The Five Sides of Marjorie Rice: How to discover a shape -- Math Biography Review with Math Projects

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The school year has started. I have read Ish to my classes and talked about math-ish numbers. It was a huge hit. Some of the kids recognized the book and some did not know it. It was the perfect introduction to needing number sense and math-ish numbers. I love incorporating story books into middle and high school math classes. Today I have another one to share with you. It tells the real-life tale of a woman with no mathematical background who solved a very old mathematical problem and not just once! The book is The Five Sides of Marjorie Rice: How to Discover a Shape by Amy Alznauer and illustrated by Anna Bron. It is recommended for ages 7 to 9. I am going to share some related math activities to go with the book for different ages!

Origami Resources Extravaganza -- Craft for Any Time

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these products in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Summer is always full of fun, but there are those days when the weather doesn't agree with getting outside. It can be too hot or too wet. And kids can get bored inside. Personally, I have always loved origami. It can be made as a lesson, I use it in my geometry class all the time, as part of a gift or craft, or just for fun. Today I am sharing some new origami resources for different ages and abilities as well as roundup of resources we have reviewed previously. Today's new resources include four books and three packs of origami paper. We will start with the book that comes with its own paper and is for ages 6 to 9. It is The Origami Kid: A Paperfolding Adventure by Robert McGuire. The previous review roundup includes over 100 products and projects!

Summer Themes: Bird Watching -- Turn This Book into a Bird Feeder -- Book Review with Craft Roundup

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

When Hazel was younger, I loved coming up with different themes to focus some of our books and activities. As she got older, it became themes for the summer. Now she is in high school and I'm lucky to watch television with her. As I was finding products to review, I realized many would lend to fun themes to focus your kids this summer. They range from educational, nature, crafts and more. Today's theme is bird watching! To introduce this theme I am sharing a wonderful book with you. It is Turn This Book into a Bird Feeder by Lynn Brunelle and illustrated by Anna-Maria Jung. It is recommended for ages 8 to 12 but could be for younger kids with adult help! After my review there will be a roundup of DIY bird feeders, bird crafts and other bird books to learn about them.

I LOVE Blueberries! -- Book Review with Blueberry Recipe & Craft Roundup

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Are you a berry lover? What is your favorite berry? Mine is blueberries. Perhaps that is why I'm so excited to share today's book. The book is I Love Blueberries! by Shannon Anderson and illustrated by Jaclyn Sinquett. A few years ago, I reviewed their other book: I Love Strawberries! It is recommended for 5- to 9-year-olds.  At the end of this post I have a roundup of blueberry recipes and crafts. 

My First Town: A Building Block Book -- Activity & Play Book Review

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I have a confession to make. I still play with dollhouses. Well, I build them and love decorating them. I recently got into book nooks thanks to a friend. We actually ran a mini course for our students in February where the kids (and we) created our own book nooks. We had a kit for the box of the book nook but then we mostly made everything that went into it. We did take the kids to Michael's for supplies so some bought furniture or decor. However, many made them completely out of things like clay, cardboard, popsicle sticks, and fabric. Some of them were amazing!! I actually made two. I did a backyard one with bird feeders and a tea shop one. They were so fun! In fact, I think I like creating my own things better than the kit ones. Today I get to share an activity book for kids who love to create and build. Instead of a dollhouse they get to build an entire town with this book! It is My First Town: A Building Block Book created by Merrill Rainey. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.

Whales in the City -- Picture Book Review with Whale Craft Roundup

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Earth Day is next month. I believe we all need to focus on our planet every day, however so many celebrate Earth Day. I always like to share books that help promote taking care of the planet and our natural resources and other life on our planet. Today I get to share a book that shares the story of whales in the water near New York City. The book is Whales in the City by Nancy F. Castaldo and illustrated by Chuck Groenink. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8. 

Catalog Paper Beads -- Recycling Catalogs -- Tween & Teen Craft for Earth Day

 

This week I started thinking about paper beads with something different. I had an Oriental Catalog sitting around and decided to try making beads from it. I was thinking this would be a fun Earth Day craft for tweens and teens. I tried different shapes and methods which I will share with you here. Most of the paper beads I have made have been recycling paper, but most of them were with special paper that I had. I wanted to find something that people would have in their homes to recycle. I came up with catalogs. I started with the Oriental Trading catalog that came in the mail recently. I still have pages of it even with all the beads I made.

