkansas: Homeschooling in Arkansas California: Juggling with Kids and The Outlaw Mom Colorado: Learners in Bloom and Living Montessori Now Connecticut: The Teacher Park Delaware: Mama Miss Florida: Teaching Stars Georgia: Fabulously First Hawaii: Teaching With Style Idaho: True Aim Education Illinois: Growing Book by Book Indiana: Teach Preschool Iowa: Surviving a Teacher's Salary Kansas: KCEdventures Kentucky: Chicken Babies Louisiana: New Orleans Moms Blog Maine: Maine Adventure Mom and Country Fun Child Care Maryland: Picture Books and Piourettes Massachusetts: Mama Smiles Michigan: Play DrMom Minnesota: The Wise Owl Factory Mississippi: Hey Mommy, Chocolate Milk Missouri- Ready. Set. Read! Montana: The Honey Bunch Nebraska: The Good Long Road Nevada: Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy Crafts New Hampshire: Elementary Matters New Jersey: The Pleasantest Thing New Mexico: Enchanted Homeschooling Mom New York: What Do We Do All Day North Carolina: Realistic Teacher Blog North Dakota: ND HealthWorks Ohio: Smart Chick Teacher’s Blog Oklahoma: Herding Kats in Kindergarten Oregon: Journey of a Substitute Teacher Pennsylvania: Land of Once Upon a Time Rhode Island: Smiling in Second Grade South Carolina: Cookies and Kiddos and JDaniel4’s Mom South Dakota: The Wise Owl Factory Tennessee: No Monkey Business Texas: Curls and a Smile and Kid World Citizen Utah: Teach Beside Me Vermont: Burlington Vt Moms Blog Virgina: Once Upon a Story, and The Freckled Homeschooler Washington: Home Learning Journey and Boy Mama Teacher Mama West Virginia: This Week @ Great Peace Academy and Mamas Like Me Wisconsin: Reading Confetti Wyoming: No Twiddle Twaddle USA: The Corner on Character

Around the World in 12 Dishes: Morocco

2013-02-24T11:29:00.003-08:00

Welcome to "Around The World in 12 Dishes". We will be taking you on a journey around the world, (loosely) following in Phileas Fogg's footsteps, exploring 12 different countries with our children, by cooking 12 dishes with them. One for each country visited.

The world is such a wonderfully diverse and colorful place. Our children see maps, flags and books. They see postcards and maybe they see films about the world.. but let's really bring it to life through food! Taste and smell don't often get explored, we think this would be wonderfully fun and interesting for you and your children.

Not only is it an exciting and different way to learn about cultures, but cooking with children brings a host of benefits - from numeracy to science. How can you beat that?

Adventures In Mommydom, Creative Family Fun, Domestic Goddesque, Glittering Muffins, Here Come The Girls, Juggling with Kids, Kid World Citizen, Kitchen Counter Chronicles, Mermaids' Makings, Montessori Tidbits, Mummymummymum and The Educators' Spin On It have come together to help you on your food journey and will each cook a dish with our children and post about it - to help inspire you to have a go! Then go out there, cook, blog, and join in the linky fun! Check out the other great posts as well!

Around the World in 12 Dishes

We had started our journey the same way Phileas Fogg did in London, UK, and now are arriving in Rabat, capital of Morocco!

March 4 - First country was the UK
April 1 - The second country was Sweden
May 6 - The third country was Russia
June 3 - The fourth country was India
July 7 - The fifth country was Japan
August 5 - The sixth country is Australia
September 2 - The seventh country is French Polynesia
October 7 - The eighth country is Mexico
November 4 - The ninth country is Brazil!
December 2 - The tenth country is Morocco!

How to join the fun!

The only mandatory part is the dish, the rest is all up to you, we just thought it would be fun and more concrete to the kids as to why we are making a unusual dish.
Cook a dish from Morocco: The goal is to explore this country through FOOD and activities if you wish. Make a typical dish (sweet or savoury) from the country with the kids, take photos and have fun!
Typical dishes: Tajine, Briouat, Kefta, Merguez or Ma'amoul.
Print your passport: Click here to download, comes with space for a photo of the child with the dish. Here is a little cover for it if you wish :)
Color a placemat: Once colored/painted or whatever other way you want to do this, you can laminate it or put it between clear contact paper to use it over and over. Great conversation piece for you and your kids. Click here to download it.
Make a craft: you can make a country related craft with the kids [optional!]

Fun fact: Even though the official language is Arabic, Moroccan Arabic is so different that someone from, for example, Saudi-Arabia will hardly be able to understand.
Share with us: Our Morocco challenge starts on November 2nd and will remain open for a year, so attach a link to your blog to enter the linky party or go to the comment section and post a photo together with what you did together with your child(ren).
Pinterest: We will add your photos to a "Around the World in 12 Dishes" Pinterest Boards (one for the dishes, one for the crafts) you will be a great source of inspiration for everyone :)
Are you a blogger? Let your fans know about the challenge and grab our cute lil’ button to share it on your blog.

