LITTLE PIM BLOG
#SmartSpring Twitter Party - You're Invited!
Join us at our #SmartSpringTwitter Party to talk with our panel of moms and experts about eco-friendly family fun and creating world-opening experiences for your little ones!
DATE: Tuesday, April 29th TIME: 9pm EST HASHTAG: #SmartSpring PRIZES: A Trio Android tablet and Little Pim products galore!
RSVP to the Twitter Party by filling out this simple form.*
Make sure to follow us @LittlePim, our host Allison McDonald @Noflashcards, and our fantastic panelists @teachmama and @pragmaticmom.
And while you're at it, be sure to follow our #SmartSpring Pinterest board for educational and eco-friendly activities you can share with your kids this Spring.
See you there!
*RSVP on or before 4/28/14 at 11:59pm EST to receive an exclusive discount code to use during and after the party.
Join Little Pim's Virtual Easter Egg Hunt!
Easter egg hunts aren’t just for the backyard! This year, Little Pim invites you to our first ever virtual Pinterest Easter Egg Hunt. Not into jelly beans? Don’t worry. This year the prize is $75 to LittlePim.com.
Click over to our Easter Egg Hunt board and see if you can find the little surprises we have tucked away. Little Pim is hiding in 10 of the pins on this board! The more you find and repin, the more entries you will have in the drawing.
The rules are simple:
- FollowLittle Pim on Pinterest (@littlepimterest).
- Create a Pinterest board called “Little Pim Easter Basket.”
- Fill it with your favorite Easter crafts and activities.
- Visit our “Easter Egg Hunt” board and begin the hunt. Repin anytime you think you have found one of our hidden pandas.
- Send us the link to your board by filling out this simple form by or before Sunday, April 20.
- And that’s it!
Keep your eyes peeled for œufs, huevos, ovos, Eier, uova, and other Easter eggs. Happy hunting!
Contest ends Sunday, April 20 at 11:59 EST. For more information, view Official Rules here.
Update: We have a winner! View the winning board here.
April is National Autism Awareness Month
At Little Pim, we’re proud of all of our little learners. But recently, we’ve been hearing some amazing stories from some Little Pim families in the Autism community. We'd thought we'd share a few to celebrate April's being National Autism Awareness Month: 1. “My 4-year-old daughter received a Spanish language set as a gift. She is enjoying them, but I was very surprised to find that my 7-year-old son has become so interested in them. He has Autism Spectrum Disorder and is an emergent reader. The simplicity and repetition for a child who is an auditory learner over a visual learner is key. The content and the color palette is soothing enough not to overstimulate and therefore, makes it easier to keep his attention. He has been watching them every morning and loves to call out his new words like "Perro!" and "Lapiz!" and "Manzana!"…It's hard to find a learning activity for both of my children. It's hard for a child on the Autism Spectrum to hold his interest. These are wonderful tools for them.”
2. "When our son was diagnosed with autism at 2 years of age, one of our main concerns was the delay in his language. After some research we purchased the Little Pim complete set in English. We were very pleased with the clear pronunciation of words and entertainment of the video. Little Pim provided our son with a fun opportunity to learn. Any child can benefit from Little Pim’s Immersion Method, whether it is to enhance their native tongue or to learn a new language."
We were delighted to hear such amazing stories. But we also wondered about how Little Pim’s language learning system was able to work so well for these emergent learners.
Adrienne Borgersen’s nephew has autism spectrum disorder. She’s also on staff at Little Pim and was able to share this interesting background and perspective with us:
"Little Pim taps into both ‘ABA’ (Applied Behavior Analysis) and ‘echolalia.'
ABA is a tool used to educate students on the spectrum. It includes repetition reinforcement and reward. Really, every teaching method uses repetition. You don't teach a child something once and expect them to learn it.
Echolalia is when children on the spectrum sometimes pick up bits and pieces of things and tend to repeat them. If you recognize the echolalia speech, you can adapt your understanding of what someone is saying to help teach him conversation and social skills…it’s the same concept as teaching a different language. For example, if you sat with a child who spoke only Spanish, and you didn’t speak Spanish at all, you would first try to learn what he was saying. You would listen to what he said more than once. Through repetition, once you learned why he was saying it, then you could reverse and teach him your language. It’s the same thing. When the communication is successful, you reward them. That’s the ABA techniques to teach, and hopefully diminish, echolalia.
This is all why my nephew is responding to the Little Pim method. The color palette, the repetition, the calm, consistent style, is ‘speaking his language’.”
You can learn more about ABA at Autism Speaks' incredibly informative and user friendly site.
In addition, we'd like to say Mazel Tov! (Hebrew), Felicitazioni! (Italian), Omedetô! (Japanese), and Pozdravlaiu! (Russian) in addition to our own hearty Congratulations! for all the accomplishments our special learners achieve every day.
