Cultural Exchange...South Africa!!!

The girls received their cultural exchange package from South Africa at the beginning of the month, and we've had a great time learning about South Africa so far!  Here's what was in the package...

handmade finger puppets of the Big 5 animals of South Africa...love them!




A couple of postcards




Photocopied (1 side only) and laminated money.  This is one of our favorite things...the money is really beautiful!




Coins




A tiny wooden elephant and bowl...LOVE this!




a Christmas ornament




 a magnet




mini South African flags.  The girls were excited to have more flags for their mini American girls.




Wire animals...E(2)'s favorite!




Activity sheets




We've really enjoyed this wonderful cultural exchange package.  I don't have a picture of the letter since I don't want to put pics of children other than my own on the blog, but the letter was fantastic.  O(5) said that the letter is the best part of the package!  Thanks to our South African friends!!!

Also, I'd love to hear from everyone who participated in the cultural exchange.  Please leave a comment or email me to let me know if you received your packages and how you liked them.  I'd love it if you would leave a link to any blog posts about the exchange especially if  you have pics of the things you sent and received in your packages.  I've had lots of emails asking what kinds of things were included in the packages, so this could help a lot of people.  I'll be organizing another exchange soon, so if you are interested in participating stay tuned....

Another Valentine's Size Sequencing Activity

Here's another simple Valentine's activity!  I bought a set of heart measuring cups (for a dollar from Dollar General) and put them in a basket on E(2)'s Montessori shelf.  Done!



E puts them in order from smallest to largest.  We talk about the different sizes, and we pretend that the measuring cups are the different members of our family.  One day she was insisting that the biggest one was O(5)!  Silly girl :)

Sorting Hearts By Size

E(2) has had fun sorting the "mama" and "baby" heart stickers.  What a simple and fun activity for my little love!

Sequencing Hearts by Size

I was SO excited when I saw this set of heart cookie cutters for just one dollar at Dollar General!  They are perfect for toddler activities!  E(2) puts them in order from smallest to largest.  We talk about which one is small and which one is the largest.  She hands me the ones that I ask for, and her favorite...naming them with our names.  The smallest heart is E, then O, and on and on.

She enjoys putting them back in order within themselves, but it was a challenge in this rounded bowl.







So, I moved them to a flat container in order to ease her frustration and to help her be successful.

A Moveable Alphabet of Hearts

Here's a Valentine's Day twist on the moveable alphabet!  Fun and simple...that's what we like!

A Valentine's Pouring Work

E(2) has enjoyed pouring the candy hearts.  However, she kept sneaking them into her mouth, so I put them out of reach.  Now, she just does that work with supervision :)

DIY Rainbow Solar Night Lights

If you've looked at Pinterest in the last few months, then you've probably seen the solar night light jars made out of outdoor solar lights.  When I saw the lights a few months ago, I decided to make a few for my girls and my niece for Christmas.  However, I wanted to put a different spin on it...I wanted it to be a rainbow light that continually changed colors.

This was our last handmade gift to make, and we didn't finish the lights until after 1am on Christmas morning.  I didn't type the "pet light" story for the girls until Christmas afternoon about 3 minutes before we gave the lights to them. The story told the girls that they must take care of the lights and put them in the sun each day since the sun provides them with energy to glow all night long.  The girls named their lights "Zoey" and "Bella," and these are the coolest night lights I've EVER seen (and, of course, I'm not biased at all)!

Here's what we did...I bought 3 jars (from Hobby Lobby for about 4 dollars each).  I spray painted the inside of the jars with  about 4 coats of frost spray paint (about 8 dollars a can from Hobby Lobby).  I left the top clear so that the solar panel would receive enough sunlight.  Elliott dismantled the rainbow solar lights (these are impossible to find, but luckily my sister had a set of 3 in her closet).  The dismantling was more difficult than we anticipated since the wires were threaded through a metal tube that was about a foot long.  He had to remove the wires, cut, and splice them together again.  Then he glued the light on top of the solar panel.  He put the whole thing in the bottom of the jar, but we decided not to glue it down so that we could get to the on/off switch if we needed to.

Here are more pics Bella and Zoey.

















Here's a video so you can see how the colors change.