Christmas in Different Lands -- New England

This post is part of the Christmas in Different Lands series from Multicultural Kid Blogs.  Be sure to visit the main page and Pinterest board!

This year instead of investigating what Christmas is like in another country, I decided to share Christmas in our neck of the woods. Of course then I had to wonder "What defines Christmas time in New England?" 
 

Map of New England Source

In many ways I often feel like Christmas time is a step back in time in parts of New England. Many houses (and almost all the churches) are still decorated with white lights on the tree, candles in the windows and a wreath on the door. I tried to get a picture of our church at night, but the candle light seems to blur.

My First Chess Book -- Book Review

Disclosure: Ryland, Peters and Small gave me a 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. They also sent me a copy to giveaway! As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease but receive no compensation.

My husband loves chess though he hardly ever plays anymore. He has a collection of chess boards around the house so Hazel has always been curious about chess. I have only played chess a handful of times in my life. I was taught by a boyfriend from high school/college time and played a few times since dating him. I am not much competition for Steve. I thought My First Chess Book by Jessica E. Prescott could help us teach Hazel how to play and hopefully help improve my game. 

Multicultural Product Review-- A Little Mandarin

Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from A Little Mandarin 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.

Today I get to review for you an award winning CD. The CD is A Little Mandarin by Toni Wang, a Shanghai born New York City mother. This CD has fifteen classic Chinese songs. Many are to familiar tunes and some are the familiar songs in Chinese. The music is very upbeat and perfect for little ears to hear. Here is a little introduction to it, so you can check it out yourself.

Sharing Saturday 14-50

This weekend was planning on I taking off with a girlfriend for a much needed mommies weekend away, but Hazel developed a fever, so plans postponed. However the party will still go on!! Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week!! This week's features are divided into Multicultural Holidays, Christmas and Winter and Stars. I went a little crazy with the number of features so I hope you enjoy them all!!

Multicultural Holidays

1) From Multicultural Kid Blogs: Hanukkah for Kids

2) From Dad's The Way I Like It: A Toddler's Christmas in Wales

3) From Planet Smarty Pants: Christmas Around the World -- Germany

4) From A Life in Balance: Swedish Christmas Braid

Christmas Features

1) From An Idea on Tuesday: Vegetable Printing Nativity

2) From Christianity Cove: Holiday Snack Idea: Jelly Bean Christmas Trees

3) From A Life in Balance: Easy Gingerbread House for Christmas

4) From Best Toys for Toddlers: No-Sew & No-Glue Paper Roll Christmas Elves

5) From Kandy Kreations: Christmas Shepherd 2 Nativity Advent Calendar Gift Idea Day 5

Winter and Star Features

1) From The Practical Mom: DIY Christmas Decoration: Star Lantern

2) From Sunshine and Hurricanes: Frozen Inspired Christmas Crafts

3) From Life with Moore Babies: Egg Carton Snowmen

4) From In the Playroom: Kid Made Star Display Inspired by How to Catch a Star

5) From Say Not Sweet Anne: Creamy 3 Ingredient Hot Cocoa

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. 

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From Your Hostess: This week we shared some simple nativity crafts, reviewed some books for traveling from home, shared the history of the Christmas tree and some customs and trees from around the world, and shared our persimmon exploration!

Now for This Week's Party 


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Friday Fruit Exploration -- Persimmon

For this week's fruit exploration we looked at persimmons. Now I will admit I only heard of persimmons a few years ago. My parents' neighbor actually grows them and gives them to my parents (or tells them to pick them when he is not at Cape Cod since he rents his house out). When we celebrated Thanksgiving, my parents brought the last couple of the season with them. The one we ate while they were here they said was among the best they ever tried.