Kid's Craft: Create a Cherry Blossom Festival Bento Box
There are few surer signs that spring has arrived than the lovely pink blossoms that mark Cherry Blossom Festivals around the world. In Japan, families celebrate the arrival of spring with hanami, which means “viewing flowers” parties that celebrate the blooming of the country’s numerous sakura, “cherry blossom trees”. For families, this means bringing picnics and bento boxes, an assortment of small tasty bites, usually with a nod towards what’s fresh and in season, to eat under the flower-laden branches.
If you’re lucky enough to be in Washington DC in spring, the National Cherry Blossom Festival runs from the end of March through mid-April and you can witness of the cloud of pink that surrounds the Tidal Basin from the 3,000 trees that were a gift from Japan in 1912.
Or, you can take a look at Japan’s official Cherry Blossom site, which offers a fascinating glimpse of the country’s cherry trees as they bloom.
Even if you don’t have the fluttering flora near you, you can still celebrate spring flowers with an outdoor garden picnic and our fun, kid-friendly bento boxes featuring “sandwich sushi” that’s sure to have your kids saying Un, oishii! or “Mmm, it’s good!”
SANDWICH SUSHI
What You’ll Need
- * Soft square sandwich bread
- * Any of the following spreads:
- -Nut butter
- -Jelly
- -Hummus
- -Spreadable Cheese (ie, cream cheese, Neufchatel, Laughing Cow, etc)
- -Butter or butter spread
Then add crunch if you’d like:
- *Pepper slices
- *Carrot sticks
- *Celery
- *Cucumber
- (The sky’s really the limit here!)
Roll it all together:
- First, slice the crusts off the bread so that you have a perfect square
- Then, using a rolling pin, flatten bread
- Choose a spread or two and thinly layer on the bread
- Choose a “crunch” if you'd like and place horizontally along the top edge of your spread bread
- Now roll from top to bottom until you have a log, then slice in 1/3 inch rounds
Take your sandwich sushi and place in cupcake liners in a square or rectangle plastic container. Fill empty spots with other liners filled with bites of fruits, veggies, sweets or cheese. Tabeyou! (Let's Eat!)
Spring Ahead With A Fantastic Family Road Trip Playlist
Spring flowers, sunny skies, and the hints of warm weather that come with the change of seasons practically call out for a family road trip. So pack up your kids and put everyone in the traveling mood with our playlist of recent hits and classic songs from around the globe. Actually, no matter if you’re spring day tripping, spring cleaning, or simply have a spring dance party in your living room, our playlist will make you want to get up and groove.
And if Spring makes you as “Happy” as a “house without a roof” (our pick for favorite spring song), check out this link to folks around the world doing their own “Happy” dance. It's a great way to let your kids get a glimpse of spots reaching from Aix to Zagreb, and literally everywhere in-between (96 countries have participated thus far!).
Want even more musical inspiration? Little Pim’s Spanish Bop and French Bop are perfect to keep the music going all the way into summer.
So what are you waiting for? Plug in some speakers and let the spring music start!
Family Vacation Giveaway: Pin to Win Your Dream Trip!
*Vacation giveaway ends April 4, 2014. Start pinning now!
5 Secrets to Smart Packing for Spring Break
It’s the most wonderful time of the year – spring break! Whether you’re going to grandma’s house or to a tropical beach, the first step to a successful vacation with kids is packing right. Travel expert Melissa Klurman can get you from overstuffed diaper bags to sleek and chic suitcases in just 5 simple steps.Then it's Buon Viaggio as our friends in Italy say! 1. Make a List, Check it twice: Stop! Before you even think about putting something in your suitcase, make a list for each member of your family. Then pile all the items on your pad outside your suitcase before you pack. Then edit out as many items as you can out (bring stain remover sticks and Woolite single packs to stretch wardrobe options.) Your goal is a lean, light suitcase. Remember: No one ever came back from a trip with kids saying “I wish my bags had been heavier and I had to carry more.”
2. Do you homework: Check out the weather in your destination on an app such as WeatherBug and pack for the climate without bringing “just in case” clothes. Consult the hotel’s website, or give them a call, to determine if they have supplies you can leave at home. Many hotels stock everything from baby proofing kits to booster seats.
2. Switch It Up – When it’s time to pack, don’t think "one suitecase-one person." Intead, divide everyone's clothes over multiple bags. You should have some of your kid’s or spouse’s pieces in your bag, and vice versa; covering you in the (hopefully rare) case that one of your bags goes missing or is left at home (trust me, it happens).
3. Plastic Rocks! – If you remember only one word about vacation packing with kids, make it PLASTIC. Put suntan lotion, shampoo, or anything that might leak in Ziploc bags for checked luggage. Tuck a few more into your suitcase for wet bathing suits, sandy shoes, or dirty bibs. Plastic zip bags for snacks on the go turn into drip-free garbage bags when you’re done eating. And if you’re packing for a dressy occasion, pack outfits in individual plastic dry cleaner bags and then place in a garment bag – the plastic layers keep clothes wrinkle free.
