Make a Rainbow Loom Little Pim Panda

If you have young kids (especially daughters), chances are you've heard of Rainbow Loom. Rainbow Loom makes it easy for young kids to make bracelets, charms, and other toys out of rubber bands using looms and hooks. It's a fun, unique toy that gives kids the freedom to indulge their own creativity--and it's actually been shown to have positive effects on their development.

We're such big fans of the toy that we wanted to share our love by making a Rainbow Loom craft of Little Pim the panda, the star of our award-winning videos, books and flashcards.

If your kids love Little Pim and making crafts with their looms, they'll love making their very own panda.

Watch the video below from Dana Loomz to find out how, and be sure to send us your kids' finished products or post them on our Facebook page--we'd love to see them! [youtube id="lpkKn6Glp-0"]

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?

Recipe - http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Buche-de-Noel/Detail.aspx

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:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/chinesenewyear/lantern/

Homemade language flash cards not pretty but they work!

Emmett and I made our own flash cards and have been having a great time with them. First, we draw six boxes on a piece of regular paper with a thick black pen. Then, following Emmett’s instructions, I drew a picture in each of the boxes with the word written under it in French. We laughed a lot over my bad drawings (the orange juice picture looked like a UFO landing). Emmett has never really liked store-bought flash cards and always got bored and restless right away when I tried to bring them out, so this was a great way to turn reviewing vocabulary into a fun game.

To play, I point to a box and he has to say in French what the picture is of. If he is having trouble remembering them, I say a word and he has to point to the one it is. Before we start I read through the words again, pointing to each picture and asking him to repeat after me so it sinks into his memory. If he gets five right he gets a gummy bear! We have about six sheets like this and they are really easy to carry around in my purse and bring out when we’re on a long subway ride, or waiting for food at a restaurant.

After much thought and work (and input from children like Emmett) we've finally developed a fun series of Little Pim flash cards in Spanish and French.