Sierpinski Gasket -- Math Art -- Fractals

 

Today I am going to share some fun math art looking at a famous fractal--the Sierpinski Gasket or the Sierpinski Triangle. It is a perfect fractal to have kids create and goes well with geometry lessons. A fun way to introduce it and create it is the Chaos Game. Here is a video showing the Chaos Game with a triangle, square, and pentagon. With the triangle the Sierpinski Triangle will appear with enough iterations of the game. The rule as explained in the video is to begin with a random point. Then randomly choose a vertex. Connect your point to the vertex and find the midpoint. (Erase the line.) The midpoint is your new starting point. Repeat. This is a game you could easily play in a class as well. Don't watch the video first though. 

Rocks, Shells and Minerals -- Review of book and a project

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This has been an interesting summer. Here in the Boston area we are experience a very wet and cool July. This July is the third wettest on record in Boston and the wettest July in Worcester. There have only been a few days where no rain fell. As a result there haven't been many real beach days. But during the dry times it is still fun to walk on the beach and look for some beach treasures. To go with these walks is today's book from National Geographic Kids. It is Little Kids First Big Book: Rocks, Minerals and Shells by Moira Rose Donohue. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8. 

Full Moon -- New Picture Book with Craft & Fun Facts

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Are you aware of a full moon? Does your mood change? Do you have trouble sleeping? Do you think everyone else has gone crazy? Or do you just enjoy seeing it? Today I get to share a beautiful new picture book recommended for ages 3 to 6. The book is Full Moon by Camilla Pintonanto. 

Kid Made Mother's Day Card Ideas with Round-Up

Can you believe Mother's Day is only a week away? This year with remote learning going on the kids are not getting help from their teachers to make cards and gifts. That means it falls on the kids and the dads. Steve brought up the idea of shopping for Mother's Day cards with Hazel and whether it was safe. I reminded him that most of our stores here are closed and will be until after Mother's Day. I suggested they go to our local Walgreen's but when push came to shove Hazel did not want to go out. She has been home since this has started except for our walks when it is nice out, a trip to her school for her yearbook picture, a trip to a good friend's house who is also social distancing but we needed to exchange things with one another and trips to her grandmother's house with Steve. I went to Walgreen's and picked up a couple of cards for her grandmothers. She was afraid one of them would not like getting a homemade card. I found it hard to believe but figured it was worth getting cards for her to give them. She can make one for me. Then I got to thinking of the dads out there who haven't had to deal with this before. I got the idea of sharing some when I got an email from Crayola featuring a flamingo card. I figured we had to try it since Hazel LOVES flamingos. 

Doodles, Creations and Calm for Tween Girls and More

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. Some of the links are affiliate links where I will receive a small percentage of any purchases made through them at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Crafty Moms Share!

School is out for summer as of Wednesday!! I know this summer I will hear at some point: "I'm  bored!" Today I am going to share two books that are perfect for those moments for crafty tweens and others. The first book is Create! A Girl's Guide to DIY, Doodles & Design by Ashley May. 

Easy Easter Craft

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links where I will receive a small percentage of any purchases made through them at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Crafty Moms Share!

Well today in the Northeast we had a blizzard. I was awoken by Hazel yelling when the power went off this morning. It came back on about an hour later and was on for about 40 minutes. Then it was off again for a few hours. What are to snowbound girls to do? Well after putting on some layers to stay warm without heat, we did our nails. Have you heard of Color Street nail wraps yet? We LOVE them!! I have four friends who sell them now. One of them gave me a set of Sunset Canyon and asked me to do a Mommy and Me picture with them. So we did our nails. These wraps are so easy Hazel can do them herself!! And there is no dry time. It literally takes about ten minutes to give yourself a manicure with them and then they are good to go and last longer than regular nail polish. Oh and they are regular nail polish. 

Merry Monday -- Where to Shop for Educational Gifts & a Quick Craft

Disclosure: MindWare sent me these products in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Even though we had our Multicultural Monday post this morning, I wanted to be sure to share a Merry Monday post with you. Instead of books this week I thought I would share some educational gifts and where to buy them as well as a fun and easy hack on a decoration I saw at Michael's today. Now one of our favorite places to shop is Mindware. Mindware sells different brands however our favorite category is the Created by MindWare one. We chose three products this year to share with you. However I have to mention that we have gotten some amazing products from them over the years including one of our all time favorite games--DestiNation USA, which everyone we have introduced to this game loves it. 

Telling Little Kids about Jesus with Fun Products

Disclosure: Let the Little Children Come sent me these products in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Last month we shared we shared a fun Halloween tract to teach kids about Our Savior Jesus Christ and how amazing He is. Today I am sharing with you several fun products that can be used any time of the year. They are all somewhat similar but would work for different situations as well as for different ages. In all  of the products the colors have meanings. We will start with the Gospel Magic Bag.

