Finishing Our Exploration of Japan --Global Learning for Kids

Only a couple more days to enter the Asian-Pacific Heritage Giveaway!

This month we joined a group of Multicultural Kid Blogs bloggers to begin a new project called Global Learning for Kids. Each month we will choose a country to explore. The blogs that chose to cohost will write a post about that country--books, music, crafts, lessons, recipe, etc. and share it with a link party. This month we have been exploring Japan. We started with an introduction to the country on Multicultural Kid Blogs which I wrote as well as a few explorations on our own: round-up of our past Japan explorations, discovering sushi, and exploring origami. Today I am going to share a few more resources we used to explore Japan. I am providing links to the various resources for your convenience. I do not receive anything for you using them. I borrowed all of these from our public library.

Sharing Saturday 15-22

What a week it has been!! I have had one of those weeks where life got inthe way of blogging. I guess I took a bit of a break to catch up with the busy spring. Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! This week there were less posts shared, but the ones that were are amazing!! I picked some crafts and teaching posts as features. These are only a sampling of what was shared. Be sure to go back to last week's party to see even more great ideas.

Asian Book Reviews -- Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month Blog Series and Giveaway

Have you entered my current giveaway yet?

Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me a copy of these books free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. They also sent me a copy to giveaway! As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

This post is part of the Multicultural Kid Blogs Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month Blog Series and Giveaway. More details about all of this below including the giveaway!!

Since May is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, I contacted my friends at Tuttle Publishing. It was a logical choice since this is their specialty. They publish books on Asian cultures, languages, and history. They have books for children and adults. It is a wonderful publishing company that puts out high quality and beautiful books. They also have provided five of the books for the giveaway below! The first book we will review is one of the prizes.

Sharing Saturday 15-21

Thank  you to everyone who shared last week!! This week there were so many great ideas!! People are kicking into summer mode and I know this is a busy time around my house. How about with you? This week's features are Summer Plans & Travel, Art & Crafts and a few of my favorites. These are only a sampling of what was shared. Be sure to go back to last week's party to see even more great ideas.

Junior Explorers Multicultural Product Review

Have you entered my current giveaway?

 Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from Junior Explorers as part of the Multicultural Kids Product Promotion Services. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.

Today I have the pleasure of reviewing a monthly packet from Junior Explorers. We received the Amazon Jaguar Mission packet. Hazel was really excited for this. In our packet we had many things including an introduction letter with your mission code, a checklist to make sure you have everything or your mission, information sheet on the region, stickers and temporary tatoos, 

Spot a Lot Vehicle Adventure Book Review

Have you entered my current giveaway?

Disclosure: Parragon Books sent me a copy of this book free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the book for your convenience.

So recently I became a Parragon Books Buddy. They are going to send us a picture book each month to review. This month's book is Spot A Lot Vehicle Adventure by Steve Smallman and Nicola Slater. I have to admit when I saw the title I was thinking it would be a book we would read, review and pass on, however when we got it Hazel fell in love with it! Usually vehicles are not really her thing, however she loves to play "I Spy" and loves this book as a result. 

Creating a Cozy Reading Nook -- Decals Tree Product Review

Disclosure: Decals Tree gave me a wall sticker and is supplying the ones for the giveaway free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the wall sticker for your convenience.

In Hazel's bedroom there is a little nook between her closet and what may have been another closet at some point with a window. I have always wanted to make it a reading nook for her. I wanted a cozy spot with some fun pictures to help her imagination go wild. She fell in love with bean bag chairs at the Whole Foods play area near us. So we got her one at Target and moved her fluffy rug over there. Then Decals Tree offered us any wall sticker on their site for $50 or less and are offering a giveaway of the same thing to one of my readers. 

Exploring Origami -- Global Learning for Kids: Japan

Congratulations to Lauren L. on winning the Spring Into Science Giveaway!

Origami is something I have enjoyed for a long time and I have introduced it to Hazel many times: butterflies, various animals, exploring All About Japan. I have taken mathematics teacher courses on using origami in the classroom. It is especially great in geometry. Hazel has attempted origami a few times with me but she still struggles a bit with it. I think she needs to be a bit older to really get it, but for now we practice. 