Please check out our partner blogs and their Morocco ideas: Adventures In Mommydom, Creative Family Fun, Domestic Goddesque, Glittering Muffins, Here Come The Girls, Juggling with Kids, Kid World Citizen, Kitchen Counter Chronicles, Mermaids' Makings, Montessori Tidbits, Mummymummymum and The Educators' Spin On It

If you do this, we’d LOVE to see a photo of it. Email it to us or post it on our Facebook page. We’d love to do a Facebook album, a Pinterest board and a page of your creations :)

Please link up your Moroccan dish and/or craft in our linky below, we would love to see it!

Around the World in 12 Dishes: Morocco: Moroccan Chicken

2013-02-24T11:28:00.002-08:00

We are a bit behind in our series of Around the World in 12 Dishes. But we are still having fun exploring foods from other countries. The next country we explored was Morroco, a North African country that has a coastline on both the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

I found a kid friendly Moroccan chicken dish on Weelicious.com, which is a great site if you want to find recipes catering to young children. It was a quick and easy recipe for the kids to make, however I was a bit skeptical if they would actually enjoy it because my kids are super picky, and tomatoes and beans are not a favorite around here.

The result? Well first off, I must say...if my kids do not like something that is placed in front of them, they will not bother eating it. My kids however cleaned their bowls that night. They said overall, it tasted okay and that it wasn't their favorite, but they CLEANED their bowl! So, I'll leave it at that and let you decide whether you want to have your kids make this dish. In reading the reviews on weelicious it has gotten great reviews...and I enjoyed this dish also.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, sliced thin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1 15 oz can chopped tomatoes
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 pounds chicken thighs, skinless

Directions:
In a large saute pan heat the oil over medium heat and saute the onions for 5 minutes or until translucent.

Have a child measure out 1 teaspoon paprika, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger and 1 teaspoon salt.

We observed the different colors of the spices we used.

Add the spices and the 15 oz can of chopped tomatoes and bring to a boil.

Add the can of garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed) and the pound of chicken thighs to the sauce mixture and stir to coat.

Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through. We served our dish over white rice only because I knew my kids would enjoy it more with rice.

We hope you will check out the other fabulous dishes below done by other bloggers. If you are a blogger and have done a Moroccan dish and/or craft, please add your link in our linky below, we would love to see it!

A "Beary" Good Snack

2013-02-22T07:30:00.000-08:00

The girls made their own "beary" cute and "beary" yummy snack that I had found on Kidssoup.com.

Ingredients:
-English muffin or toast
-Raisins or dried cranberries
-Sliced bananas
-Peanut butter

Directions:
First we lightly toasted our English muffin. And then the girls spread peanut butter on it.

Next the girls added sliced bananas for the bear's nose and ears. And placed dried cranberries for the eyes and one for the black nose.

Once finished, enjoy your "beary" good snack!

Sensory Salt Writing Box

2013-02-21T07:30:00.000-08:00

Today I decided to let my daughter and her friend practice writing their letters with an idea I got from Teach Preschool.

Supplies:

-Shallow box or baking pan

-Salt

-Food coloring (optional)

Directions:

I thought it would be fun to add some color to our salt writing box, so I tinted the salt with food coloring a few days before. I wanted to make sure the food coloring dried so that it wouldn't stain their hands. You don't need too much salt, a small amount produces the best results.

First you will need about a 1/4 cup of salt.

Add a couple drops of food coloring.

And stir well until the food coloring is completely blended into the salt.

Once it's dry, put it in a shallow box and have the kids start practicing their letters. I showed the girls the letter and taught them how it is correctly written.

They would then practice writing it with their finger.

This salt writing box definitely made learning letters a lot more fun and the girls loved this activity. The best part is that you can store it in a small container or zip lock bag and use it again and again.

This is a great activity to promote sensory play while promoting young children's fine motor skills.

3-D Valentine Day Cards (again)

2013-02-04T12:31:00.001-08:00

Even though their are so many other cute ideas out there on the internet, this year I decided to make the same Valentine's Day cards that I made for my kids last year. I'll share a few that I contemplated doing because they're just too cute not to share!

* Star Wars: You light up my day!

* I like you, you make me (Snicker)

* You rock Valentine & Happy Valentine's Day to all my peeps!

* I mustache you a question...will you be my Valentine?

Last year I edited my photos in Picasa, but this year I decided to use PicMonkey. It's really easy and simple to use and they have cute fonts and clipart you can use. I was playing around with PicMonkey and initially made this card for my son...but decide against using it, because I didn't want him to embarrassed that I put a "heart" on his card.

So I ended up just creating this simple banner. (Note: For blogging purposes, I purposely left off his name...so on the actual card I did put "Love...and his name")

For my daughter's card, I created the same simplistic banner. In her photo though, I had her holding balloons, so I thought it would be cute that the lollipop would act as a 3rd balloon.

Here's how they turned out...click on the link to get the step by step instructions on how I made the cards last year.

Caterpillars, Chrysalis and Butterflies...Oh My!

