More on the Cultural Package Exchange

Due to the tremendous response (in less than 24 hours!), I think I may have to divide this into groups. Also, I've had several people from the USA express an interest, so I'll open it up to you as well (I'd love to have participants from Alaska & Hawaii). (However, the South is covered, and I only need a few more from the US, so let me know quickly if you want in on this).

I'm going to wait a couple more days (maybe Friday). Then I will count the countries and participants from each and divide it into groups. I'll email everyone to see if you want to be a part of a large group, small group, or if you just want to send/receive a package to my girls.

I'd like for you to send all of the packages at one time rather than one a month since it will be really easy to get sidetracked and forget to send it (I know that I don't want to have to think about and try to remember this every month for the next year!). I don't want anyone to send out 12 packages and only get 7 or 8 back! So, if you want to do this, make sure you'll REALLY do it :)

There are a few specific things that I want included in each package...the key component is that it is a letter from your child to another child. Many children are too young to write letters (mine are), so I'll have O help me, but I will actually write the letter (although, I will write it as if I am O). The fun part about this for the kids is to actually get letters from other kids. Also, I would like for you to include at least one pic of your child. Other ideas include coins, stamps, postcards, candy or snack, small toy or trinket, etc. In order to keep the cost of shipping down, everything will need to be small and lightweight. I'm planning to send out large envelopes, not boxes, so all of our items will be small.

Since we have several vacations coming up and I want to gather souvenirs and postcards while on vacation, I won't be compiling and sending my packages until late August. I'm going to start working on my letter with O, but will not actually send the packages until I gather everything that I need to include in them. I think we may go on a few extra road trips just to have more stuff to include! So, the timeline is kind of loose...just within the next 3 months or so.

So, I still need people from Africa, Russia, the Middle East, India, etc. I know you are out there because I checked the map in my sidebar (and was amazed!) :)

Make sure to email me at chasingcheerios@gmail.com if you are interested!

Wow! What a Response!

Thank you ALL so much for the wonderful responses to the cultural exchange!!! Here are the countries that are covered so far:

Japan
UK
Scotland
Italy
Spain
New Zealand
Australia
Canada
Israel
Turkey
Switzerland
Denmark
Trinidad
Poland
France
Germany
Singapore
Italy
Ireland
So, here is my plan...I'll wait a few more days for responses. Then I will email everyone to find out if you would like to participate in the group exchange or just exchange with me. Since I have had responses from more than one person from several countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, etc), I will include the first responder from each country in the group swap (if you choose the group swap). However, I will be happy to send & receive packages from everyone (as long as I don't get a hundred responses!).

Thank you again SO much! I'll be getting in touch with everyone via email, and please email me if you'd like to participate at chasingcheerios@gmail.com.

International Readers...I Need Your Help!

So, I have an idea that's been brewing for a while, and I'm going to need some help to make it happen...are you in???

I read about Little Passports a few months ago (it's a monthly subscription to a package from a different country), and I thought about subscribing for my girls. Then (of course) I thought "I could just make that." I thought about it for a while...buying country specific items from Fair Trade websites and World Market, writing letters as if I were in another country, etc. I realized it would end up being VERY expensive and maybe not so great. Then my current idea emerged...

Wouldn't it be cool (and fun, educational, exciting, interesting, phenomenal, etc) for my kids (and yours!) to receive a package each month from a REAL child from another country???

Here is my proposal...

I (with O's help) will write a letter to your child. In the letter, we will talk about our country specific holidays (July 4th, Thanksgiving, etc) and traditions. We will discuss the things we do for fun, the food we eat, the places we travel, etc. I will include postcards, pics of the kids doing fun things in scenic places (water skiing, walking under waterfalls, hiking in the mnts, running on the beach, visiting a lighthouse, visiting Disneyworld, etc.), coins, a dollar bill, a recipe, and other small, lightweight, and fun souvenirs. If you will agree to send a similar package to me, I will send one to you! Also, if many people are interested in sending out several packages, then I'll coordinate addresses and get you the info, so that you can receive packages from other people as well as myself.