Mother Daughter Religion Party

Disclosure: Oriental Trading sent me these items in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Do you look for ways to help your daughter grow in her relationship with God? Several years ago I found Just Mom and Me Having Tea by Mary Murray.
I have wanted to do it with Hazel and thought about having friends do it with us. I decided to finally plan one. Hazel and I checked out Oriental Trading's religious page to see what fun things we could use with the first chapter. The first chapter is God Made Me Special, so we looked for things that were either garden themed (since we wanted a garden tea party) and about our how God created us and loves us. 

Our Japanese Tea Party -- Exploring Japan with Tea Parties Around the World

Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me copy of this book free of charge for this 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.


So last month our plan was to have a Japanese tea party for Tea Parties Around the World, but life interfered and our tea party happened in May instead, but this is perfect since it is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. So through April and into May we have been exploring Japan. Now Japan is known for its tea ceremony. It sounds so fancy and has an interesting history. To learn more about the tea ceremony we read Tea Ceremony by Shozo Sato.



This book covers everything from a brief history of tea and the types of tea in Japan to the history of the tea ceremony itself. It also gives steps on how to have a tea ceremony at home. We did not try this because I am a bit intimidated by the tea ceremony and I do not feel like we have the right space for it. I had hoped to find a local place that offers them, but I couldn't. The process of the making the tea is a huge part of the Japanese tea ceremony. It is about finding peace and harmony with one's guests. In Japan how the food and drink look is as important if not more important than how it tastes, so presentation is a huge thing in the ceremony. There are different supplies and displays for a traditional tea ceremony.


The book goes into the various utensils and types of them often used in the tea ceremony. There are also various steps to the ceremony with various spaces of each one. There are also various steps to making the actual tea. This book gives beautiful photograph tutorials to them.

It is a fun book to learn about this amazing tradition. It provides kids with what they need to know to try their own.


To learn more about Japan we checked out some DVDs from the library and of course turned to our favorite resource All About Japan. Unfortunately I can't seem to find the photos I took of our DVDs. We took the ones above as well as some folktale ones. We love to get the culture of the country through stories. In the past we have had the pleasure of reviewing The Last Kappa of Old Japan, The Peace Tree from Hiroshima, Once Upon a Time in Japan, Japanese Children's Favorite Stories and Yuko-Chan and the Daruma Doll.


Plus another favorite resource for us is The Magic Tree House series.


Now we know a bit about Japan and its culture so we will tell you about our tea party and our Japanese craft. For our tea party we went to David's Tea and asked our friend there for a good Japanese tea. He sold us Sencha Ashikubo.


He gave me the warning of not steeping too much because it will get a very grassy taste. It was too grassy for us, but we tried it. I used our Chinese tea cups and a tea pot I felt looked a bit Japanese. (It was a gift, so I do not know the history of it.)


We also found some instant Japanese soups to try. Since we were a bit busy we did not try to make anything from scratch this time.



We put a little of each soup into our regular tea cups so we could each try it. We liked the udon soup better than the miso.



To go with our tea party I wanted to do a craft. We found a fun craft making kokeshi dolls in this book.


They are usually simple wooden dolls.



Kokeshi By Kimivanil (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Ours are made from origami paper (ours is from Tuttle Publishing), a toilet paper roll and a ping pong ball. I made one but Hazel has not gotten around to making hers yet.


Hazel loves how mine came out though. What do you think? Now I also have sewn a kimono for Hazel's 18-inch dolls.



So that is our exploration of Japan with a Japanese tea party. This post is part of the Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month Blog Series and Giveaway!!



Welcome to our fourth annual Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month Blog Series and Giveaway! Follow along all month for ideas about sharing with kids the rich cultures of this vast and varied region. Also, be sure to enter the giveaway below and link up your posts at the bottom of the page. For even more ideas, visit our blog hops from last year, 2015 and 2014. You can also follow our Asia and Australia & Oceania boards on Pinterest.