Hazel confuses them with tomatoes however she claims to like persimmons (she does not like tomatoes). However she usually only has a few bites and then says she will eat it later and does not. There are different types of persimmons. Asian persimmons or Japanese persimmons are native to China. This is the most widely cultivated species of persimmons. They spread throughout Asia and then into Europe, California and Brazil. The fruit is edible in the firm stage but taste best when allowed to rest after harvest. They are sweet and tangy when soft. The date-plum species is native to southwest Asia and southeast Europe. It was known by the ancient Greeks as the fruit of the gods or nature's candy. Its taste is similar to a date or a plum and thus the name. The American persimmon is native to Eastern United States (and is probably the species we tried, but I am not sure). It has higher levels of vitamin C, calcium, iron, and potassium than the Japanese persimmon. It is also a food that gets the white-tailed deer through the long winter months. The black persimmon is native to Mexico. It has green skin and white flesh which turns black when ripe. The Mabolo or velvet-apple is native to the Philippines and China. It is also known as the Korean mango. The Indian persimmon is a slower growing and less flavorful species. It is known more for folk medicine. The Texas persimmon is native to Texas and Oklahoma as well as Mexico. The fruits are black on the outside unlike the Mexico persimmon which is only black on the inside. 

In general persimmons are seen as two types: astringent and non-astringent. A version of the Japanese persimmon known as the Hachiya species is the most astringent type due to the high tannin levels. The tannin levels reduce as the fruit ripens. The Hachiya must be fully ripened prior to eating. Persimmons are eaten raw, cooked, or dried. When eaten fresh they can be eaten whole like an apple or cut into slices. Some varieties are more pleasant with the thin skin peeled off first. Very ripe persimmons can have the texture of pudding inside and can be eaten with a spoon once opened. Compared to apples, persimmons have higher levels of dietary fiber, sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron and manganese. They have lower levels of copper and zinc. They also contain vitamin C and vitamin A--beta carotene. (Source)

We did our normal exploration. Hazel used her magnifying glass to check them out and drew pictures in her journal. Then she told me what to write about them.

We also found a couple of books at the library and I found some more on Amazon.

Many of these have one of two stories in them, The Monkey and the Crab (including in Japanese Children's Favorite Stories) or The Rabbit's Tail which is also called The Tiger and the Dried Persimmon. Hazel loved reading this story since the tiger was afraid of a dried persimmon. He thought it was some sort of monster. She laughed so hard that a tiger was afraid of a dried fruit. I love how a fruit exploration turns into a cultural exploration as well.

For more fruit explorations check out:

• Pears
• Pumpkins
• Apples
• Cherries
• Watermelon
• Lime 
• Lemon 
• Pineapple
• Raspberry
• Blueberry
• Strawberry
• My Fruit Pinterest Board For even more fruit ideas!

History of Christmas Trees and Christmas Tree Traditions

The other day Hazel asked me about the history of Christmas trees. I knew I had read something about it being a German tradition when I was doing research for the Advent Around the World post. Yet, I had also read something about pre-Christian time in the history. Now I know since no one knows the actual date of Jesus' birthday,  the Pope and the higher ups in the Catholic Church decided to make Christmas near the winter solstice in hopes of ending/combining the Pagan celebrations. Evergreens were often used to decorate in the winter since they held a special meaning since they were always green and reminded them of the green plants of other seasons. I needed to find a book to explain it all to Hazel accurately. We found O Christmas Tree: Its History and Holiday Traditions by Jacqueline Farmer at our library. 

Travel with Books at Home Product Reviews

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave 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.

Do you love to travel? Or do you dream of traveling without hassles? We love to explore the world from home with dreams of someday getting to see more of it. For now we like to explore with books and posters and such to see and learn about the world without leaving home. Candlewick Press has some products that makes this really fun and easy. The first three books are from a series called Panorama Pops. We got to explore The Louvre, Australia and Venice in this form. It was so much fun. These books are like pocket guides with pop-up pictures. The book is double sided since it folds out and has the pop-ups on both sides.