4. Roll, Roll, Roll – To save space when you’re packing, skip the “square” fold and roll instead. Lay shirts flat, fold arms in and across each other, fold in half length-wise, then roll from top to bottom. Tuck rolled items up against each other to create rows of rolls. In the corners, place shoes which should be filled with rolled socks.
5. Mesh to the rescue – Mesh laundry bags, usually sold for laundering your delicates, are travel lifesavers for families. For babies and tots, place easily visible, whole outfits into the transparent bag, then tuck the dirty clothes back inside when you’re done with them for easy drop and wash when you get back home. For you, place bathing suits and lingerie for easy snag free packing and washing. Added bonus: if you’re flying with carry-on luggage and your bag gets inspected, you can skip the whole strangers-holding-up-your-unmentionables part of the inspection since the contents are partially visible.
Happy Travels!
Melissa Klurman is an award-winning travel writer and editor who has professionally demonstrated how to pack suitcases on CBS, FOX, and NBC programs – she still, however, has trouble deciding which shoes to bring on vacation.
What's Trending in Bilingualism
We've scoured the web to find breaking news and information in the world of Bilingualism. Check out our 5 favorite stories, below:
1. Taking bilingualism to the bank: In the Economist, bilingualism comes down to dollars and cents in, What is a Foreign Language Worth? The article looks at actual ROI (return on investment) for bilingual employees. While these numbers are lower than others comparisons we’ve seen, we found it interesting that you can expect being bilingual in German to increase your lifetime additional earnings by nearly three times that of Spanish. Will Goethe become more popular with the preschool set now?
2.Little Pim in the News: Our own Julia Pimsleur Levine, founder and CEO of Little Pim, is featured on Forbes this week in How to Speak Entrepreneur Like a Native. If you’ve ever wondered how Little Pim started, this is a great read. If you’re interested in hearing from Julia first hand about her entrepreneurial endeavors, her personal Forbes blog is here.
3. Kids bop to bilingual pop: It was only a matter of time before pop songs embraced the budding bilingual kids’ market. From the same producer who created the earwig “Friday” song by Rebecca Black, comes a Chinese/English song, “Get in My Car” sung by 10-yr-old Grace Liu. http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/5930503/10-year-old-grace-liu-wants-you-to-get-in-my-car-watch
4. “Hear and I forget, see and I remember” – National Geographic explores why it’s easier to remember new lessons, including a second language, when you use visual and tactile lessons---like Little Pim’s videos and books---and not just audible ones.
5. Say what? According to a New Zealand study, babies can actually make distinctions between words spoken in foreign languages.
Happy Saint Patrick's Day!
lá sona ú Pádraig! It's a great day to be (and speak) Irish. Saint Patrick's Day is also a good day to color your world green, but maybe it's better to confine the coloring to paper. Click the printable to download this brand new Saint Patrick's Day coloring sheet and don't forget that the word of the day isn't just green, it's also:
- verde (Spanish)
- vert (French)
- lǜsè (Chinese)
- grün (German)
- zelenyy (Russian)
- glas (Irish)
Top Family Travel Trends from the 2014 Travel Show
Our resident travel expert and Little Pim blogger Melissa Klurman hit the floor at the NYT 2014 Travel Show to find the “Next Big Thing” in travel for families. Here are a few of her favorite finds, just in time for summer vacation planning.
1. Croatia – Looking for an affordable European vacation destination without the crowds? Croatia, the newest member of the European Union (they joined in Septemer 2013), should be at the top of your list. The country has beautiful beaches lining the crystal blue Adriatic Sea, storybook Medieval cities, and great value for money. And for proof that Croatia is family friendly, look no further than Disney Cruises, which has added the picturesque walled city of Dubrovnik to all of its Mediterranean cruises.
2. TripWing – There are probably more travel apps available for download than raisins squished into your minivan, but this is one of the most innovative we’ve seen: It let’s you research and compare trip itineraries from travel tour operators and then book directly on the site. Currently, only 3 of the 30 tour operators on TripWing let you book directly without a travel agent. So now you can do your family travel research and booking completely on your own schedule (check out some of the offerings for family friendly Biking in France or Eco-Tourism in Costa Rica if you need an afternoon distraction.)
3. Jersey Shore – Proving they’re “Stronger Than the Storm,” New Jersey pulled out all the stops at the Travel Show to highlight their family friendly beaches as THE east coast destination to spend your summer vacation. If you’ve never been before, fly into Philadelphia and drive to lovely Cape May – kids love the historic lighthouse and you’ll be enamored of the Victorian architecture. Stay at historic Congress Hall, which offers beach chair and umbrella service along with chair-side waiter service.
4. Puerto Rico – Tropical beach fans should say Hola! to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico– their Travel Show stand highlighted not only their easy access (a short 3 hour direct flight from the NYC area), but also the fact that they’re a Commonwealth of the US, meaning you can visit without bringing a passport or exchanging currency. Once you arrive, you have your choice of white sand beaches, wonderful Latin culture, and a number of affordable family-friendly resorts (we especially like Copamarina Resort in Guanica on the southwest corner of the island).