Ideally, I would like to receive at least 12 packages from 12 different countries. My plan is to give the girls a smartglobe for Christmas along with a "subscription" to a country package from a REAL family that they will get each month. Since the packages will probably all come in at about the same time, I will save them and then put one in the mailbox at the beginning of each month.

So, are you in? Doesn't this sound like SO much fun? I know that my girls will LOVE it...if it works. And another perk is that O can take her packages to her Montessori school when they are studying the different countries! If you are interested in participating, please email me ASAP at chasingcheerios@gmail.com. THANK YOU!!!

Edit to add: The emails are rolling in, so if you are interested in participating let me know ASAP. So far, I have particpants from Trinidad, Brazil, New Zealand, British Columbia (Canada), and Quebec (Canada). I am SO excited! Thank you ALL so much!

O's Beautiful Mermaid Birthday Cake

O(4) started decorating her own birthday cakes when she turned 3 years old, and she LOVES doing this! I think it's one of her favorite things about having a birthday. When we were discussing ideas for her decorations a couple of months ago, I suggested using her personalized paper doll on the cake. She LOVED this idea and wanted her paper doll to be dressed as a mermaid.

O had fun choosing her decorations, and she had even more fun decorating her cake. She used green jelly beans for seaweed and Swedish fish, gummy octupuses, and chocolate rocks to make it look beachy. She said "I can't believe I have a BEACH cake!"

She was SO proud of her cake!

e is for elephant & egg

I recently paired E(1)'s sandpaper "e" with a basket of "e" objects...an elephant and an egg. We say "eh, eh, eh" as we hold the objects and trace the "e." We also point to E, of course, while we are tracing the letter and saying the sound :)

Plaster, Shells, Sand, & Rocks Mask

The girls and I used plaster of paris, shells, and rocks to make a mask on the beach last week during our "Art on the Beach" week.

First, we dug a hole in the sand. Then O(4), E(1), and I looked for shells and rocks to use to make the face. O and E arranged the rocks and shells in the hole.




Then we mixed up the plaster of paris. We didn't have as much as we needed, but it still worked out fine.


We poured the plaster into the hole and let it sit for more than an hour. Then I lifted out our mask. We were very pleased with the end result.

Montessori on the Beach...Landforms

The girls and I had a great time making landforms on the beach last week! I laminated the landforms sheet from Montessori at Home and took it, along with a large aluminum container, out to our tiny beach (this would work just as well at a sandbox). We chose a landform to make and got to work!

We made lakes and islands on the first day.




On the next day, I remembered to take blue food coloring and small plastic animals with us to the beach which made this activity even more fun!

We made a bay on the 2nd day. I drew the outline with a twig, and the girls dug it out.


We then slowly poured the water into the container. This was a good lesson on erosion because when O(4) poured the water too fast, the land eroded away.

After playing with the bay for a while, O turned it into an island.

We all really enjoyed making landforms, and I think this is something we'll do often this summer! (and I'm so glad that I didn't go to the trouble of making model magic landforms like I planned to years ago...this was much much more fun and engaging for the girls than having premade landforms)

"Decorate Your Own Cupcake" Activity

O(4) went with me to Special Events' Day (similar to Special Olympics) at my school a few months ago, and she was able to go around with a class to do all of the activities. Her favorite activity was decorating her own cupcake at the snack stand, and she said she really wanted to have a "decorate your own cupcake" activity at her 5th birthday party.

We had O's 5th birthday party (a month early so our friends who are moving to Costa Rica soon could attend), and the "decorate your own cupcake" activity was the highlight of the party! We typically don't have many sugary snacks or snacks with artificial colors in our house, but we broke that rule (big time!) for O's party!

When we went shopping, she chose blue sugar sprinkles, color sprinkles, color marshmallows, jelly beans, chocolate rocks, etc. She used all of these things to decorate her own birthday cake, and then we also used them for the cupcake activity. Fun times!

Animals & An Ice Cube Tray

Here is another simple activity to build one-to-one correspondence skills! I gave E(1) an empty ice tray and a bowl of mini animals. There were just enough animals for one animal to go into each space in the tray. E loved putting the animals in the tray. While I was showing her the activity, she kept saying "my turn, my turn!" Then after she had her turn, she said "mommy turn."