Simple Nativity Crafts

For Advent, I thought I would share each post where our Mouse and the Miracle Mouse (Holy) has been up to. (He now has an elf friend named Elfie who often is hidden with him.)

Elfie looking out dollhouse window.
Holy is on the other side of the dollhouse

We have had a busy and exciting weekend. Our Saturday started with a trip to our town's Holiday Stroll. At the school we went to they did not have Santa Claus, but had the Frozen characters.

Hazel was on top of the world and brought her autograph book for them to sign. (I think it may have made the high school students day to be asked to sign an autograph book.)

Roman Soldier visiting the Holy family

Sharing Saturday 14-49

For Advent, I thought I would share each post where our Mouse and the Miracle Mouse (Holy) has been up to. (He now has an elf friend named Elfie who often is hidden with him.)

Holy is teaching Elfie about the reason for the season so they are checking
out all the creches in our house.

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week!! We had less than normal due to the holiday weekend, but what was shared is amazing!! There was no most clicked, so our features today are three categories: Tis the Season, Gift Ideas and a few of My Favorites.

Sew Sweet Handmade Clothes for Girls Book Review

For Advent, I thought I would share each post where our Mouse and the Miracle Mouse (Holy) has been up to. (He now has an elf friend named Elfie who often is hidden with him.)

Watching the visitors come to see the Newborn King!

Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me a 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. 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 going to share with you a wonderful sewing book which I have had for way too long and have not shared. My plan was to make one of the adorable dresses for Hazel, but my serger broke and I have not been inspired to sew as much and well it has not happened. The book is Sew Sweet Handmade Clothes for Girls: 22 Easy to Make Dresses, Skirts, Pants & Tops Girls Will Love by Yuki Araki. 

Elsa and Olaf Crafts

Being Advent, I thought I would share each post where our Mouse and the Miracle Mouse (Holy) has been up to. (He now has an elf friend named Elfie who often is hidden with him.)

Holy and Elfie Preparing the New Manger
that was built by a friend at church!

Today I thought I would share two simple Disney's Frozen inspired crafts. They both have some inspiration from The Dollar Tree. Last month we made autumn fairies with doilies we got at The Dollar Tree.  Well this week I found some doilies that had snowflakes on them. I thought they would be perfect to make an Elsa peg doll. I made her an Elsa and Anna doll awhile ago, but apparently I never shared them and I cannot find the pictures. I'll have to take more when I find where Hazel left them! Hazel liked this new one better though.

Picture Books Review

With the start of December and Advent, I thought I would share each post where our Mouse and the Miracle Mouse (Holy) has been up to. (He now has an elf friend named Elfie who often is hidden with him.)

Holy on Window with Angels and Elfie Hanging on Tree

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave 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 share with you five wonderful picture books that help grow imaginations and wonder. These books will help the reader learn about the world and use their imaginations. We had so much fun exploring this five books and highly recommend them. I also shared some round-ups of crafts to go with three of the books. First I am going to start with a wordless book.

Multicultural Monday: Product Review: Happy Kid Heart Empathy Kit

With the start of December and Advent, I thought I would share each post where our Mouse and the Miracle Mouse (Holy) has been up to. (He now has an elf friend named Elfie who often is hidden with him.) Also make sure you stop by Multicultural Kid Blogs to read my post on Advent Around the World!

Holy reading The First Christmas Night by Keith Christopher
(comparing it to what he remembers of that night!)

Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from Happy Heart Kid 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.

Today I get to share with you a wonderful product from Happy Heart Kid. The product I reviewed is their Empathy Box. This box arrives with four complete activities to help teach your child(ren) about empathy. Hazel loved these activities!! 

Sharing Saturday 14-48

Congratulations to Lori H. for winning 
the 4 Christmas DVDs!

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week! I had such a hard time choosing the features this week since there were so many amazing ideas!! I hope you will take the time to check them all out! We had a tie for most clicked.

