Sharing Saturday 13-36

Thank you to everyone who shared their amazing ideas last week and thank you to all of you who visited to see what was shared and of course to those who left comments on others. I know I found much inspiration from last week's Sharing Saturday. If you have not had a chance to visit them, you should since there are wonderful ideas.

We had a tie for most clicked. Based on the two which were most clicked, I would guess people are getting ready for fall.

From Mums Make Lists: 10 Fun Ideas to Pimp Up Your Pumpkins

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From East Coast Mommy: Simple Fall Checklist {Free Printable}

And here are a few of my favorites.

1) From Cutesy Crafts: Kiddie Crafts - Pony Bead Pumpkins (Ok, I'm getting into fall as well.)

2) From Wesens-Art: Free eBook Sometimes (Ok, in honor of National Sewing Month I had to share this one with a free pattern!)

3) From Life with Moore Babies: Bottle "Glass" Sculptures (I love this idea to replicate the beautiful glass sculptures.)

4) From Buggy and Buddy: Finding Symmetry in Nature (This is a great activity to go with some of the math in nature books I shared about last month.)

5) From Craftulate: Tractor Track Prints (What a great idea and big money saver!!)

6) From Green Owl Art: The "With Me All Day" Pendant (I wish I had seen this before Hazel's first day!)

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! I hope you will join us and share again!! If you are featured here , please feel free to grab a featured button to display proudly on your blog. 

From Your Hostess:
This week we shared Nourie Hadig, an Armenian Snow White, The Little Squeegy Bug for Virtual Book Club for Kids, Hazel's new skirt for the first day of school, a prayer and memory of September 11th, Homemade ukulele and banjo, and some paper plate flamingos.

 

Now for This Week's Party  
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Flamingo Friday--Paper Plate Flamingos

So this week I thought we would finally share the craft I have had in my head for quite awhile. I thought I had seen something like it on-line, but when I went to look for the link, I could not find it. We decided since we focused on baby flamingos last week to make a mommy flamingo and a baby flamingo. I cut a regular sized paper plate in half as well as a small (cake) sized one in half. I gave Hazel the small half to start gluing on feathers. We used white since baby flamingos are white or grey. I cut out necks and heads from construction paper and we taped them onto the plate (glue did not stick well on the glossy side) and we folded a pipe cleaner in half to be the legs.

Since I was busy cutting heads and taping on legs and heads, Hazel added feathers to my baby as well. We talked about how flamingos have yellow eyes, so she drew two on her baby. I tried to explain we would only see one on that side of the head.

For the mommy flamingos, we used the larger plates. We used two pipe cleaners for the legs since their legs are longer than the babies. I cut the heads out of white construction paper since their beaks are white and black and Hazel used her dot markers to make the head and necks pink (and the eyes yellow) on both heads. She glued the pink feathers to hers and I used a feather boa for mine. We originally had trouble finding just pink feathers so we thought the feather boa would work. I added a few extras of the feathers for the tail.

Now I think we will use these as decorations at her birthday party.

Hazel's

So how do you like our simple flamingo craft? Did I mention Hazel was home sick today when we did this and it really did not take too long and she loves them?

Happy Flamingo Friday!! (With the weather we have had here, it feels like flamingo weather and not our typical September weather.)

Homemade String Instruments

Today I am going to share our homemade string instruments. Now as I posted earlier this month, Hazel loves playing her ukulele, so when she saw we could make one in Nifty Thrifty Music Crafts by Felicia Lowenstein Niven, she wanted to make one right away. Our problem was we did not have an empty cereal box. However when I did my kitchen cupboard clean out I had several cracker boxes, so we used one of those. We also used a paper towel roll, paint, tape, stickers and rubber bands.

I cut a hole in the cracker box and Hazel painted both the box and the tube. Then we taped the tube onto the box. We used duct tape that matched the color we painted. She also decorated it with stickers. The book suggested painting designs, but that is above my four-year-old's ability. Then we added four rubber bands. It was set to play.

She prefers her real one though for the sound is a bit better.

Then last Saturday the free craft at Lakeshore Learning Store was to make a paper plate and bowl guitar or that is what the company called it. We called it a banjo as did several of the employees at our local store. 

This was an easy craft. You need a paper bowl, a paper plate the same size as the bowl, a tongue depressor, rubber bands, glue and markers, stickers, etc. for decorations. The kids glued the plate onto the bowl with the tongue depressor glued in between the two.

Then the decorated the plate and tongue depressor. Next the person running the craft put the rubber bands on. And that is all there is to this one.