She completed this activity several times in a row, and she especially liked the mini cats.

She put 3 cats in one space, and I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from correcting her. She stared at the tray for a couple of seconds, and then corrected herself by putting one cat in each space. It was fun to watch her expression as she thought about it.

"Art on the Beach" Week...Handprint Canvas

The girls and I have had "Art on the Beach" Week this week, and it's been lots of fun. In fact, I think that we'll continue with daily art projects on the beach throughout the summer, since we've all enjoyed it so much.

One of our projects was to make a handprint canvas for their daddy for Father's Day. The girls decided to paint the canvas blue (blue is O's favorite color). The painted the whole canvas blue using tempera paint.

After the canvas was covered, we pressed their hands onto it to make handprints. We've done this several times in the past, but it's been almost 2 years since the last time, so I thought we needed updated handprints!

Getting the squirmy toddler's hanpdrint was not easy and took several tries...she kept moving her fingers when they were on the canvas. We are all happy with the final result, and we hope Elliott will love it!

Where is it?

E(1) and I had fun playing "Where is it?" this week. To play this game, I had 2 cups...one blue and one red. I put a small object (a wooden girl) under one of the cups while E had her eyes closed. When she opened her eyes, I asked "where is it?" and she tried to find it.

I put it under the red cup each time and waited to see if she would realize that the girl was always under the red cup. She kept checking under the blue cup, but I realized that she "got it" when she handed me the blue cup and demanded that I put the girl under the blue cup. She said "boo cup!" several times...she really wanted me to use the blue cup, too!

Rough/Smooth Board

I introduced the rough/smooth board to E(1) last week.

To make the board (I made it about 3 years ago for O), I glued a square of sandpaper on one side piece of foam core board and left the other side empty.

To introduce the board to her, I lightly rubbed E's finger on the sandpaper and said "rough," and then I rubbed her finger on the foam core board and said "smooth." She repeated the words after me, and seemed to understand completely. Simple, yet effective. She also really liked scratching the sandpaper with her fingernail :)

Sister Love

I have really loved watching the bond between my girls strengthen this summer as they spend all day and night together (since O is out of school, and they are now sharing a room). They love each other so much, and I love to watch their relationship grow.

Counting by 10's

O(4) LOVES to count by 10's! She learned a counting by 10's song in school that she sings all the time. So, when I saw these orange counters in Montessori at Home by John Bowman, I knew that O would enjoy the activity.


I gave her ten 10 golden bead bars and showed her how to place the counters after each one. She immediately understood and got to work. She liked the activity, but she was a little disappointed that it was so easy. She had asked for a really hard math lesson, and this wasn't challenging enough for my math girl! I'm going to show her how to count by 5's with the beads soon, so hopefully that will offer a little more of a challenge for her.

Easy Microwaved Eggs

I have a confession to make...I rarely cook a hot breakfast for my children. I prefer serving them cereal and milk, yogurt,boiled eggs, and fruit. Occasionally, we'll have oatmeal. Sometimes, I feel guilty about this, but most of the times I'm ok with it :)

However, when a friend mentioned microwaved eggs a couple of weeks ago, it reminded me of making microwaved eggs for breakfast years ago in my "before kids" days. Since my girls LOVE eggs, I decided to try microwaved eggs this morning.

I poured olive oil in a microwave safe bowl and swirled it around to cover the sides and bottom of the bowl. I cracked 2 eggs into the bowl and mixed them around with a fork. Then, I microwaved them in 30 second intervals. I think I microwaved the eggs for a total of about 1 minute and 45 seconds...the last interval was only 15 seconds. Once they were cooked thoroughly (not runny at all), I cut the eggs into pieces and served them to my girls.

E(1) was THRILLED! She squealed and shouted "eggs!" when she saw her plate. O(4) liked the eggs, but she said that "daddy's scrambled eggs are better because he cooks them with milk." Maybe, I'll put a dash of milk into our microwaved eggs next time :)