the little travelers * travel blog

love this!

The girls are really into playing card games these days and we love this one from Bidcage Books.   The fun thing about this set is that it comes with a book telling all about the featured artists on the cards.  Also, the cards have numbers as well as the name of the artists for those that are not yet reading.  The company also has other artist genres to choose from.  We love the impressionists.

Birthday gift ideas

Here's a list I was given years ago from the best Kindy teacher in the whole wide world, Patti Connolly.  I've kept it and refer to it often for gift inspiration.

• Tool box- with small real hand tools, nails, screws, sandpaper, pieces of wood...
• Sewing basket- filled with  pin cushion, pins, scissors, threads, embroidery floss... 
• Basket of materials- felt, wool, cotton... 
• Arts & Crafts- drawing paper, beeswax crayons, tape, scissors, clay, construction paper, glue stick, modeling beeswax... 
• Treasure bag- filled with marbles, crystals, geodes, buttons, polished stones, acorns... 
• Candle and candle holder for bedtime. 
• Gardening tools with seed packets, hand trowel, shovel, rake... 
• A tree or rosebush 
• Dress-up materials- silk squares, felt crown, shiny trim, cheesecloth square... 
• Clothespins for making playhouses with large cloth lengths 
• A fine china tea set 
• Wooden bowls and spoons 
• Cookie cutters, rolling pin, measuring spoons, mixing bowl... 
• An apron for working or dress ups... 
• A beautiful kite 
• Jumprope - with a handmade book of jump rhymes
• A big ball of yarn with little presents hidden within (marbles, hairclips...) 
• Rounds of wood cut from logs- tree blocks 
• Plain wooden blocks, trucks or trains 
• Wooden plank and a tree stump 
• Small plant and watering can   

I have found time and again the simple or handmade toys are the ones that children love giving and receiving the most.  And a wrapped present is so much more fun to open than a gift bag- even though I've certainly been known to give those when time is sparse!  

A gift we've given quite often this year and has been a hit is a pack of paintbrushes, paints and a plain bird house. 

Mermaids

A mermaid theme is definitely one to another world.  This was for the girls' 2nd and 4th birthdays.  I sewed up a bunch of little silk shantung mermaid tails with some netting at the bottom.  That way they could still walk. The bras were real shells with string hot-glued on.  I used a soft cotton chenille so it wouldn't irritate their skin.  I first started with twine because I like the look- oops!  The crowns were covered with sand and seashells and our craft was beading sea glass into bracelets and necklaces.   I'm not a fan of "kids' food." We just eat food at our house, as people have done for 1000's of years. We shopped at Asian markets for the excellent seaweed decor and garnishes. We had spiral pasta tossed in pesto with baby octopus in it, crab legs, seaweed salad, shrimp and boxes of jewels (mixed berries). A real mermaids' feast!

French theme- Ooh, la la!

When the girls were turning 3 and 5 they had a Parisian party.  It was all pink poodles and poshness.  They of course had never been to Paris before, but Madeline had. Lots of fruit, bread and cheese keeps it relatively healthy. Although, parties are for splurging...

Japanese party

After we returned from Japan the big sister decided to have a Japanese birthday party- all on her own- I promise there was no prompting on my side! took the legs off a craft table and put it on some packing boxes covered in fabric to make our floor table.  We had the place mats, soba plates and cushions already- but you could always get creative and use what you have.

We had sushi, edamame, somen noodles, fruit and salad.  And we had the little cheaters for the chopsticks for those that needed it. 

We found some sushi candles and used those for the cake, which we made ourselves in the shape of a sushi plate.  Now if only I knew how to spell birthday....

Japanese rubber stamps on plain fans made for a simple craft.