2013-01-17T11:36:00.000-08:00

During the last week of August last year, the caterpillars I ordered through the Insect Lore were delivered to our house. I held off blogging about it, since winter was approaching and I figured not many would be interested in reading my post. But now that spring is right around the corner I figured I'd share with you our fun crafts that we did while watching these caterpillars morph into butterflies.

My kids were completely fascinated watching this process and I highly recommend it to anyone contemplating whether to purchase the live butterfly garden kit.

Supplies:

-Egg carton

-Scissors

-Paint

-Black pipe cleaner

-Eye stickers or googly eyes

-Construction paper

-Marbles

-Paper lunch sack

-9x13" pan or a plastic container

Directions:

Here my kids are watching the caterpillars eat their "food" (tan gunk you see at the bottom of the container).

We made our own caterpillars out of egg cartons. Cut a section of three egg carton cups.

Have the kids paint the egg carton. We read one of our favorite books "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle, so our color choices were inspired by the caterpillar in that book. After the kids are done painting, set it aside to dry.

Next we took a black pipe cleaner and cut it in half. We then made two small holes at the top of the head of our egg carton, and stuck each end of the pipe cleaner through the bottom of the carton into the holes. Then we curled the ends.

We also found some cute "eye" stickers to place onto our caterpillars. Googly eyes will work great too.

In the photo below, you can see how four of our caterpillars are in their chrysalis. However one caterpillar in the center is just beginning to form his chrysalis.

Next we took our caterpillars and had them form their own "chrysalis" by placing them inside a paper lunch sack.

My daughter has a tree mural painted in her room, so we twisted the ends of the bags and taped them to the leaves on the tree.

I then had my children choose the color of their construction paper and paints. I placed them inside a plastic tub with some marbles.

Have the kids tilt the baking pan or plastic tub to move the marbles around in the paint. Here is another post that I did of the kids doing marble painting.

My daughter was really getting into it. After the kids are done, set the paper aside to dry fully.

Here are the beautiful butterflies that we woke up to one morning. They all hatched while we were sleeping.

While my kids weren't watching, I cut out butterfly wings from their marble paintings.

I then hot glue gunned (it dries faster) the egg carton caterpillars to the construction paper.

I then taped them to my daughter's mural for the kids to find.

Here are a couple more photos of our butterflies. If you look carefully at this photo you can see the butterflies proboscis, which is a tube-like tongue, as he is drinking the sugar water we dropped onto the roses.

When we let our butterflies fly away, one landed on one of our plants, and I captured this photo.

Pumpkin Seed Autumn Handprint Tree

2012-11-21T10:37:00.001-08:00

I wasn't in the mood to make pumpkin seeds this year, but I didn't want to toss the pumpkin seeds away. I decided to color them like I did with the Colorful Noodle Necklaces because the seeds are shaped like leaves and have the kids make a Fall tree. The kids really enjoyed this craft!

Supplies:

-Pumpkin seeds

-Isopropyl alcohol

-Food coloring (red, yellow)

-Zip lock bags

-Paper towel

-Construction paper

-Brown paint

-Paintbrush

-Glue

Directions:

Wash and rinse the pumpkin seeds.

Add a handful of pumpkin seeds to your zip lock bag. Add about a tablespoon of isopropyl alcohol to each bag and then add a few drops of food coloring depending on how bright you want the colors to be (we added about 10-15 drops). We colored our pumpkin seeds yellow, red and orange. We then closed the bags and shook them to mix the colors around. We then let the seeds sit for a few hours.

Next we painted our hands and arms brown to create a tree print on paper. We set this aside to dry.

Once the pumpkin seeds obtained the color we wanted from the food coloring, we set them out to dry on the counter. It's best to do this on top of a paper towel, so it can soak up the liquid.

Once your pumpkin seeds and hand print are dry. We were ready to make our Autumn trees.

We took some craft glue and began gluing the seeds (leaves) onto our hand print (tree/branches).

My daughter (3 years old) created the tree on the left and my son (6 years old) created the tree on the right.

Ribbon Wreath Plate

2012-11-13T00:10:00.000-08:00

As the holidays are just around the corner, many of us bake cookies to give to our friends or family. I found these cute ribbon wreath plates from Make & Takes and thought it was the cutest way to spruce up an ordinary paper plate. And the best part is you can customize it to any occasion!

Supplies:
-Paper plates (any color/size)
-Hole punch
-Ribbon
-Tape
-Baked goodies

Directions:
First hole punch the plate. If the plate were a compass, we first hole punched a hole in the north, south, east and west end of the plate. We then hole punched a hole directly in the middle of let's say north and west. And then we punched holes to the left and right of that last hole. (Hopefully I didn't confuse anybody).

Next we took our ribbon and put a piece of tape at the end of the ribbon to make threading it through the plate easier.

Next, thread the ribbon through the holes. We went up and down through the holes, but you could also go around and around.

Once the ribbon is through all the holes, tie the ends in a pretty bow.

Then place your yummy treats on top.