So we hope you enjoy making some simple string instruments!

Remembering and Praying

Note: All images today came from Patriot Icon.

So last night I was tired and did not feel like sitting at the computer, so I did not get my post ready. This morning I was trying to get Hazel to school with a bit of crying, but not too much. Then I ran to the gym to get my work-out in. While at the gym, I was watching the television (from the treadmill) and realized the date. Good Morning America was on and they were doing a moment of silence in remembrance. My mind went to twelve years ago as tears began to form in my eyes. It is a day I will never forget. I think it was the saddest and scariest day of my life. I then realized that the reason I did not want to post last night was because I needed to post my memories and a prayer today.

Twelve years ago my life was very different. I was teaching at Wellesley High School. Wellesley is a couple of towns away from Boston--literally there is one town between it and the start of the city. I had a prep period when the planes hit. I went to make copies for a class and one of the teachers I didn't really know mentioned something about it to me and it didn't sink in. I thought he was telling me a joke. Then the kids came to my room and they had been watching it on television in history class so I got the whole story. It was a sad and somber day. Then when no planes were suppose to be in the air over the United States, we hear planes flying overhead. Wellesley is in the airpath for the air force to get to Boston for the investigation. Hearing them sent chills and fears through us all. Then the stories came out of people who didn't go to their office in New York that day. (Yes, there are people who commute from Boston to New York often.) And the saddest one of the brothers who knew their father was on a flight to LA but not sure which one. Their mother called after the first plane to say he was not on that one. Then the flight he was on was lost, she came to school to get the boys so they could be together and when she walked into the office they announced the flight number of the second plane--his flight. Being so close to people involved really makes it even more sad and real for me. Although I was not personally involved and did not lose a loved one, I felt and still feel the pain and sadness. I knew the world for me changed that day.

In memory of that day, I would like to offer a prayer. I hope you will pray with me.

Dear God, please watch over the survivors of the tragedy that occurred twelve years ago as well as the loved ones of those we lost. May we always remember those we lost and how we worked together to help others survive and get through this horrible time. Please help us find a way to live in peace with one another and to end this violence that is still happening throughout the world. Please help us to learn to be compassionate and understanding to those who are different and let us find a way for us all to feel your love and peace. Amen.

A New Skirt for Hazel's First Day of School

Since September is National Sewing Month, I have been doing a lot of sewing. Ok, maybe not because it is National Sewing Month, but they are happening at the same time. Hazel started school last week. Since she has been very anxious about starting at a new school, I thought I would make her something special to wear the first day. I had this beautiful pink little girl fabric that I had bought ages ago to make something for her. It has wonderful little sayings like "Mommy's Little Helper" and "Fairy Princess in Training" on it as well as pictures of girls playing. I used a simple pattern that I have used before. I found it in Little Girls, Big Style by Mary Abreu. I also let her wear my gold cross that I wear every day. My grandparents brought it back from Jerusalem when they visited the Holy Lands. 

Now I figured if the skirt made her this happy just trying it on, it had to work for the first day.

And she had a great first day. She was brave and her teacher was wonderful with her. She went in and had a great day. Then we went to the bookstore and did our first day tradition of letting her pick a book. Although I was not thrilled with her selection, she did choose a cheaper one, so I bought her a few.

Ready to go

The novelty of the Minnie Mouse backpack and lunch box ran out after the first day. The second morning she cried and screamed for an hour and a half, but then once I got her there had a great day. This morning it was only 20 minutes of crying with some great "reasons" to stay home--"I'm too young for school" and "I'm too tired today." However after school she thanked me for making her go. She had another good day. Hopefully it will get better each day.

What are your strategies and traditions for the first day of school?

Virtual Book Club for Kids--The Little Squeegy Bug

The author for September in the Virtual Book Club for Kids is Bill Martin, Jr. For those that do not know about the Virtual Book Club for Kids, each month a group of bloggers pick one author to feature on all of our blogs and host a blog hop. Each blogger picks one (or sometimes two) book by that author and does an activity or craft with it and posts about it. Then we open up the blog hop to anyone else who would like to share a book by the author of the month and an activity to go with it. The Virutal Book Club for Kids is brought to you by the following group of bloggers:

Fairy Tales in Different Cultures--an Armenian Snow White

Today we are sharing an Armenian Snow White called "Nourie Hadig". I found the English translation in 100 Armenian Tales collected and edited by Susie Hoogasian Villa. It has similarities to the Algerian and Moroccan versions, but also has differences. This is a version I would share with Hazel, but it was due at the library before I did.

Source

Before sharing the story, a little about Armenia. Officially the Republic of Armenia, it is a mountainous country straddling Europe and Asia. It is a democratic nation-state with an ancient history. It is a former republic of the Soviet Union and is an emerging democracy. It was the first state to adapt Christianity as its religion. The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest church and the country's primary religious establishment. It did so in 301 A.D. According to tradition the Armenian Church was founded by Thaddeus and Bartholomew, two of Jesus' apostles.

Source

Armenia lies in the highlands surrounding the biblical mountains of Ararat. This is where the mountain Noah's Ark is said to have landed after the flood. Its climate is hot and dry summers and cold (very cold) winters. (Source)

Now onto our story. The story is "Nourie Hadig" and I found it in 100 Armenian Tales collected and edited by Susie Hoogasian Villa. This story like the past two (Moroccan and Algerian) has the mother talking to the moon. A difference being that the mother involves the father in getting rid of their daughter. In this story you also learn a bit about Turkish culture. I found it very interesting.

In this version there is a rich man who has a beautiful wife. They have a daughter named Nourie Hadig. The beautiful wife asks the new moon each month if she is the most beautiful. She is until Nourie Hadig turns fourteen, then Nourie Hadig is more beautiful than the mother. The mother becomes ill with jealousy and tells her husband he must kill their daughter or she will die. The father takes Nourie Hadig into the woods and leaves her there. She wanders and wanders until night falls and she sees a light in a house. She hopes they will take her in and she goes to the door. When she goes to knock the door opens by itself and she walks in and the door immediately closes behind her and will not open again. She goes searching the house and finds a room filled with gold, and rooms filled with many treasures. Then she finds a room with a boy who is sleeping. She hears a voice that she must care for the boy for seven years by leaving food for him and then coming back for the dishes. He is under a curse for seven years.

Meanwhile, at the next new moon the mother finds out that Nourie Hadig is alive since she is still the most beautiful. She goes and asks her husband about it saying that she is going to report him to the authorities for killing their daughter since she was mad with illness and he should not have listened to her. He tells her how he did not kill her, but left her in the woods. The mother begins to search for her, but has no luck finding her.

After four years, a group of gypsies camp outside her window and she asks them for a girl her age to keep her company. She gives them some of the gold. They send her a girl up a rope. The girl and she decide to take turns taking care of the sleeping boy. The boy wakes up while the gypsy girl is fanning him. Thinking she has taken care of him all this time, he asks her to marry him and announces he is a prince. She agrees not telling him that she was only there for three of the seven years. When he goes off to buy his bride a wedding dress, he asks Nourie Hadig what she would like. She replies a saber dashee (which is a Turkish word meaning stone of patience).

He gets the dress and then goes to the stonecutter to get the saber dashee. The stonecutter warns the prince about the powers of the saber dashee. The saber dashee will hear a story and if it can fix them, it will explode, but if it cannot the person will explode unless saved by someone else. He suggested he listen outside his servant's room to hear so he can save her if need be.

The prince did this and heard the whole story about how it was Nourie Hadig who cared for him from the start. He ran into save her and told her he wanted to marry her instead of the gypsy. After some discussion it was decided he would marry Nourie Hadig and the gypsy would be the servant.

At the next new moon the mother asked the moon and it replied the Princess of Adana (storyteller picked a town). Now the mother knew where her daughter was. She sent her a beautiful ring as a gift.  Nourie Hadig feared the gift but the gypsy said what harm could a ring do, so Nourie Hadig put it on and instantly she went into a coma. The prince promised to take care of her as she had taken care of him. He brought in many healers. The final one did not know what to do, but admired the ring and thought with all the jewelry she has on, no one will miss that one ring. He slipped it off and instantly she woke up. He put it back on and went to negotiate his fees if he was able to wake her.

The next day he took off all of her jewelry except the ring. When he went to take it off, the gypsy said not to take it off since it was a gift from her mother. The prince asked when she received it and the healer took it off and Nourie Hadig woke up and everyone was happy.

Some interesting facts about the story. Nourie Hadig means a small piece of pomegranate, which is of course similar to the Egyptian version. The story was told to Susie Hoogasian Villa by an Armenian living in Detroit named Mrs. Akabi Mooradian. (Source)

Sharing Saturday 13-35

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to share and/or to visit and be inspired by all the amazing ideas shared last week. I once again must confess to not finding time to visit them all. I have spent my week being a mom. Hazel has been very anxious all summer about switching schools and this week was the first week of school for her. It has been a tough week, but we made it through. I should add she loves her school when I pick her up each day, but somehow the mornings are tough. There was not one most clicked last week, so I just chose a few to feature. I picked some back to school themes and fall  themes. Enjoy!

My Features:

1) From Keitha's Chaos: First Day of School Traditions
2) From Rubber Boots and Elf Shoes: Same, Same and Different
3) From Endlessly Inspired: No Bake Back-to-School Pencil Cake
4) From Living Montessori Now: September Themed Activities for Kids
5) From Little Bins for Little Hands: Pretend Apple Pie Sensory Play
6) From My Nearest and Dearest: Bird Themed Sensory Play
7) From Teaching Mama: 8 Apple Activities for Preschoolers (pictured below)

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! I hope you will join us and share again!! If you are featured here , please feel free to grab a featured button to display proudly on your blog. 

From Your Hostess:
This week we shared our Waverize It! project--a ukulele case, a Moroccan Snow White, our special events for September, crafts and decorations for a butterfly party and teddy bear picnic, our scrolling puppet theater inspired by Curious George and Flamingo Chicks for Flamingo Friday. Our main event this week was Hazel's first day of school. I am sharing a picture of her about to go into her classroom for the first time without us. More on that and her outfit next week.

 

Monday is the Virtual Book Club for Kids, so we will be sharing our Fairy Tale in Different Cultures tomorrow!!

 

Now for This Week's Party  
A Few Simple Guidelines:
1)  Please follow Crafty Moms Share via GFC (or one of the other ways that work for you).  

2)  Link any kid-friendly, child-centered post. Please no etsy shops or giveaways, etc.  Remember to link to your actual post. 

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Disclaimer: By sharing here, you are giving Crafty Moms Share permission to use your photos for features and to pin your craft at Pinterest. 

Flamingo Friday: Baby Flamingos

Today we are going to talk about baby flamingos or flamingo chicks. Before there can be a chick however the parents have to mate and build a nest. There are several YouTube videos that show the flamingos hatching and feeding their chicks. I gave you two links to check out.

I am going to share with you several books today. First I will share two that read like a picture book, but are non-fiction.

Mud City by Brenda Z. Guiberson is a story telling about a chick hatching in the Bahamas. This story starts with the mother sitting on the nest. It describes the flamingos sitting on their nests to protect the eggs from the hot sun. It also tells us how the parents roll the eggs and take turns on the nest. The flamingos in this area build their nests on high ground near the mangrove trees. A bad storm comes and much of the nesting area is destroyed, but the nest this story is about is not. Finally after four weeks, a fluffy white chick hatches. Both parents have glands that make a red liquid of fat and protein to feed the chick. For three days the parents will stay near the nest to protect the chick and on the fourth day the baby will try going for a swim. The parents will fly out to other salty lakes for food. They sometimes migrate hundreds of miles during the night before returning to feed the chick. At five weeks the chick has new grey feathers. His beak is now long and curved and he begins to eat like the adults. At some point the parents and all the adults leave the salty lake due to lack of rain and thus lack of food. The flamingo "chick" tries to fly and slowly succeeds at it. He will leave to find food as well. He will continue to return to the mud city of his birth with the other young flamingos still inbetween food searches. Over the next three years the young flamingos grow tall and more pink. At five years the flamingo is an adult. He will begin the courtship dance looking for a mate. He will return to the mud city of his birth to start his own family.

Flamingo Sunset by Jonathan London is a story of flamingos in Bonaire. It begins in the spring with a couple building their cone like nest and laying a single white egg. Once the chick is born he stands up and falls and stands up and falls and makes a squeaky, puppy-like bark. At a week old the baby watches his mother and father feed and tries it himself. They survive a thunderstorm with the parents protecting the chick. Then the time comes when his pink feathers are in and it is time to fly with the other flamingos making a flamingo sunset.

Next we will look at A Flamingo Is Born by Max Alfred Zoll.

This book has black and white photographs on the interior. This book focuses on flamingos that live in the West Indies and focuses on the birth of one chick a female. Flamingos build their nests in the water away from enemies on land. Their nests are made of mud and look like muddy termite mounds. It starts with a female finding a mate and includes a picture of the birds mating. About two days after mating, the female will lay one fertilized egg in the nest. Then the parents will take turn protecting the egg. This book says they sit on it to keep it warm or to incubate it. Other books say they sit on the egg to keep them out of the too hot sun. The egg will hatch in about a month.

Caribbean Flamingos at Stone Zoo

While incubating the egg the parents will turn the egg to exercise the chick. After four weeks, the baby will being to peck at the shell. It can take a whole day before the chick is finally out of the egg. After the chick is born the mother may go for a cool swim and to find food. The baby is born with a straight bill. The bill will grow more curved so the chick will be able to feed itself soon.

Flamingo Chicks at Stone Zoo

After four days the chicks will want to go exploring. She will call to her mother when she is hungry and will not go too far yet. The mother will clean the nest of feathers which lined it when the chick was born. The chicks legs will grow stronger and stronger until the chick is able to walk well. Before being able to stay in the water a long time the chick will spread oil that is made on an area its back near its tail. The chick will spread the oil with its beak. This oil will keep the feathers from getting wet. 

The next book we will explore is A Flamingo Chick Grows Up by Joan Hewett. In this book they look at a group of flamingos on a salty lake and focus on one chick the author calls Puck. In this book they discuss the father's role of sitting on the egg and watching over the chick.The mother feeds the chick a kind of milk called crop milk that she has in her stomach. She brings the cop milk into her beak and drips it into Puck's. At three days Puck tries to walk on his webbed feet. He takes a few wobbly steps. After only one week, he is steady on his legs and leaves the nest. The chicks go group together some times and other times they want to be with their parents. Chicks' legs grow quickly. Puck is born white but grey feathers begin to grow in as a few weeks and his beak begins to curve. At five weeks, Puck's beak is fully formed and he is able to eat completely on his own. At seven weeks, he spends his days with other chicks.  At three months old Puck begins to get longer grey feathers with a touch of pink. The flying feathers are long and black and have grown in by winter.

Flamingo Chicks at Stone Zoo

In the end of the book there is a timeline of Puck's life up to seven months old. There is also more information about flamingos in general. It is here that we discover Puck is a flamingo in Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida. Flocks of Caribbean flamingos lived in Florida, but they were hunted for their brilliant feathers and now they only tend to live in captivity there.

Finally I am going to share a third book called Flamingos by Cecilia Pinto McCarthy. This book is a lovely picture/simple reader about flamingos and has a section taking you through the life from chick to adult of a flamingo. It is this section that I am sharing information.

Caribbean Flamingo Nests at Stone Zoo

Flamingos nest with a colony (group). The nests are cone-shaped and made of mud. They are up to 12 inches high. The parents take turns sitting on the nest and in 27 to 31 days a gray or white chick hatches. The adults feed the chick a red "milk" called crop milk that is made in their crop or part of a bird's throat.

Parent feeding chick crop milk

After three years a chick's feathers will turn completely pink. Flamingos live for 20 to 30 years and healthy flamingos have pink feathers for life. 

So that is our look at flamingo chicks!! I hope you enjoyed it! We will have some baby flamingo and adult flamingo crafts soon. We just did not get them done with the start of school.

Scrolling Puppet Theater

So Hazel has been asking to make a puppet theater for a long time. We just have not had the time. The other day she asked if I could help her with a project. She described the project and I knew she had gotten the idea from an episode of Curious George (or Georgie as Hazel likes to call him). To see the episode on YouTube click here. (As you can see in the picture above Hazel and her best friend went to see Curious George last spring at the Curious George Store in Harvard Square.)

In the episode Curious George went to see the opera, Hansel and Gretel. He went because his friend, Betsy, got the chicken pox and could not go. Hansel and Gretel is Betsy's favorite opera. George loved it and he got the idea to do a show for Betsy. He finally came up with a scrolling show. Hazel wanted to put on Cinderella in a somewhat similar way, except she wanted to use her figures but have the background scroll. 

I had a UPS box that I had saved for a craft. I cut a hole in it and opened the tabs on both ends. One end was already open and the other I cut a slit to slide the paper in. We also happened to have a broken wooden dowel, so I used that. I glued and taped it to each tab. Then we put paper towel tubes on the dowel pieces. I took Hazel's scroll paper from her paint easel. It was a little big so we had to cut the piece in height. She drew her scenery with a little help from me on the castle. Then we taped it to the paper towel tubes while feeding it through the box.  Now she enjoys acting out Cinderella with her figurines.

Have television shows inspired your child to make a craft? What shows? Curious George is great for getting kids to investigate and think about things. I recently heard on the news that kids who read and watch Curious George tend to do better in math and science. Don't know the facts from the study though to know if it is valid.