History of Origami

Origami is the Japanese art of paper folding. Paper making was introduced to Japan by the Chinese in the beginning of the seventh century. The Japanese found a way to make a thin paper called washi. Washi was used for official religious record keeping and Buddhist writings. In Shinto religious ceremonies offerings for the gods were wrapped in washi paper as well as other things. Eventually people began to fold the paper into animals and decorations for the gifts. During the Muromachi period, it became the rule that gifts had to be adorned with decorations. Butterfly ornaments are often used in wedding ceremonies. (Source) Origami was originally called orikata, but it was changed to origami in 1880. Origami comes from two Japanese words: oru meaning to fold and kami meaning paper. (Source)

The History of Zero--Asian Pacific American Heritage Blog Series and Giveaway Post

This post is part of the Asian-Pacific American Heritage Blog Series and Giveaway on Multicultural Kid Blogs. You can enter the giveaway at the end of the post. There is a link party for all Asian-Pacific American Heritage posts on Multicultural Kid Blogs. We also have a link party for Japan posts in our Global Learning for Kids this month. Next month will be India.

History of Zero:

Can you imagine a world without zero? Or perhaps you wonder why we need to represent nothing at all? For centuries there was no mark or symbol of zero. The history of the number zero begins in Asia. It is believed that the first people to have a symbol for zero were the Babylonians. The Babylonians had inherited the counting system of the Sumerians which was the first to have a symbol instead of hash marks for each number.

Around 1450 B.C. By Свифт/Svift (my work) 
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop #27

Please note: This is not Sharing Saturday. Sharing Saturday is available here.

Welcome to the Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop! The Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop is a place where bloggers can share multicultural activities, crafts, recipes, and musings for our creative kids. We can't wait to see what you share this time! Created by Frances of Discovering the World through My Son's Eyes, the blog hop has now found a new home at Multicultural Kid Blogs. 

This month our co-hosts are:

La Cité des Vents on Multicultural Kid Blogs Marie's Pastiche Crafty Moms Share Castle View Academy The Art Curator for Kids Discovering the World Through My Son's Eyes  La Cité des Vents Words n Needles Bilinguazo Russian Step by Step for Children Scrambled Nest Los Gringos Locos

Asian American Figure Skaters: Kristi Yamaguchi and Michelle Kwan

Have you entered my current giveaway yet? Only a few more days to enter!!

For Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, I wanted to look at different parts of the culture. I decided to do something with sports. Since we have already read books about martial arts, I decided to go with something I love: figure skating. I went back to my younger days and found some books about Kristi Yamaguchi and Michelle Kwan. 

Sharing Saturday 15-20

Thank  you to everyone who shared last week!! There were a few less than usual, but we still have some great features! This week they are not labeled like they usually are. Enjoy!! Be sure to go back to last week's party to see even more great ideas.

Spring Into Science DVD Review and Giveaway

Disclosure: NCircle Entertainment gave me a copy of the DVDs free of charge and is supplying the ones for the giveaway free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the DVD on Amazon for your convenience. You can also find their DVDs at local retailers!

 For spring, NCircle Entertainment invited me to review four DVDs with science themes and offer new copies of the DVDs to one lucky winner!! All four are popular shows!! These are a fun way to bring science into your home either as a homeschooler or just to reinforce the school lessons! All four DVDs have been or are being released in 2015!

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Prize Review

Have you entered the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Giveaway being hosted over at Multicultural Kid Blogs? It is part of our Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Blog Series. I will be co-hosting two posts in the next couple of weeks as part of the series and I wrote the first post for the series on Multicultural Kid Blogs. I also played a roll in getting some of the prizes for the giveaway. I thought I would take some time to review the prizes since I wanted to check some out for myself. There are three prize packs that you can win and each has a good number of books. Some of the books we have reviewed previously and others we have not. Today I am going to review four books published by Lee & Low Books that I got out of the library. I will also share information about the other prizes that I have previously reviewed or know something about. I will provide links to where prizes can be purchased for your convenience. I do not get anything from you purchasing them besides the joy of sharing wonderful resources.

 The Prizes

Mother's Day Celebration with Link Party

This year for Mother's Day Hazel and I went to a tea house on Friday for afternoon tea. I had promised her we would do something like this when I had to miss the Mother/Daughter Tea Party at her school in April. I figured Mother's Day weekend was the perfect time. Hazel dressed up for the occasion with gloves and all. We had a wonderful time. 

Sharing Saturday 15-19

Thank  you to everyone who shared last week!! There were such amazing ideas shared last week. I had a hard time figuring out which ones to features. These features are just a sampling of the posts shared. I hope you will go and check them all out! This week our features consist of  Nature Related Crafts (and lessons), Science Lessons and a Few Favorites. 

Discovering Sushi -- Global Learning for Kids: Japan

Disclosure: I was sent this playset to review free of charge from Melissa & Doug. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them. They also sent one to me for the Asian Pacific American Blog Series and Giveaway!!
 
On Monday I shared that I am teaming up with Multicultural Kid Blogs to begin a new series called Global Learning for Kids. This month our focus is Japan. You can find my introduction to Japan on Multicultural Kid Blogs as well as the amazing Asian Pacific American Heritage Giveaway!! Our focus this week has been on sushi. Now I have only had sushi a couple of times in my life and as a non-fish eater, it has only been vegetarian. However we got this great Wooden Sushi Slicing Playset from Melissa & Doug, so I thought I should teach Hazel a bit about it. 

Nature Anatomy Book Review to Celebrate the Earth

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from Storey Publishing. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

Here is a perfect book for Earth Day although I'm a little late. This amazing book was one of the prizes in our Earth Day Giveaway. When I saw it I thought it looked like a book Hazel would love. I was right. Not only does Hazel love it, Steve and I love it and my father was looking very interested in it (and he really doesn't do books). The book is Nature Anatomy by Julia Rothman with help from John Niekrasz.

Exploring Switzerland with books, music, and food

Have you entered my current giveaway? This is one you do not want to miss!!

 For the month of April, we explored Switzerland. We have enjoyed learning about many things about Switzerland and from Switzerland. Switzerland is officially the Swiss Confederation and is a small landlocked country in Europe. It is a very mountainous country with the Alps and Jura as some boundaries of the country.

"LocationSwitzerland" by User:Rei-artur - Original by User:Vardion, Image:A large blank world map with oceans marked in blue.svg. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Global Learning for Kids

Have you entered my current giveaway? This is one you do not want to miss!!

 I am joining a group of Multicultural Kid Blogs to start a new series called Global Learning for Kids. Each month we will explore a country with books, music, crafts, lessons, food, etc. and share our exploration as well as have a link party so the posts will be a one-stop place to get many resources on the chosen country. This month we are starting with Japan! I wrote an introduction to the country of Japan over at Multicultural Kid Blogs to kick off Global Learning for Kids as well as the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Blog Series and Giveaway. (Make sure you stop by to enter the giveaway--there are some amazing prizes!!) We will be sharing posts about our exploration of Japan all month and later this month we will share two posts in the Blog Series and Giveaway (not having to do with just Japan). Make sure to follow this month!!

Since we are starting with Japan, I thought I would start with a round-up of everything we have already learned about Japan since we actually have quite a few posts with things about Japan in them.

Spring Candy Bird Houses

Have you entered my current giveaway? This is one you do not want to miss!!

We finally have spring weather in the Boston area and we definitely have a bit of spring fever at my house! The weather is too nice to stay inside all day. However we took time the other morning to make these adorable bird houses from graham crackers, Peeps and frosting. I saw the idea at Yesterfood. When I saw them, I knew Hazel would want to make them. She is after all obsessed with birdhouses and bird cages.

 
 We Had fun making them. Hazel remembered making gingerbread houses out of graham crackers and this reminded her of that. We used a tube of decorating frosting, but it took a few tries and some time to get them to stay together. 

We had two kinds of Peeps. The new birthday cake flavor (which Hazel thought was ok) and the original ones in pink (which Hazel does not like since she does not like marshmallow, but I love them). She made the house for the pink one and I did the blue one.

For similar ideas check out these posts:

• Graham Cracker Nativity 
• Valentine's Day Gingerbread House 
• Building a Bird Nest
• Yarn Bird Cages

Sharing Saturday 15-18

Have you entered my current giveaway? This is one you do not want to miss!!

Thank  you to everyone who shared last week!! I am blown away by the creativity and amazing posts shared. These features are just a sampling of the posts shared. I hope you will go and check them all out! This week our features consist of  May Features, Educational Features and Food and Play Dough Features.