I never knew a paper plate could look this pretty! Happy Holidays!!

Around the World in 12 Dishes: Brazil

2012-11-07T14:47:00.004-08:00

Not only is it an exciting and different way to learn about cultures, but cooking with children brings a host of benefits - from numeracy to science. How can you beat that?

Around the World in 12 Dishes

We had started our journey the same way Phileas Fogg did in London, UK, and now are arriving in Brasilia, capital of the biggest South American country Brazil.!

March 4 - First country was the UK
April 1 - The second country was Sweden
May 6 - The third country was Russia
June 3 - The fourth country was India
July 7 - The fifth country was Japan
August 5 - The sixth country is Australia
September 2 - The seventh country is French Polynesia
October 7 - The eighth country is Mexico
November 4 - The ninth country is Brazil!

How to join the fun!

The only mandatory part is the dish, the rest is all up to you, we just thought it would be fun and more concrete to the kids as to why we are making a unusual dish.
Cook a dish from Brazil: The goal is to explore this country through FOOD and activities if you wish. Make a typical dish (sweet or savoury) from the country with the kids, take photos and have fun!
Typical dishes: Feijoada, Baião de dois, Sarapatel, Galinhadaplus Queijadinha, Moqueca de peixe and Bridgardeiros.
Print your passport: Click here to download, comes with space for a photo of the child with the dish. Here is a little cover for it if you wish :)
Color a placemat: Once colored/painted or whatever other way you want to do this, you can laminate it or put it between clear contact paper to use it over and over. Great conversation piece for you and your kids. Click here to download it.
Make a craft: you can make a country related craft with the kids [optional!]

Fun fact: Brazil has one of the New 7 Wonders of the World, the Christ Redeemer statue, located in Rio De Janeiro.
Share with us: Our Brazil challenge starts on November 4th and will remain open for a year, so attach a link to your blog to enter the linky party or go to the comment section and post a photo together with what you did together with your child(ren).
Pinterest: We will add your photos to a "Around the World in 12 Dishes" Pinterest Boards (one for the dishes, one for the crafts) you will be a great source of inspiration for everyone :)
Are you a blogger? Let your fans know about the challenge and grab our cute lil’ button to share it on your blog.

Please check out our partner blogs and their Brazil ideas: Adventures In Mommydom, Creative Family Fun, Domestic Goddesque, Glittering Muffins, Here Come The Girls, Juggling with Kids, Kid World Citizen, Kitchen Counter Chronicles, Mermaids' Makings, Montessori Tidbits, Mummymummymum and The Educators' Spin On It

If you do this, we’d LOVE to see a photo of it. Email it to us or post it on our Facebook page. We’d love to do a Facebook album, a Pinterest board and a page of your creations :)

Please link up your Brazilian dish and/or craft in our linky below, we would love to see it!

Around the World in 12 Dishes: Brazil: Brigadeiro

2012-11-07T14:47:00.003-08:00

We traveled to Brazil this month for our next country in Around the World in 12 Dishes. I wrote an email to my Brazilian pen pals, that I've had for 23 years, and asked them for advice on a traditional dish my kids and I could make to represent their country. There was no hesitation in their answer. They told me there is a dessert called Brigadeiro, and they think 99% of kids love it. Well, you can add my children to that statistic also because they kept asking for more. It is traditional to find Brigadeiro at birthday parties, as my pen pals told me "every birthday MUST have Brigadeiro!" They sent me this recipe from ifood.tv to help us get started. I did a little research first and read that condensed milk in the U.S. is a bit different from the Brazilian version. It is not as sweet, so it was recommend that I use Nesquik instead of unsweetened cocoa.

Ingredients:
-Sweetened condensed milk
-Butter (we used unsalted)
-Unsweetened cocoa (we used Nesquik)
-Sprinkles, nuts, coconut, nonpareils

Directions:

In a medium saucepan add 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

Add 1 tablespoon butter (we used unsalted).

Then add 3 tablespoons of Nesquik.

Cook over medium heat and stir continuously...

Cook the mixture until it thickens enough to show the bottom of the pan while stirring. About 10 minutes.

Pour the mixture into a lightly greased dish and let it cool to room temperature. My kids and I didn't have a few hours to wait until it cooled, so I actually covered the dish and put it in the refrigerator over night. I then took it out the next day and let it sit for a few hours before we were ready to roll these into little balls.

Roll them into bite size balls. I read some tips that you can grease your hands a little bit before rolling them into balls. We didn't really have a problem with it sticking to our hands so we didn't grease our hands, but I just wanted to give you that tip.

Once you have rolled them into balls, roll them with sprinkles, nuts, coconut or anything you think would taste good. Crushed up cookies or mini M & M's would be great too!

These would make wonderful treats at any party. You can customize them in whatever color your party theme may be. We made some red, white and blue brigadeiro in celebration for the U.S. election that was going on.

These were delicious! It almost tasted like eating milk chocolate caramel....however this was much softer and easier to eat than caramel (at least in my opinion). My favorite was putting salted peanuts on the brigadeiro as I like the combination of the salty and sweet flavors. My kids however went for the sprinkles!

