How Kids Say “Happy Mother's Day!” Around the World

We love our moms so much here at Little Pim that we wanted to find the most ways we could to tell them. We think we did a good job with our “I Love” “Mom” “Happy Mother’s Day” language guides, below. Pick a phrase or word and language and have your kids print them (help if you need to)  along with their handprint or hand outline on heavy cardstock to create a one-of-a-kind Mother’s Day Card.

We bet mom will say a big Gracias, Merci,Xièxiè, Grazie, Danke, Arigatō, Shukran, Toda, Spasibo, Obrigado! (THANK YOU!)

Mother's Day Language Guide

Happy Mother's Day!

Spanish

--  ¡feliz Día de la madre!

French

-- Joyeuse Fête des Mères!

Chinese

-- Mǔqīn jié kuàilè!

Italian

-- Buona festa della mama!

German

-- Alles Gute zum Muttertag!

Japanese

-- Haha no hi omedetō!

Arabic

-- Sʻyd ʼMhāt al-Ywm

Hebrew

-- Yom ha-em same'ach!

Russian

-- S dnyom Materi!

Portuguese

-- Feliz dia das mães!

Mom

Spanish

-- Mamá

French 

-- Maman

Chinese 

-- Māma

Italian

-- Mamma

German

-- Mama

Japanese

-- Mama

Arabic

-- Oum / Mama

Hebrew

-- Ima

Russian

-- Mamoo

Portuguese

-- Mamãe

I love you!

Spanish

-- ¡Te amo!

French

-- Je t'aime!

Chinese

-- Wǒ ài nǐ

Italian

-- Ti amo!

German

-- Ich liebe dich

Japanese

-- Aishite iru

Arabic

-- Ana behibek (to female)

Hebrew

-- “Ani Ohev Otach” (man to woman) / “Ani Ohev Otcha” (man to man) / “Ani Ohevet Otcha” (woman to man) / “Ani Ohevet Otach” (woman to woman)

Russian

-- Ya tebya lyublyu

Portuguese

-- Eu te amo

Cook Up a Fiesta for Cinco De Mayo

Uno, dos, tres, quatro, CINCO!

The fifth day of the fifth month is more than just May 5, it's also the festive Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo.

The holiday commemorates the Battle of Pueblo, where a small band of Mexican soliders pushed back advancing French forces in 1862.

(Interesting fact: This is not Mexican Independence Day, that’s celebrated September 16).

Today, the holiday has become a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage, especially for Mexicans living abroad and in the United States. If you live near a major city, you can probably find a Cinco de Mayo fiesta (party) featuring mariachi bands and lots of traditional foods.

But no need to leave the comforts of your kitchen. You can create your own fiesta of dips and chips, perfect for little hands to help create, with our easy recipes below. We think they'll make your whole family say: "Mmm, Cinco de Mayo qué bueno está!" (Mmm, Cinco de Mayo is yummy!)

Fiesta Dips for Cinco de Mayo

(recipes courtesy of Saveur)

These dips are both creamy and rich and perfect for dipping tortilla chips, either blue or yellow. But try cutting up some jicama, a crunchy white tuber found throughout Latin America, or carrots and celery for colorful (and nutritious) dipping options.

Guacamole*

Don’t have a mortar and pestle? Don’t’ worry, we used a big spoon and sturdy bowl and got great results.

• 2 tbsp. finely chopped white onion
• 3 firmly packed tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tsp. finely chopped jalapeño
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 medium-ripe hass avocados
• 3 tbsp. diced tomato

1. Grind 1 tbsp. of the onions, 1 tbsp. of  the cilantro, jalapeño, and salt together in a molcajete (mortar and pestle) until all the ingredients are well ground. (Alternatively, use a fork to mash the ingredients to a paste in a wide bowl.)

2. Cut avocados in half. Twist the halves to separate them and remove the pit with the tip of the knife. Place an avocado half, cut side up, in your palm and make 3 or 4 evenly spaced lengthwise cuts through its flesh down to the skin, without cutting through the skin. Make 4 crosswise cuts in the same fashion.

3. Scoop the diced avocado flesh into the molcajete or bowl. Repeat with remaining avocado halves. Gently fold the avocado into the chile–onion paste, keeping the avocado pieces fairly intact.

4. Add tomatoes, remaining 2 tbsp. of the cilantro, and remaining 1 tbsp. of the onions.

5. Fold together all the ingredients. Taste and add salt, if necessary.

6. Serve immediately, directly from the molcajete (or bowl), with tortilla chips.

Chile and Cheese Dip *

Even our friends at Saveur couldn’t’ find a substitute for the easy melting Velveeta in this classic American-Mexican dip; a perfect dish for this festive holiday.

• 1  10-oz. can diced tomatoes and green chiles
• (preferably Ro*Tel brand)
• 2 tbsp. lager-style beer (such as Corona), chicken broth, or white grape juice
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1⁄2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1⁄2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 lb. Velveeta cheese, diced
• 1⁄4 cup grated aged monterey jack cheese
• 1⁄4 cup sliced scallions
• 1⁄4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 plum tomato, seeded and chopped
• 1 jalapeño, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
• 1⁄2 lime
• Tortilla chips

1. In a 2-qt. saucepan, stir together diced tomatoes and green chiles, beer, cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and garlic. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes.

2. Add Velveeta and whisk until melted. Transfer dip to a serving bowl and top with monterey jack cheese, scallions, cilantro, tomatoes, and jalapeños. Squeeze the juice of lime over the top. Serve with tortilla chips.

*Note: you may want to cut down, or leave out, the jalapeno in these recipes if your kids aren’t’ used to spicy foods.

Share Your Little Pim Stories

As your kids grow up with Little Pim, your stories are our greatest joys, and our greatest successes. Now, we want to say thank you. Share your Little Pim stories with us this month and you'll be featured on our beautiful new Stories page. You also might win a $75 gift certificate. Entering is simple:

1. Pick your favorite social media platform: Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. 2. Post a status, tweet, photo, or video that completes the sentence: My family uses Little Pim because...3. Add the hashtag #ILoveLittlePim. 4. Like/follow Little Pim.

And that’s it. We’ll pick out our favorite Little Pim stories and select a winner at the end of the month. In the meantime, join the conversation on the Stories page of our website!

Entries accepted through 5/31/14. For official contest rules click here.

#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:

1. FollowLittle Pim on Pinterest (@littlepimterest).
2. Create a Pinterest board called “Little Pim Easter Basket.”
3. Fill it with your favorite Easter crafts and activities.
4. Visit our “Easter Egg Hunt” board and begin the hunt. Repin anytime you think you have found one of our hidden pandas.
5. Send us the link to your board by filling out this simple form by or before Sunday, April 20.
6. 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

cherry-blossoms-at-jefferson

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:

1. First, slice the crusts off the bread so that you have a perfect square
2. Then, using a rolling pin, flatten bread
3. Choose a spread or two and thinly layer on the bread
4. Choose a “crunch” if you'd like and place horizontally along the top edge of your spread bread
5. 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!)

Little Pim Bento (pb&j sushi, cheese spread & orange/yellow peppers, hummus & red/yellow peppers, hardboiled egg with a pepper happy face, berries)

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.