Mermaid Kisses and Sea Star Wishes Pajamas and Free Printables

Now Hazel and I frequent our local Gymboree store often. Someone Steve graduated from high school works there and through our visits to her we have gotten to know basically the whole staff. Hazel feels at home there and loves to go in to see if there is anything new in stock. She loves their clothes and has quite a few. A couple of weeks ago we noticed the Starfish Wish Two-Piece Short Pajamas .

Starfish Wish Two-Piece Short Pajamas

Indian Crafts

Disclosure: This post contains Affiliate links where I will receive a nominal fee if you purchase through it.

Since it is the last day of the month, we are finishing our exploration of India with Global Learning for Kids and preparing to move on to Lebanon in July. To finish India we made some crafts of things we had read about. Two of the craft ideas came from Super Simple Indian Art by Alex Kuskowski. This book has several great ideas that use things most kids have in their craft supplies.

The Peace Tree from Hiroshima -- Multicultural Monday Book Review

Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave 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 in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. This post also contains Affiliate links for Little Passports where I will receive a nominal fee if you purchase through it.

Back in May we explored Japan as part of Global Learning for Kids. The book I am reviewing today would have fit perfectly in our exploration and especially when we explored a bit about bonsai. However it was not out yet and in fact is not out yet. It is being released July 14, 2015. The Peace Tree from Hiroshima: The Little Bonsai with a Big Story by Sandra Moore and illustrated by Kazumi Wilds is a wonderful true story that brings hope of peace to the world. After if a little bonsai tree that survived the atomic bomb in Hiroshima can be gifted to the country that dropped the bomb, doesn't it seem possible to solve all differences.

Sharing Saturday 15-26

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! We were visiting my parents last week, so I did not get an email out and the numbers were a bit low, but what was shared was amazing!! If you have not checked them out, you should. For the sampling of ideas from last week I went with Educational Features and Summer Project Features. Enjoy!!

Wild Kratts DVD Reviews & Craft

Disclosure: PBS Kids gave me a copies of these DVDs free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Hazel's favorite television show is Wild Kratts. She gets up at 6 a.m. to watch it every week day and she likes to watch the double episode from 5-6 p.m. as well. We are lucky to have two "local" PBS channels that have it on at different times plus the PBS Kids cable channel. Now that school is out if we are home at 2 p.m.she also wants to watch an episode. Yes, Hazel's schedule goes around the Wild Kratts. She was so excited when I told her I was contacted by PBS Kids to review the newest Wild Kratts DVD: Super Sprinters. Hazel just stood there with her mouth wide open for a minute or two and then she started jumping up and down and cheering. When I wrote this back to my contact at PBS Kids, she said she would throw in a couple of extra DVDs for Hazel and she did! Today we will review all three of the Wild Kratt DVDs: Super Sprinters, Lost at Sea and Bugging Out.

The Cafe Spice Cookbook -- Book Review -- Exploring India

Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave 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 in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

We have been continuing our exploration of India, this month's country for Global Learning for Kids. We explored recipes from India in The Cafe Spice Cookbook by Hari Nayak and photography by Jack Turkel. 

This cookbook is inspired by the Cafe Spice grab 'n go Indian meals found at Costco and Whole Foods. I am excited to review this book and have Hazel try some Indian food. Steve has never liked Indian food, so I was interested in seeing if he would like it. The only times he ever ate it was when other people had ordered it. Since we are not a family who loves things too spicy, I was hoping to keep the spice factor down, however I did not really succeed. We tried three recipes from the book so far. We started with a lassi. Hazel wanted to try a lassi after seeing it on one of the Indian DVDs we watched and hearing about it in a few of the books we have read. 

Little One-Yard Wonders Book Review

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.

Today I get the pleasure of reviewing Little One-Yard Wonders by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins. This is the newest addition to the One-Yard Wonders series. I love these books!!