We'll hope you'll try these in your own home. It's relatively easy, takes few ingredients and it's a great way to explore another countries traditions with your children!

Rainbow Drip Pumpkins

2012-10-25T00:29:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year Dilly-Dali Art , made these beautiful rainbow pour painted pots. I had it on my list of projects to do with the kids, but of course, I never got around to it. Then a few weeks ago I saw that In Lieu of Preschool did the same type of painting but on pumpkins! So I went out and bought the supplies and the kids had the greatest time creating and designing their own rainbow colored pumpkins. Hmmmm....I wonder what else can we pour paint on???

Supplies:

-Pumpkins

-Acrylic paints (various colors)

-Glitter (optional)

-Something to elevate your pumpkins (we used disposable Tupperware)

-Newspaper or cardboard (something to protect your floors)

-Clear acrylic sealer

Directions:

In Lieu of Preschool first cleaned their pumpkins with a wet rag and then a dry one. They then spray painted the pumpkins thinking it would allow the paint to adhere better. I didn't have any spray paint off hand, but I did have some Mod Podge clear acrylic sealer. In Lieu of Preschool wasn't even sure the spray paint was necessary, but I didn't want to take any chances so I sprayed some of the clear acrylic sealer on the pumpkins after I cleaned them.

After the pumpkins were dry, I took out our acrylic paints and glitter. They do sell acrylic paints with glitter already in them, however we didn't have any, and I didn't want to make a special trip to Michaels just for acrylic glitter paint.

I set the pumpkins up on disposable Tupperware as it was the only thing that I had off hand. In Lieu of Preschool re-purposed old applesauce containers to elevate her pumpkins. It definitely helps speed the drying process so your pumpkin isn't sitting in wet paint. You will see in a picture down below just how much paint starts to run off the pumpkin.

Have the kids start squeezing away with the paint. I definitely recommend having lots of paint as the kids will go through it quickly. I think I added 3 or 4 more bottles in addition to the ones pictured above for my kids to use.

We started by pouring paint on the stem and letting it flow down, but paint was collecting in the little crevice near the stem, so my son started pouring paint on the sides of the pumpkin.

You can't really tell in the photo, but he's trying to show her how to paint on the outside parts of the pumpkin.

The pumpkins already look so pretty! And the kids were only half way done.

I love how the colors blend together...

After the kids were done with the paints, we poured glitter on the tops of the pumpkins.

I then let the paint dry for a few hours, and then I sprayed clear acrylic sealer over the entire pumpkin. It gave it a nice shiny look.

Our colorful rainbow pumpkins!

The neighbors definitely admired our pumpkins! And their children wanted to make their own rainbow drip pumpkins as well. This was definitely a fun project that we'll be doing again!

Cute Pumpkin Spice Playdough Gifts

2012-10-16T22:03:00.003-07:00

I was talking to a girlfriend the other day and she mentioned that her girls love playing with play dough so much that she just went out and bought a ton of Play-Doh at the store. I told her that home made play dough is much better, and I promised to make her girls a fresh batch. I then saw on Pinterest this cute way of gifting play dough for Halloween...so I ended up making Pumpkin Spice Play dough for her girls.

Supplies:
For play dough recipe:
-2 Cups water
-Orange food coloring (or combine yellow and red)
-2 Tbsp vegetable oil
-1 Cup salt
-4 Tbsp. cream of tartar
-3 Tsp. pumpkin pie spice
-2 Cups of white flour

For gift bag:
-Black sharpie
-Green pipe cleaner or curly ribbon
-Cellophane candy bags

Directions:
First mix 2 cup of white flour, 1 cup of salt, 4 tablespoons cream of tartar, 3 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice and 2 tablespoon oil in a pan.

Then add 2 cups of water and mix well. Add red and yellow food coloring to make orange.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 3 – 5 minutes. Dough will become difficult to stir and form a “clump”. Remove from stove and knead for 5 minutes.

Once your play dough looks like this...break off some pieces and roll them into little balls. How big you make them is up to you and the size of your cellophane bag.

If you are using a pipe cleaner, cut it in half, and then curl it around a pencil. Slide it off the pencil and then twist it around the cellophane bag.

Take your black sharpie and draw a jack-o-lantern face on it. This is a fun little alternative to give out at classroom Halloween parties, rather than giving kids sugary treats.

Virtual Book Club for Kids: Amy Krouse Rosenthal

2012-10-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

This month, for our Virtual Book Club for Kids, we explored some books written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. One of our favorites, Little Oink, is a squeal of a book! My kids just thought the book was hilarious!

Little Oink is about a pig who doesn't like to be messy. His dad however tells him, "If you want to grow up to be a respectable pig, you must learn how to make a proper mess." So before he gets to go play, he has to unmake his bed, unfold his clothes, put on a stained shirt, and throw his toys out of their bin. Now what child wouldn't love to make a mess rather than clean their room??

