10 Interesting Facts about Fireworks & Independence Day & Craft Round-Up

1. It is believed the first fireworks were created in China as early as 200 BC. The first was a natural one where they would roast bamboo which would explode with a bang. It was believed to scare off evil spirits.

The Dragon New Year Book Review for Multicultural Children's Book Day & Chinese New Year Blog Series

Disclosure: Peachtree Publishers sent me a copy of this book free of charge to review. 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.

Today I am going to review my second book for Multicultural Children's Book Day (MCCBD). On Monday I reviewed the first book, Endeavour's Long Journey. There I shared all the exciting things going on with MCCBD. MCCBD is a national event which  Valarie Budayr from Jump Into a Book and Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom created to celebrate diversity in children's books. MCCBD team hopes to spread the word and raise awareness about the importance of diversity in children’s literature. Our young readers need to see themselves within the pages of a book and experience other cultures, languages, traditions and religions within the pages of a book. We encourage readers, parents, teachers, caregivers and librarians to follow along the fun book reviews, author visits, event details, a multicultural children’s book linky and via our hashtag (#ReadYourWorld) on Twitter and other social media. This year's MCCBD is January 27th! The 2015 sponsors for MCCBD are: 

Platinum Sponsors: Wisdom Tales Press, Daybreak Press Global Bookshop,  

Gold Sponsors:  Satya House,  Multicultural Kids.com,   Author Stephen Hodges and the Magic Poof,  

Silver Sponsors: Junior Library Guild,  Capstone Publishing, Lee and Low Books,  The Omnibus Publishing.  

Bronze Sponsors:Double Dutch Dolls, Bliss Group Books, Snuggle with Picture Books Publishing,  Rainbow Books,   Author Felicia Capers,   Chronicle Books   Muslim Writers Publishing , East West Discovery Press. 

Happy Independence Day!!

Today we are celebrating our country's Independence Day! Before I go into my post, I would like to send a huge thank you to all the soldiers (past and present) who have fought to protect our country and their families. We send our thanks and prayers to you!

For the Fourth of July, we have not done much this year. Hazel and I looked at the wonderful packet about fireworks from My Shae Noel. We decided to make some firework paintings, which I saw over at Tippytoe Crafts the other day. Hazel loved making these and continued to paint with the Q-tips some more. Instead of adding glitter we used some glitter paint.

We also made some pipe cleaner fireworks/sparklers that I have been seeing all over the web lately. Hazel also wanted some pancakes so we made red, white and blue pancakes (strawberry, blueberry, almond pancakes). I cut the recipe in half since I couldn't eat any and when we made them Steve wasn't home, so this recipe made five pancakes.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground flax seed meal
1 egg
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk (could use regular milk)
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/4-1/2 cup blueberries (we used fresh because we had them, but usually I use frozen)
1/4 cup strawberries (fresh from the farmer's market, but could be sliced frozen)
1-2 tablespoons almonds

Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Beat the egg in a medium bowl and then add the liquid ingredients. Mix dry ingredients into liquid ones and add berries and nuts. Cook.

Hazel said she loved them! 

In the past we have done much more and usually host a barbeque for some friends, but decided to have a quiet one this year. Here are some of our crafts and food from the past.

Flower Wreath; Patriotic Candles; Rockets

Patriotic Wreath; Flower Arrangement; Red, White and Blue Sugar Cookies, Shell Sailboats

Salad Spinner Spin Art Banner; Red, White and Blue Fruit Salad (banana, blueberry, watermelon, strawberries), Duct tape Firework Crown (with other Fourth of July Crafts for Toddler/Preschooler)

Handprint Fireworks; Marble Painting; Utensil Holders; State Frame

Finally some of the great patriotic crafts and activities from the last few Sharing Saturdays!

1) From We Made That: Fourth of July Layered Drink
2) From Making Memories with Your Kids: Layered Drink
3) From School Time Snippets: 4th of July Noise Maker
4) From Montessori Now: Patriotic Practical Life and Math Activity
5) From Gift of Curiosity: Fireworks in a Jar
6) From Buggy and Buddy: Statue of Liberty Crown and Torch
7) From Little Bins for Little Hands: 4th of July Sensory Bin
8) From Gift of Curiosity: 4th of July Montessori Activities
9) From Buggy and Buddy: Patriotic Spirit Wands
10) From Gift of Curiosity: Sticky Paper American Flag
11) From Boy Mama Teacher Mama: Homemade Flags
12) From There's Just One Mommy: American Flag Craft
13) From Toddlers Through Preschoolers: Fourth of July Tray
14) From Little Bins for Little Hands: 4th of July Baking Soda Science Sensory Play
15) From Learning and Growing the Piwi Way: Fourth of July Pack
16) From Mums Make Lists: 4th of July Fun Round Up

I wish you and your family a happy, fun-filled and safe Fourth of July!

Salad Spinner Firework Art

This morning we had the best time making firework paintings. I found on Pinterest Mom's Crafty Space: Salad Spinner "Fireworks" Tutorial. I figured I had an old salad spinner that leaked and Hazel loves using it, so why not. We added water to her red and blue paints including her red sparkle paint. We also added our own touch with some glitter at the end.

 I gave her old medicine syringes to add drops of color. She had two different shades of blue and red and we did them on paper plates. She dropped the colors on the plate in the spinner. One red was almost empty so we just added water to the bottle and used the squeezer. It got a little more liquidy than the others.

Then she spun it. She loves this.

Then she loved pushing the stop button and checking how it looked.

Then we added glitter. Another favorite activity for Hazel.

We made large plates and small plates. I took all the small plates and added letters/words to say "Happy 4th of July!" Punched a hole in them and made a banner for the mantle. The large plates I am thinking of putting "Freedom" on and hanging them on our outside stairs for our barbeque.

After spin art we tried marble painting. We tried it on plates, but didn't totally like it. You can see the small plate above with "of" on it. We tried it on white paper.

Then we did some handprint fireworks. Hazel did not quite get the idea of them, but we had fun. We added glitter to make it a little more realistic.

We have some more ideas for painting fireworks, but they will have to wait for another day.

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