May 1 Miss Panda Chinese on Multicultural Kid Blogs: 10 Fun Facts About Taiwan for Kids
May 5 Chinese American Family: Visiting Locke and Connecting with California's Rural Chinese History
May 9 Kori at Home
May 11 The Art Curator for Kids: Chinese Bronze Vessels with Abstract Zoomorphic Designs
May 12 Kori at Home
May 15 Crafty Moms Share
May 17 Bicultural Mama
May 19 Wise Owl Factory
May 22 Ketchup Moms on Multicultural Kid Blogs
May 23 All Done Monkey
May 25 Miss Panda Chinese
May 30 All Done Monkey
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Giveaway Enter below for a chance to win one of our great prize packages in our annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Month giveaway! The giveaway goes from May 1 to May 31, 2017, at midnight PT. If the winner falls outside the shipping area of a prize, that prize will revert to the next lower prize package. Read our full giveaway rules. And for all of our readers, here is a special offer from our sponsor Tingomo! Use the code TENOFFTINGOMO to get 10% off any pre-order! (first kits to ship in July)
Grand Prize
From One Dear World: Set of 4 plush multicultural dolls, each with its own passport, plus the story book The Adventure of Hat Hunting in London, starring the dolls as the main characters
From Tuttle Publishing: Adventures in Asian Art, Indonesian Children's Favorite Stories, Malaysian Children's Favorite Stories, and Filipino Children's Favorite Stories
From Wisdom Tales: Rock Maiden - US Shipping Only
From Bollywood Groove: Go on a fun adventure with Maya & Neel and learn about famous festivals and places in India! In this very colorful, three-picture-book series, kids will learn about festival of lights - Diwali (Amazon best-seller), festival of colors - Holi and the home of Bollywood - city of Mumbai. US Shipping Only
From Miss Panda Chinese: Winner's choice of an "Everyday" learning unit with audio links
From Tingomo: Passport Craft™ Kit: Make Your Own NEPAL Paper Lanterns US Shipping Only, will ship in July

1st Prize
From World Music with Daria: set of tingsha (handbells) US Shipping Only
From Quarto Knows: Summer Under the Tamarind Tree, I is for Iran, and 50 Things You Should Know About the Vietnam War - US Shipping Only
From Monika Schröder: Saraswati's Way - US Shipping Only
From Miss Panda Chinese: Winner's choice of an "Everyday" learning unit with audio links
From Tingomo: Passport Craft™ Kit: Make Your Own NEPAL Paper Prayer Flags US Shipping Only, will ship in July

2nd Prize
From The Dumpling Mama: Pack of 20 good luck envelopes: Give good luck wishes with money in a red envelope. Perfect for Lunar New Year, birthdays, graduations, and holidays US/Canada Shipping Only
From Kathleen Burkinshaw: The Last Cherry Blossom - US Shipping Only
From Candlewick Press: A Piece of Home and Bronze and Sunflower - US Shipping Only From Miss Panda Chinese:
Winner's choice of an "Everyday" learning unit with audio links a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Spring Cards with Origami -- Crafty Weekends Tutorial and Link Party

I have had an itch to do something creative on my own. Then I fell in love with a sample card at work which featured an origami dress made with a mint green flowered wrapping paper. I bought a sheet and got the instructions for the dress. I also have been wanting to make a bunny card with Easter approaching. Let's start with the origami dress. After finding a few tutorials because I found one step of the instructions confusing, I decided I liked this one the best. It made the confusing v-neckline the easiest.

Year of the Rooster-- Reviews & More to Celebrate the Chinese New Year -- MKB Chinese New Year Blog Hop

Disclosure: I was sent copies 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. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. 

The lunar new year which is celebrated in China as well as many other countries
 is January 28th this year. We will be saying goodbye to the monkey and enter the Year of the Rooster in the Chinese Horoscope. We have had a fun year of the monkey and are looking forward to the year of the rooster.  To teach Hazel more about the Chinese culture we have enjoyed two books written for the year of the rooster. Both are bilingual books. The first is called The Year of the Rooster by Oliver Chin and illustrated by Juan Calle.

Happy Thanksgiving 2016 -- Reflections on Thanksgiving

Today I am spending time with my family. On the third Thursday of each November the United States takes a break from our busy lives to celebrate Thanksgiving. Most schools teach about the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth Colony.  Many Native Americans see Thanksgiving as a day to mourn because of this. I can understand this view and see why it could be a day to mourn for the groups of people who were so brutally oppressed and had their land and in many cases lives taken away from them. However I like to think about Thanksgiving as a day where my family stops our busyness and takes time to thank God for our blessings. It is a time where we get to gather with the people we love and enjoy some quality time together. My family has the traditional turkey meal with stuffing and potatoes and vegetables and homemade cranberry sauce (Hazel and I always make it). We try hard not to have too much food so that we can actually just enjoy the meal and company. So as much as I understand what Thanksgiving means to Native Americans I think most families in America do not think about the first Thanksgiving all that much as part of the meal or at least I hope they do. I see it as a time for family and God. How do you see it?

 Our guests are greeted by our colorful turkey on our door this year. Hazel and I put this turkey together from a Paper Source kit. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!! I am thankful for each of you as a reader of Crafty Moms Share!!