Celebrating Valentine's Day with 1 Corinthians 13

I love teaching Hazel about God when talking about love. I saw this wonderful craft over at Meaningful Mama: Heart Peacock Craft Teaches True Love. I fell in love with it and knew we had to do it. I love that it visualizes 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8:

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
⁸ Love never fails. (Source)

We used the patterns provided at Meaningful Mama. We added and eye for the peacock and some legs. Hazel told me it needed legs, so we used a pipe cleaner. To make the peacock, we used cardstock. I cut out 16 hearts and one body. Glue the hearts together so they overalp and then add the body. Hazel put the body on, so it is a little crooked. Then you add the words.

The words are of course from the Bible. We taped the pipe cleaner on at the end--folding it in half and then folding the ends to be feet.

Besides reading 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, we also love the picture book by Lisa Tawn Bergren, God Gave Us Love. We wrote about it during Advent for the week of Love. For some more Valentine themed ideas check out:

• Valentine's Day Crafts some with Scripture and Bible References
• Simple Felt Hearts for Garland or Wreath
• For the Love of Geometry: Geometric Love Poems
• Strawberry Heart Muffins
• Felt Heart Gift--Hand Sewn
• Lavender Heart Sewing Lesson (Hand Sewing)
• Preschool Made Simple Valentines
• Valentine Tea Party
• Valentine Swap & Lots of Valentine Crafts
• My Valentine's Day Pinterest Board

Sharing Saturday 14-6

Thank you to everyone who shared last week and to all of you who took time to check out what others had shared. I'm running late with this post since there were so many wonderful ideas shared!! If you have not had time to check out all of them (over 100), please do. They are so inspiring! Instead of sharing most clicked (it was a tie), I thought I would share some favorites and Olympic-themed posts as well as some Valentine-themed posts. Now the favorite is really one for Hazel since she LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. There are also many more wonderful posts (and even more Valentine-themed ones)!! I had a hard time choosing which is why there are so many shared!

Valentine's Day Crafts

We have been so busy with other February events, that I haven't had time to share some of the Valentine's Day crafts we have been doing. Here are three simple crafts.

Book Review: Sora and the Cloud

Disclosure: I was sent this book digitally to review free of charge from Immedium. 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 we got almost a foot of snow. With all the cold, beautiful snow outside, I thought it was the perfect time to review this wonderful book by Felicia Hoshino called Sora and the Cloud. It is one of those wonderfully dreamy books that can never happen, but it is always so fun to think about happening.

This story is about a young Japanese boy exploring his world. Sora is a climber and one day he climbs a tree. Waiting in the branches of the tree is a friendly cloud. Sora hops on and the two become friends as they have an adventure. Throughout the story there are Japanese references such as food booths in a festival, kite flying and lyrics to a children's song about kites. The story has been translated into Japanese and both text are written on each page. After Sora returns to his family, his sister starts to check out the friendly cloud. It is an imaginative story about young children exploring and discovering the world around them. 

Felicia Hoshino has illustrated many books and finally she writes and illustrates her own. It is beautifully illustrated and is the kind of book you can imagine a child daydreaming about. Add the Japanese culture throughout the book, and it is a wonderful introduction for any child. The book makes me smile. The story is simple yet fantasy and it makes it that wonderful mix that makes you happy to read.

The book is available for $15.95 at Immedium. It is a wonderful addition to anyone's multicultural library!

For some more multicultural children book reviews check out:

• Year of the Horse
• Julie Black Belt Series
• Rainbow Stew
• Princess Grace 
• Civil Rights Movement Stories
• Hispanic Picture Books
  
• Multicultural Children's Book Day Blog Hop

February Happenings: Paul Galdone, Canada and Black History Month

With the busy start of February, I have not had a chance to preview the month for you. February brings some added events such as Valentine's Day, Presidents Day and Black History Month. We have joined some other great members of Multicultural Kid Blogs to bring you the Black History Month Blog Hop. We have already shared posts on Thurgood Marshall and the song We Shall Overcome. For Valentine's Day we have shared a simple sewing project of a felt heart so far.

Another event coming up this month is:

 International Book Giving Day is an initiative aimed at increasing children's access to and enthusiasm about books. To participate you donate or give books to children either ones you know or a charity or a classroom or library. Will you join us is celebrating?

For Virtual Book Club for Kids the author this month is Paul Galdone. Now most people know something of Paul Galdone's work since so many of his titles are classic stories. He illustrates them and tells the traditional tale. We will be sharing a Galdone book next week with you!!

For Around the World in 12 Dishes, we will be exploring Canada. This will be the twelfth country we have explored in this series!! We have had so much fun exploring the countries. Hazel is always asking where we will be exploring the next month. The new season begins in March. I hope you will join us exploring our neighbor to the north with food, stories, music and more!
Stay tuned for more reviews, giveaways and crafts!!