DIY Minnie Mouse Pinata & Free Party Activty Sign Printables

Disclosure: I was sent the black jumbo streamers to review free of charge from Oriental Trading. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.

Zoo Scavenger Hunt with Free Printable

Since we missed the Earth Day Celebration Scavenger Hunt (it was too cold and windy to wait around for it), I promised Hazel we could go on one of our own. I even suggested we go to the zoo and have one. Well our plans for the zoo trip fell through and I forgot about it. For Mother's Day, we decided to go to our local zoo. Our membership ends at the end of May, so we thought we would use it one more time. Hazel of course remembered the scavenger hunt. I had to hunt around to find it, and did not find the copy I printed for us. I found it on my computer, but had changed the animals to more common zoo animals to share with you, so I made some quick adjustments and printed it for her.

For a copy of a zoo scavenger hunt with more general animals click here. The idea was to put a sticker on whichever item she saw. We spent the trip looking for the things on the list. However, the zoo is under construction and some of the animals were not there including our favorites: black bears and flamingos. We'll have to go back again later this summer.

We did get to see the snow leopards. They were sleeping, but it was one of the first times Steve got to see them at all. I had actually seen them from the car as we drove by their area to get to the parking lot.  We also saw one of the wolves.

We saw the usual reindeer, but then saw his mate and their baby. How exciting to see a mother and baby on Mother's Day.

I didn't take pictures of all the animals we saw since we have a lot of pictures of them already. Then near the black bear area there was a zoo worker with one of the macaws, so we got to visit with the macaw.

Usually the macaw is in the area that was closed, so it was nice to see him. By this point we were all tired and headed home. It was a pleasant Mother's Day overall and Hazel loved doing the scavenger hunt!

For other zoo trip posts check out:

• Franklin Park Zoo
• Learning about Australia with Zoo Animals
• Zoo Trip with a Friend
• Learning about the World with Animals (with book to go with visit)

Mickey and Minnie Mouse Tote Bag Craft

So for Hazel's actual birthday party we had received these wonderful yellow tote bags from Oriental Trading for us to review. Our plan had been for guests to make handprint flamingos on them, however the guests did not want to, so we still had many of the bags. I thought they would be great favors and we could paint Mickey and Minnie Mouse heads on them. My original idea was to get a large sponge and cut it in the shape of a Mickey Mouse head, however I could not find a sponge large enough. Then I thought of the bottom of cups or plates or jars. I tried a few and asked Hazel which size she liked best.

Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month -- Book Round-Up

May is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. I always feel bad about this month. It happens at such a busy time of the year and is often overlooked. May was chosen to mark the anniversary of the first Japanese immigration and the completion of the transcontinental railroad. (The majority of the workers on the railroad were Chinese immigrants.) It also represents such a large area. Asian-Pacific Island includes all of Asia and the islands in the Pacific including New Zealand and the Polynesian Islands. It covers a huge area. (Source)

Source: World Atlas

Although we have no Asian or Pacific Island heritage that I know of, I like to teach Hazel about all the various cultures. I always describe myself as an American mutt since I have quite a mixture of European ancestors and even have some that can be traced to the Mayflower. There is a story in our family history of someone marrying a Native American as well, but I do not know the details. As such I do not identify with any ethnicity besides American and I find it interesting to look at the different ones around. To begin looking into Asian and Pacific Island Heritage we went to the library for books.

General Asian Stories and Picture Books

• A is for Asia by Cynthia Chin-Lee
• Asian Children's Favorite Stories by David Conger, Marian Davies Toth & Kay Lyons
• Asian Holidays by Faith Winchester
• Come Look With Me: Asian Art by Kimberly Lane
• I Dreamed I was a Panda by Debra A. Johnson
• Floating Clouds, Floating Dreams Favorite Asian Folk Tales edited by I. K. Junne
• Moon Magic: Stories from Asia by Katherine Davison
• The Tiger's Whisker and Other Tales from Asia and the Pacific by Harold Courlander
• Folk Tales from Asia by  Asian Cultural Centre for Unesco
• Tikki Tikki Tembo and More Stories to Celebrate Asian Heritage DVD produced by Weston Wood Studios, Inc.

Asian Crafts and Animals

• Asian Kites by Wayne Hosking
• Haiku: Asian Arts and Crafts for Creative Kids by Patricia Donegan
• Asian-American Crafts Kids Can Do! by Sarah Hartman
• A Kid's Guide to Asian American History by Valerie Petrillo
• Asian Crafts by Judith Hoffman Corwin
• Monkeys of Asia and Africa by Patricia A. Fink Martin
• Really Wild Animals: Adventures in Asia DVD produced by National Geographic Society

Next I took some of the many countries in the area and found some picture books to read with Hazel. I am sure there are more and of course there are more countries, but at least this is a start. I am going to add a link party to the end so people can add their own favorite Asian and/or Pacific Island themed books to help learn about the cultures and celebrate the month. Many of these books are about immigrants' experiences in coming to America or leaving their country. Since there are so many, I am not going to list each one. I will however list the ones I have posted about previously with links in case you want to learn more.

Cambodia

China

The Year of the Horse is part of a series of books about the Chinese Zodiac

Julie Black Belt and Julie Black Belt: The Belt of Fire

The Phillipines

Cora Cooks Pancit

The Bamboo Dance

India

Japan

Sora and the Cloud Review

Butterflies for Kiri

Korea

Around the World in 12 Dishes visits Korea

Thailand

Book Reviews at my Around the World in 12 Dishes visits Thailand

Vietnam

Asian-Pacific Cinderella Tales

The Golden Slipper

Kao and the Golden Fish

 

Anklet for a Princess

Kongi and Potgi

The Korean Cinderella

The Gift of the Crocodile

The Golden Sandal

Wishbones and Yeh-Shen

If you know a good book to learn about an Asian or Pacific Island culture or to help celebrate this month, please list its title and author in this link party and share with us all!! You do not need to link a review or post about the book!!

Fairy Tales in Different Cultures: The Golden Sandal: A Middle Eastern Cinderella

Since May is Asian-Pacific American Month, I thought I would feature some of the Asian fairy tales I have done and then I realized that almost all the Cinderella tales I haven't done yet are from Asia, so we are back to having Fairy Tales in Different Cultures. (I should add that we are behind in our cooking for Around the World in 12 Dishes, but that will be coming as soon as I get Hazel to cook with me.) We have already shared Cinderella tales from China, Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and India and a Snow White tale from Armenia. We have also shared Islamic versions of both Cinderella and Snow White. Our tale today is The Golden Sandal by Rebecca Hickox. It is a Middle Eastern Cinderella tale. So first a bit about the Middle East. 

The Middle East is Western Asia. It is also called the Near East. The people of the Middle East come from long established ethnic groups including Arabs, Turks, Persians, Balochs, Pashtuns, Lurs, Mandeans, Tats, Jews, Kurds, Somalis, Assyrians, Egyptian Copts, Armenians, Azeris, Maltese, Circassians, Greeks, Turcomans, Shabaks, Yazidis, Mandeans, Georgians, Roma, Gagauz, Mhallami and Samaritans. Several major religions have their origins in the Middle East including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The majority of the area is dry and hot with a few rivers to provide irrigation for crops. The countries that border the Persian Gulf generally have vast reserves of crude oil. (Source)

In The Golden Sandal, a fisherman is left with his small daughter, Maha, after his wife drowns. A neighbor who is a widow with a small daughter of her own comes to take care of Maha every day. Maha begs his father to marry the widow. He tells her he will never remarry since a stepmother can be jealous of a stepdaughter. Maha continues to beg and eventually her father marries the widow. At first everyone is very happy, but the widow gets jealous of how much the fisherman loves his daughter and of her grace and beauty whereas her own daughter is clumsy and pale in comparison. The stepmother begins having Maha do all the work and feeds her only a few dried dates while the fisherman is away during the day. 

One day Maha is to bring fish back from her father's boat. On her way home, the red fish begins to talk to her and asks her to spare his life. Maha releases it in the river and the fish tells her Allah will reward her and to ask him at any time for whatever she needs. That night the father asks what happened to the red fish and the stepmother is furious that Maha did not bring all the fish back. Maha runs to the river crying and calls for the fish. The fish gives her a coin to give her stepmother and tells her to say she sold the fish. The stepmother is happy with the coin, but still not happy with Maha. 

Over the years both girls grow into young women. Maha works all day and the stepsister becomes lazy and mean to Maha. Maha goes to the fish whenever she feels overwhelmed and the fish does something to help her. One day, a merchant's daughter is to be married. It is the custom for all the unmarried girls to go to the women's celebration before the wedding where the bride has her arms and feet painted with red henna. The mothers of the unmarried men are present and see the girls who are available for marriage.  The stepmother scrubs her daughter and dresses her in the finest clothes they own and leaves Maha home to carry heavy water jugs and sweep the floor. When they leave she goes crying to the fish. The fish provides her a beautiful gown, pearl comb and golden sandals. Maha quickly cleans herself and dresses. When she enters the women assume she must be from an important family dressed as she is and the bride has her sit next to her. Her stepmother and stepsister joke about how she looks a bit like Maha but they could never imagine her in such fine clothes. Maha has such a good time she forgets to keep a close eye on her stepmother and leave before she does. She rushes out after her stepmother and loses one of her sandals in the river. She makes it home and is able to change before her stepmother and stepsister return. 

The next day the bride's brother, Tariq, stops by the river to let his horse get a drink, but the horse refuses to drink. Tariq finds the golden sandal and thinks it is so beautiful. He imagines the woman who wore it and takes it home to his mother. He tells her he wants to marry the girl who lost the sandal. The mother takes the sandal house to house starting with the wealthy families to have the unmarried girls try it on. Eventually she arrives at Maha's home. The stepmother sees her coming and locks Maha in the bread oven with a large rock in front of it. The sandal does not fit the stepsister. A rooster flies to the top of the bread oven and begins crowing with all his might and tells Tariq's mother that the one she is looking for is in the oven. She has her servant open the oven and Maha crawls out. Of course the sandal fits her. Tariq's mother gives the stepmother a purse of gold and tells her that Maha is betrothed to Tariq and they will be married in two days time. The bitter stepmother goes to the perfumer and asks him to make an oil that smells so foul  as rotting fish and that will make hair fall out. She combs this oil into Maha's hair the night before the wedding. The next day the procession comes for Maha and when she arrives and Tariq lifts her veil, the room fills with the scent of roses and her hair is even more beautiful than before. Tariq and Maha live in happiness.

When Tariq's brother sees how happy Tariq is, he tells his mother he wants to marry Maha's sister. The mother goes to the stepmother and gives her a purse of gold and tells her to prepare for the wedding. Since the oil worked so positively for Maha, she uses in her own daughter's hair. When the groom is able to lift the veil he finds a woman with a smell that almost chokes him and all her hair is replaced with red blisters. She is returned to her mother in shame. Tariq and Maha have seven children and live happily.

Like so many of the Asian Cinderella tales, a fish plays an important role in the story. Since the fish is a red fish, I used a red paper plate and made a simple red fish. I did it rather quickly and would have used googly eyes, but I didn't take the time to find them. Hazel wants to make one so our next one will have googly eyes.


For more Cinderella tales check out:

• Islamic-- Fawzia Gilani's Cinderella: An Islamic Tale
• Slavic--Little Sister and the Month Brothers
• African--Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters
• Russian--Vasilissa the Beautiful
• Antartica--Cinderella Penguin 
• Spanish American--Little Gold Star
• Caribbean--Cendrillon
• Greek--The Orphan
• Jewish--Raisel's Riddle and The Way Meat Loves Salt
• Irish--Fair Brown and Trembling and The Irish Cinderlad
• Cinderella Pinterest Board