This book has 101 sewing projects for children and babies. It has everything from clothing to toys and room decor. Just on the cover you can see a floor cushion, shoes, a diaper bag and the mushroom tea set and more!! The first project I wanted to try was the Summer Days Hat. This hat is perfect for Hazel with her long hair that she always wants up. Her sun hats tend not to fit over her pony tail.

Mystery of the Golden Temple -- Multicultural Book Review

 Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from Pack-n-Go Girls 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.

Every night Hazel and I enjoy reading some stories. Lately she reads one to my parents over the phone and then I read a few picture books to her and then we read a chapter or two from a chapter book. She is very into the Rainbow Magic series, but this past week we also enjoyed reading Mystery of the Golden Temple by Lisa Travis. This book is in a series of books by Pack-n-Go Girls. This is the first book set in Thailand. They have books set is Austria and Mexico and are hoping to come out with a new one this fall set in Brazil. They are also hoping to come out with Pack-n-Go Girls dolls. To do this, they need people's help. Please consider donating something to this kickstarter campaign. It will be open through June 25, 2015. They are almost at their goal, so go help them make it!

Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop 28

Please note this is NOT Sharing Saturday!! Sharing Saturday is still available, but this link party is for cultural posts!

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.

Sharing Saturday 15-25

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! Hazel and I have been enjoying her first week of summer vacation with a short trip to Cape Cod to see my parents. This week's features include some ideas for Father's Day (this Sunday in the U.S.), educational posts and some other favorites. Remember this is just a sampling of what was shared last week, so go back and check out the other great ones!!

Sew Useful -- Book Review

Disclosure: Search Press 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.

Today I am sharing with you a wonderful book for helping you organize your house (and especially your craft room). The book is Sew Useful by Debbie Shore.

Exploring India -- Resources and Craft

This month Global Learning for Kids is exploring India. We have been reading books about India, people from India, places in India and stories from India. Today I am sharing with you a bit about India as well as some of the resources we found (some we have read and some we have not read yet) as well as a craft Hazel did with instructions from a book and minimal help from me. First a bit about India.

The Republic of India is the seventh largest country by area and the second largest by population. It has over 1.2 billion people in it! It is a country in Southeast Asia. The capital is New Delhi. It has a long history which includes the start of four religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Hinduism is the most prevalent religion there today. India has a caste system which is a social hierarchy. In 1947 the untouchables caste was declared illegal due to the discrimination that the people put into this caste endured. At many workplaces the caste system is not important.  Family is important in India and many live with  large patriarchal families. Many marriages are still arranged by the parents with the consent of the couple. Divorce rate is very low since marriage is considered to be for life.

Exploring Ramadan

We are participating in the Multicultural Kid Blogs Ramadan for Kids Series. This is our post for the series. As a Christian family, we do not know much about Ramadan except that it lasts a month and includes fasting. So our first step was to find out more about the holiday. We started with a DVD from the Holidays for Children series called Ramadan.

It is an older video we found at our library. It explains the holiday and some of the why for the holiday. It also shared a craft that was similar to the craft on In the Playroom: Watercoulour Mosque Silohouette Pictures. So we did not do this one. Next we read some books from the library.

Sharing Saturday 15-24

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!!As summer approaches and schools end, the posts seem to dwindle in number, but we had some great posts shared last week. Our features include educational features, art and more features and a couple of various ones. Remember this is just a sampling of what was shared last week, so go back and check out the other great ones!!

All the Little Fathers -- Book Review

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.

This was Hazel's last week of kindergarten so I have been busy with school events, but her summer vacation has started! To start the vacation we read All the Little Fathers by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Marilyn Faucher, this month's Book Buddies Picture Book from Parragon Books. 

All the Little Fathers is a wonderful book about father animals taking care of and playing with their children. It is the perfect book for young children and especially the month of June in the United States since Father's Day is the third Sunday in June every year. Like many of Margaret Wise Brown's books, the text is relatively simple. The various animals do things like bears catch fish for their children, grasshoppers jump over their children, and they all put them to bed. 

The pictures in the book are colorful and fun. It is a beautiful book. Hazel really enjoyed it when we read it and to be honest she can probably read it now, but has not tried yet. My only comment is that it is not necessarily accurate with the animals as to what the fathers do. For example it is the mother bear who raises the cubs and not the fathers. The fathers have nothing to do with it. However I know this more because of Hazel's love of learning about animals, so I am probably just more in tune to that kind of thing. She did not comment on those things at all. 

It is a lovely new book by Margaret Wise Brown, author of Good Night, Moon and The Runaway Bunny. It is a fun book for children to read and hear and imagine what the animals life is really like. After all I can see the lions roaring with their children and the rabbits all hopping about together. It definitely can stir some fun images as well as be a good conversation starter on what really does happen. 

To see our first Book Buddies Review, check out Spot a Lot Vehicle Adventure Book Review.

Math of India -- Global Learning for Kids

Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me a copy of Indian Children's Favorite Stories free of charge. 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 month we are exploring India as part of the Global Learning for Kids series. Today I thought I would focus on some Indian mathematicians and an Indian mathematical folk tale. Last month I shared the history of zero and the role the Indians played in it. First we will explore a few of the same mathematicians, Aryabhata and Brahmagupta, and introduce another Indian mathematician, Srinivasa Ramanujan. The Indians had a huge influence on our current number system and mathematics. Although it was the Arabs who took their number system and made it famous.

Sharing Saturday 15-23

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! This week there were less posts shared, but the ones that were are amazing!! For features we have some help with picking Summer Reading, June Holidays, and what I am calling Create and Play. 

Little Quilts and Gifts from Jelly Roll Scraps Book Review

Disclosure: Search Press 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 has been another one of those weeks where life is getting in my way of what I want to do, but it has been a good week. Hazel has one week of school left so all the end of the school year craziness is happening. Yesterday we enjoyed a field trip to Drumlin Farm. Hazel was the only child who had previously been there so it was fun to see it with new eyes. I have been trying to find time to make a few of the items in this beautiful book, Little Quilts & Gifts from Jelly Roll Scraps by Carolyn Forster. 

Parenting Resource Book to Help Discuss Sexual Abuse and Have a Plan

Today I am going to share a book I found recently. Now I do not remember where I saw it and cannot find the original place I saw it in the last month, but this is a must read to your young children. The book is I Said No!: A Kid-to-Kid Guide to Keeping Private Parts Private by Zack and Kimberly King. This book came about after Zack and his sister slept over their best friends' house while their mother dealt with an emergency with the baby. The house was right next door and they had known the neighbors for years. Zack was in kindergarten. Yes, in kindergarten like Hazel. Zack's best friend tried to get Zack to show him his private parts and also tried to get Zack to touch the friend's privates. He used bribery, peer pressure, and threatened to not be his friend anymore to get what he wanted. Zack told the mother and she told them to go to bed. He told his sister and she talked to the mother and again he was sent into the room with the boy. He eventually came up with the solution of staying in the bathroom and telling them he was sick to his stomach. Kimberly is a kindergarten teacher and thought she had prepared her children for any situation they might find themselves in, but she had not expected a kindergartener to use bribery, threats and such. Writing this book together helped the family heal and be able to move past this horrible experience. It is also written as five-year-old Zack is talking to the child reading it. It is very powerful.

Exploring India with DVDs -- Global Learning for Kids

This month we move our exploration from Japan to India with Global Learning for Kids. Now the first thing I have to say is I am amazed by how many resources there are on India for children. I stopped looking at the on-line catalog for our public library after I put 100 or so things on hold. We will be sharing many different resources for exploring India throughout the month including some book reviews and a Multicultural Math post. To start learning about India we started with three DVDs. I love starting with DVDs because they give the viewer a real sense of what the country is like. Reading about it does this as well but actually seeing how they live differently makes a huge difference. As always I am providing links to the items for your convenience. I get no compensation for them.