1) From Krafts and Kiddos: CD Turkey Craft

2) From Stimulating Learning with Rachel (",): Aliens, Robots and Monsters (lots of great learning ideas here!)

Since we set our Christmas tree up today I am getting into the Christmas spirit. I have been thinking about Christmas cookies, how to bring Jesus into Christmas more and we received an Elf on the Shelf yesterday as a gift (I was avoiding them for as long as I could an much rather our Mouse and the Miracle), so knowing that you will understand some of the features I picked this week. We have our Christmas Features and our non-Christmas Features!

Native American Biographies Round-Up

Happy Thanksgiving!! I thought this year I would honor the Native Americans by doing a round-up of ones to check out! Happy Thanksgiving to all celebrating!! I thank God for all of you who take time to read Crafty Moms Share!!

The other day I did a round-up of Native American stories and picture books. Today I thought I would share some biographies I found on Native Americans. For the most part I only took one biography for each person but many have more than one out there.

Books about Multiple Native Americans

• Extraordinary American Indians by Susan Avery discusses the lives and accomplishments of Native Americans from the eighteenth century to present
• Native American Heroes: Osceola, Tecumseh & Cochise by Ann McGovern
• Famous Native North Americans by Bobbie Kalman profiles Native Americans who had a large influence on their tribes as well as the United States and Canada.
• Native American Chiefs and Warriors by Stuart A. Kallen
• Native American Scientists: Fred Begay, Wilfred F. Denetclaw Jr., Frank C. Dukepoo, Clifton Poodry, Jerrel Yakel by Jetty St. John
• Native American Women by  Suzanne Clores

Books Donated by Lee & Low Books with 

Reviews for Blog Hop

Links take you to book at Lee & Low Books and there is a link to each review!

Doll Sized Starbucks!

The other day Hazel and I were at Starbucks (a favorite place to go of ours) and we noticed the adorable cup ornaments they have for sale. We realized they were the perfect size for the 18-inch dolls. Hazel of course had to have one, so we bought one. My plan had been to wait until after Christmas and buy her some more on clearance, however when we were at our normal store one of the managers informed me the tend to sell out quickly, so I should buy them now. We did. Hazel was so excited to play Starbucks with her dolls. 

Native American Legends and Picture Books

Today I thought I would share some Native American picture books and legends with you. Hazel and I have been enjoying reading them and I find it such a wonderful way to share the Native American culture with Hazel as well as learn more about it myself. Some of these books we have had a chance to read and others we have not yet. However I wanted to give you a pretty comprehensive list. Also below is the blog hop and giveaway with a newly added bonus prize!! Make sure you enter this week!!

Native American Crafts and Activities Book Round-Up for Native American Heritage Month Blog Hop and Giveaway

Have you entered my giveaway for 4 Christmas DVDs yet? It is ending soon!!

Have you been looking for some different Native American crafts? There are the typical (almost stereotypical) ones--feather headdress, paper bag vest, etc. I want to teach Hazel more about Native Americans. I know I do some of this by reading her books about Native Americans and their legends and stories, but I want some crafts as well. I figured there must be other people like me, so I thought I would do a round-up of the Native American craft and activity books I have found as well as share three of the crafts we did. 

Around the World in 12 Dishes: Exploring Cuba

Have you entered my giveaway for 4 Christmas DVDs yet? It is ending soon!!

This month we are exploring Cuba with Around the World in 12 Dishes. I was rather excited to learn more about Cuba since it is such a mysterious country to me. With all the trade and travel restrictions it seems like an unknown place. We have explored Cuba with books, stories, music, crafts and food from home. To learn more about Cuba and see more resources check out my introduction post at the Around the World in 12 Dishes blog. We had also learned a bit about Cuba during the Hispanic Heritage Month when we read about Celia Cruz, a Cuban-American salsa singer. 

Celia Cruz By Lionel Decoster (Own work) 
[GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons