LITTLE PIM BLOG

Around The World, Company Press & Events wpengine Around The World, Company Press & Events wpengine

Happy Mother's Day From Little Pim

Happy Mother's Day! We hope all of you wonderful mothers take some time for relaxation and rest today with your families. Have crêpes in bed! Below are a few ways to say Happy Mother's Day in different languages!

Catalan: Feliç Dia de la Mare Chinese: Mu Qin jie kuai le Hebrew: Yom ha'em sameah Italian: Buona festa della Mamma Spanish: Feliz Día de las Madres

Read More
Around The World, Company Press & Events wpengine Around The World, Company Press & Events wpengine

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Today commemorates the unexpected 1862 victory of the Mexican army over the French army in the battle over the city of Puebla. I've compiled some Spanish vocabulary words that follow the theme of today's festivities.

La batalla - battle La revolucion - revolution La bandera - flag El heroe - hero La independencia - independence La victoria - victory

Get the kids together and practice your espanol today! If you're heading out to a party, I've included a guacamole recipe below that will entice even your pickiest eaters.

Yummy Guacamole

Ingredients

2 large ripe avocados 1 small red onion, finely chopped 2 tbsp (30 mL) lime juice 1 medium tomato, seeded and finely chopped 1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped 1 tsp (5 mL) ground cumin 1/4 cup (50 mL) chopped cilantro 1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt

Cooking Instructions

Cut the avocados in half, remove the pit, and peel them. If they are ripe, the peel should come off easily. Dice the avocado flesh, and dump into a bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients, and toss to combine without mashing. The ingredients should remain separate, and the salsa chunky. Serve with tortilla chips for dipping, or as an accompaniment to tacos or burritos.

Servings: Makes about 2 cups (500 mL).

recipe from Kaboose.com photo from score.rims.k12.ca.us

Read More
Around The World, Fun Activities & Teaching Tips wpengine Around The World, Fun Activities & Teaching Tips wpengine

Meals Around The World... In Your Kitchen.

I am always looking for ways to introduce my children to newlanguages, and also to the idea that we live in a world with many different cultures, traditions, foods and lifestyles. A friend recently shared an idea her mom used to help her brother and her learn about the wide world from their home in Maryland. Once a month they had a "French night" or "Spanish night" or "Chinese night" where they would eat the foods of that country (imagine crepes, burritos or dumplings) and learn about the places the food came from. They would cook together, look at maps, browse through guide books, play music from the country in question, and talk about what they knew about that country. Sometimes they had a guest at dinner from the chosen country or watched a movie in that language. She and her brother loved these festive, themed evenings, and they are among her happiest family memories. I thought that seemed like a pretty easy and fun way to bring the world to your dinner table, without having to wait on any long lines for check-in!

If you want to try "country night" at home, here are some web sites that can help you fill in the gaps. I suggest you plan three nights at once so you can stock up on ingredients, music and images. It's also a really fun thing to do with other families. Your kids will get even more excited about country night if they see that other kids are also participating. And remember, kids will only sometimes do as you say, but they will *always* do as you do! By making this a regular event and spending time on it, they will learn from you how important it is to know about, respect and enjoy other cultures. If your kids are very young, you can still do this activity to broaden their palate and introduce them to the sounds and rhythms of other languages. You might find you have a pint-sized flamenco music enthusiast or sesame noodles-lover in your family... Bonne chance!

Links:

Make your own burrito

Order frozen dumplings

Make the perfect French crepe

To order a GeoPuzzle, Travel Mania game or other Geo Toys

If you have favorite foods from other countries you like to make for your family, please tell us about them and we can add them to our blog, which is read by thousands of parents interested in their children having a multi-national experience from an early age. Email us at info@littlepim.com.

Read More
Around The World, Fun Activities & Teaching Tips wpengine Around The World, Fun Activities & Teaching Tips wpengine

How Do Kids Celebrate Holidays Around The World?

In FRANCE families eat a special dessert at holiday time called Bûche de Noël (pronounced "booche de no-el") which means "Christmas log". It's a very sweet cake, shaped like a log from the fireplace! It's made of sponge cake and has lots of chocolate icing. Here is a picture:

 

Want to make your own?

 

 

In MEXICO a big party for children usually includes a Piñata, (pronounced Peenyata, for it has an ñ, not an n), filled with peanuts in the shell, oranges, tangerines, sugar canes, and candy. All the children sing while one child at a time tries to break the Piñata with a stick while he/she is blindfolded.

 

 

 

Although Piñatas started in Italy, today they are a Mexican tradition. Mexican piñatas are usually made out of cardboard and paper mache and decorated with crepe paper.

 

Decorate your own pinata: : http://www.expertvillage.com/ video/14795_pinata-making -warp.htm Or fill a store bought one with your favorite treats HERE.

 

In CHINA, s

ince the vast majority of the Chinese people are not Christian, the main winter festival is the Chinese New Year, which takes place toward the end of January. Kids decorate by lighting their houses with beautiful paper lanterns. Many Chinese children also hang stockings and await a visit from Santa Claus, whom they call Dun Che Lao Ren (dwyn-chuh-lau-oh-run) which means "Christmas Old Man." Santa Claus may also be called Lan Khoong-Khoong, "Nice Old Father."

 

 

Make your own lantern:

 

Read More