We also read Little Pea and Little Hoot and my son exclaimed, "Mom, they do everything the opposite of the real world in these books!" You'll have to check them out to find out why.

For our craft we made Little Oink and splattered some mud on him.

Supplies:
-Pink craft foam sheets with adhesive backing (easier for kids, no gluing necessary)
-Blue craft foam (or any color of your choice...will be background)
-Pink pipe cleaner
-Googly eyes
-Scissors
-Black sharpie
-Brown paint
-Sponge
-Paper plate

Directions:
First cut out the pieces to make your pig. I cut out a circle for the head, an larger oval for the body, four rectangles with a partial triangle cut out for the feet, two triangles for the ears and another small oval for the snout. I took a sharpie and colored in two circles in his snout, and some hooves on each foot.

For his tail, twist a pipe cleaner around a pen or finger to make it curly.

Then cut it in half.

Have your kids peel the backing of the foam...

...and place the shapes on the background foam to create "Little Oink". We stuck the curly pipe cleaner in the bottom left hand corner of the oval to give him a cute little tail. (Just stick one end under the foam and the sticker will adhere to it).

My pig is all finished!

Next put some brown paint on a paper plate and have the kids take a sponge to sponge some brown paint onto the pig to make "mud". I took a sponge that I bought at the dollar store and cut it into fourths.

Here's our "Little Oink" all messy, so he can go out and play.

We hope you enjoyed our post! If you've done a Amy Krouse Rosenthal activity, join the fun and link up with us and all these other wonderful bloggers!

Toddler Approved - Rainy Day Mum - Adventures in Reading with Kids - 3 Dinosaurs - Royal Baloo - The Educators' Spin On It - Inspiration Laboratories - Pleasantest Thing - Edventures with Kids - Two Big Two Little - Playing With Words 365 - Kitchen Counter Chronicles - Outlaw Mom - Mommy and Me Book Club - Crafty Moms Share - No Twiddle Twaddle - The Good Long Road - Ready. Set. Read 2 Me - Reading Confetti - Mama Smiles - Juggling with Kids- Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas - Creekside Learning - Creative Family Fun - The Usual Mayhem - Teach Preschool - PlayDrMom - CraftoArt - Here Come the Girls - Being a Conscious Parent - Smiling like Sunshine - Crayon Freckles - Train Up a Child - Smile Play Learn

Clowning Around: Clown Costume

2012-10-10T10:15:00.000-07:00

My daughter has been getting into the spirit of Halloween early this year as she has been asking me, "is it Halloween today?" almost daily. She loves playing dress-up, usually as a princess or a dancing ballerina, but the other day she decided she wanted to be a clown. So I got out a few craft items and we made our own little clown costume. She really wanted some clown shoes to go with this costume too...but that will have to be another project for mommy to figure out how to make another day. ;-)

Supplies:
-Paper plate
-Glue
-Pom poms
-Egg carton
-Red paint
-Paint brush
-Scissors
-Hole puncher
-Large construction paper
-Stickers, crayons, markers

Directions:
Take your paper plate and cut a slit through one side of the plate. Then cut out a circle...this circle should be big enough to fit comfortably around your child's neck.

I used the circle that I cut out of the paper plate and poured some glue onto it. My daughter then used this to dip her pom poms in glue, then attached them around the plate to make her clown collar.

Next, cut out an egg cup out of your egg carton.

Then have your child paint it red. Then set it aside to let it dry.

Take a large piece of construction paper and roll it up into a cone shape. You may need to trim some pieces off.

Then have your child decorate it any way they way. My daughter just added some star stickers around the hat and a pom pom at the tip of the cone.

With a hole puncher, punch two holes on the side of the egg cup and tie some string to it. Do the same with the cone shaped hat.

All dressed up and ready to be a silly little clown! "But mom...I still need some clown shoes!"

Around the World in 12 Dishes: Mexico

2012-10-08T22:49:00.000-07:00

Not only is it an exciting and different way to learn about cultures, but cooking with children brings a host of benefits - from numeracy to science. How can you beat that?

Adventures In Mommydom, Creative Family Fun, Domestic Goddesque, Glittering Muffins, Here Come The Girls, Juggling with Kids, Kitchen Counter Chronicles, Mermaids' Makings, Montessori Tidbits, Mummymummymum and The Educators' Spin On It have come together to help you on your food journey and will each cook a dish with our children and post about it - to help inspire you to have a go! Then go out there, cook, blog, and join in the linky fun! Check out the other great posts as well!

Around the World in 12 Dishes

We had started our journey the same way Phileas Fogg did in London, UK, and Stockholm, Sweden, then continued on to Moscow in Russia and via Indian New Delhi reached Tokyo in Japan. After making a stop in the exotic location of Papeete, capital of French Polynesia, we have now reached Mexico City!

March 4 - First country was the UK
April 1 - The second country was Sweden
May 6 - The third country was Russia
June 3 - The fourth country was India
July 7 - The fifth country was Japan
August 5 - The sixth country is Australia
September 2 - The seventh country is French Polynesia
October 7 - The eighth country is Mexico!

How to join the fun!

The only mandatory part is the dish, the rest is all up to you, we just thought it would be fun and more concrete to the kids as to why we are making a unusual dish.
Cook a dish from Mexico: The goal is to explore this country through FOOD and activities if you wish. Make a typical dish (sweet or savoury) from the country with the kids, take photos and have fun!
Typical dishes: Tacos, Enchiladas, Quesadillas and more.
Print your passport: Click here to download, comes with space for a photo of the child with the dish. Here is a little cover for it if you wish :)
Color a placemat: Once colored/painted or whatever other way you want to do this, you can laminate it or put it between clear contact paper to use it over and over. Great conversation piece for you and your kids. Click here to download it.
Make a craft: you can make a country related craft with the kids [optional!]

Fun fact: The Chihuahua is the world’s smallest dog and is named for a Mexican state.
Share with us: Our Mexico challenge starts on October 7th and will remain open for a year, so attach a link to your blog to enter the linky party or go to the comment section and post a photo together with what you did together with your child(ren).
Pinterest: We will add your photos to a "Around the World in 12 Dishes" Pinterest Boards (one for the dishes, one for the crafts) you will be a great source of inspiration for everyone :)
Are you a blogger? Let your fans know about the challenge and grab our cute lil’ button to share it on your blog.

Please check out our partner blogs and their Mexico ideas: Adventures In Mommydom, Creative Family Fun, Domestic Goddesque, Glittering Muffins, Here Come The Girls, Juggling with Kids, Kitchen Counter Chronicles, Mermaids' Makings, Montessori Tidbits, Mummymummymum and The Educators' Spin On It

If you do this, we’d LOVE to see a photo of it. Email it to us or post it on our Facebook page. We’d love to do a Facebook album, a Pinterest board and a page of your creations :)

Please link up your Mexican dish and/or craft in our linky below, we would love to see it!

Around the World in 12 Dishes: Mexico: Chocolate Mexicano

2012-10-08T11:11:00.002-07:00

Living in Southern California, we have the opportunity to eat as much delicious Mexican food as we please, so we didn't have to travel very far to our next Around the World in 12 Dishes destination. I wanted to make something that the kids had never had before, so we decided to see how hot chocolate in Mexico differed from the one we drank. The kids and I found a book at the library called The Young Chef's Mexican Cookbook, and found a recipe for Chocolate Mexicano.

Ingredients:
-1/2 cup sugar
-1/4 cup cocoa
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1 tablespoon plain flour
-1 teaspoon cinnamon
-1 cup cold water
-4 cups milk
-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

In a large saucepan, add 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon plain flour, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

Then add 1 cup cold water.

Cook the ingredients over low heat and keep stirring until the mixture is completely dissolved.

Turn up the heat on the stove to medium high. Stir the mixture until it boils and continue to stir for 3-5 minutes.

Add 4 cups of milk and continue to stir until the milk is hot, but not boiling.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and still in 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.

My kids loved this recipe! My son drank his entire cup without taking a breath...he loved the deeper chocolate flavor from our usual Nestle Quik that we make his chocolate milk with. And the cinnamon flavor was an added bonus. My daughter, is watching me as I'm typing this blog post, and she is also begging me to make this recipe again. This might become a tradition to make in our household this winter.

Check out these other blogs for more adventures on Around the World in 12 Dishes!

Around the World in 12 Dishes: French Polynesia: Tahitian Sensory Box

2012-10-01T16:18:00.000-07:00

My daughter and I continued to explore French Polynesia with a fun little island sensory box. A sensory box is basically a container filled with any kind of tactile material that allows kids explore with their hands. With a sensory box children are using their sight, touch and smell to experience their environment in a totally new way. It's a great way for them to learn about colors, textures,different objects and environments while also developing their fine motor skills.

French Polynesia is an archipelago of about 130 islands in the South Pacific, so what better way to explore by making our own island!

Supplies:
-Plastic bin/container (mine is a 28qt box)
-Sand
-Small plastic container
-Ocean themed toys (fish, palm trees, seaweed, tropical fruit)
-Other optional items: marbles, rocks, leaves, seashells
-Water

Directions:
I took a small plastic container and put the sand inside it, just so it would create the "feeling" of an island. I was afraid if I tried to build a mound inside the huge tub, it would have flattened out within minutes of my daughter playing with it.

I then used the toys we had offhand to decorate the island.

I also added some marbles, rocks, plastic fish, and some leaves. And of course water!

My daughter had a great time playing with this sensory box! She played with it for about 40 minutes straight.

A sensory box is such a great tool for open-ended imaginary play.

Towards the end, she decided she wanted to hop into the sensory box. After she was done playing, we then put the lid on the box, so that she could enjoy playing with it again the next day.

Please check out our partner blogs and their Australia ideas: Adventures In Mommydom, Creative Family Fun, Domestic Goddesque, Glittering Muffins, Here Come The Girls, Juggling with Kids, Kitchen Counter Chronicles, Mermaids' Makings, Montessori Tidbits, Mummymummymum, The Educators' Spin On It and The Usual Mayhem!

Please link up your French Polynesian dish and/or craft in our linky below, we would love to see it!

Around the World in 12 Dishes: French Polynesia: Tahitian Fruit Pudding

2012-09-20T13:06:00.002-07:00

The kids and I magically traveled to the beautiful French Polynesian islands this month and explored the tastes of Tahitian fruit pudding. Tahitian fruit pudding or Po'e is a popular dessert which is normally eaten after Tahitian tamara’a barbecues. Normally it is wrapped in banana leaves and baked in the fire pit, but luckily for us we found a modern kitchen recipe. Po'e can be made from fresh fruit such as pumpkin, papaya, bananas, and yuca. We decided to start easy and make a banana po'e.

Ingredients:
-6-8 ripe bananas (the recipe calls for 4 cups of puree). I think our bananas were small because we ended up using nine bananas.
-1/2 cup of brown sugar
-1 cup of cornstarch or arrowroot
-2 teaspoons of vanilla
-1 cup of coconut cream (coconut cream is the think coconut milk that rises to the top of a can of coconut milk. If you don't shake the can before opening, you can skim it right off the top. (We didn't use 1 cup...more like 1/2 cup)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Then have your kids peel 6-8 bananas.

Then slice them up into small pieces.

Place the bananas into a food processor.

Puree the bananas in a blender or food processor. There should be enough puree to make 4 cups.

Mix together the brown sugar and arrowroot or cornstarch with the pureed bananas. I had my kids sift the cornstarch to get all the lumps out.

Add the vanilla to the bananas and mix well. There should not be any lumps of starch. Adjust sugar to taste.

Butter a 2-quart baking dish and pour in the puree. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the pudding is firm and bubbling. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled.

Cut into cubes and place into a large serving bowl or in individual bowls. Top with a dollop of coconut cream, a little more brown sugar and serve.

The kids loved this dish and even asked for seconds! I wasn't sure if they would like it or not, especially since I kept telling them we were making a banana pudding, yet the consistency of this pudding is not the same as what we normally eat her in the U.S.

Please link up your French Polynesian dish and/or craft in our linky below, we would love to see it!

Around the World in 12 Dishes: French Polynesia

2012-09-20T13:06:00.001-07:00

Not only is it an exciting and different way to learn about cultures, but cooking with children brings a host of benefits - from numeracy to science. How can you beat that?

Adventures In Mommydom, Creative Family Fun, Domestic Goddesque, Glittering Muffins, Here Come The Girls, Juggling with Kids, Kitchen Counter Chronicles, Mermaids' Makings, Montessori Tidbits, Mummymummymum, The Educators' Spin On It and The Usual Mayhem have come together to help you on your food journey and will each cook a dish with our children and post about it - to help inspire you to have a go! Then go out there, cook, blog, and join in the linky fun! Check out the other great posts as well!

Around the World in 12 Dishes

We had started our journey the same way Phileas Fogg did in London, UK, and Stockholm, Sweden continued on to Moscow in Russia. Now our next stop is New Delhi, capital of the exotic sub-continent of India!

March 4 - First country was the UK
April 1 - The second country was Sweden
May 6 - The third country was Russia
June 3 - The fourth country was India
July 7 - The fifth country was Japan
August 5 - The sixth country is Australia
September 2 - The seventh country is French Polynesia!

How to join the fun!

The only mandatory part is the dish, the rest is all up to you, we just thought it would be fun and more concrete to the kids as to why we are making a unusual dish.
Cook a dish from French Polynesia: The goal is to explore this country through FOOD and activities if you wish. Make a typical dish (sweet or savoury) from the country with the kids, take photos and have fun!
Typical dishes: Poisson Cru, Poulet (Chicken) Fafa, Po’e, Pork Curry with Tarua (Taro)
Print your passport: Click here to download, comes with space for a photo of the child with the dish. Here is a little cover for it if you wish :)
Color a placemat: Once colored/painted or whatever other way you want to do this, you can laminate it or put it between clear contact paper to use it over and over. Great conversation piece for you and your kids. Click here to download it.
Make a craft: you can make a country related craft with the kids [optional!]

Fun fact: Those things that look like mail boxes outside the homes of Tahitian residents are not for mail, but for French bread delivery. Residents get a fresh loaf dropped off twice a day. But they must go to the post office to retrieve their mail!
Share with us: Our French Polynesia challenge starts on September 2 and will remain open for a year, so attach a link to your blog to enter the linky party or go to the comment section and post a photo together with what you did together with your child(ren).
Pinterest: We will add your photos to a "Around the World in 12 Dishes" Pinterest Boards (one for the dishes, one for the crafts) you will be a great source of inspiration for everyone :)
Are you a blogger? Let your fans know about the challenge and grab our cute lil’ button to share it on your blog.

Please link up your French Polynesian dish and/or craft in our linky below, we would love to see it!