Kids Cook: Gooooaaaal! Brazilian Treats For the World Cup

The World Cup 2014 is just around the corner – it starts June 12 – and is being held in host country Brazil. Here at Little Pim, we’re excited to share our love of both the Portuguese language and Brazilian culture with our friends. To get you ready for some world class World Cup watching, we have two easy Brazilian recipes – one savory and one sweet – great for small hands to help create.

Vamos comer! (Let’s eat!)

Savory Treat: Pão de Queijo (cheese puffs)

Courtesy of Saveur

These savory cheese puffs are crisp on the outside, rich and chewy on the inside. They’re a popular treat in Brazil for an afternoon snack or pre-meal nibble –although we think they’re also perfect for watching Futebol (soccer)!

 INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup tapioca starch
• 1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
• ½ cup plus 2 tbsp. flour
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• ½ tsp. active dry yeast
• ¾ cup milk
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed
• 2 eggs

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat oven to 350°.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together tapioca starch, Parmesan, flour, salt, and yeast. Heat milk and butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until butter melts. Pour mixture into dry ingredients along with 1 egg and stir until dough forms; cover and let sit for 30 minutes.

Kids cook:

1. Using a tablespoon, portion out dough and roll each into a ball. Place on parchment paper-lined baking sheets, spaced 2" apart; beat remaining egg in a small bowl and brush balls with egg.
2. Bake until browned, 25 to 30 minutes.

Makes 16

Sweet Treat: Brigadeiros (Chocolate fudge balls)

Courtesy of Saveur - world cup brigadeiros

These fudgy truffles are a favorite dessert throughout Brazil. We say “Gooooaaallll” for the easy recipe and yummy sprinkles on top.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp. heavy cream
• 2 (14 oz.) cans sweetened condensed milk
• 3 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
• 1 cup chocolate sprinkles

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Bring butter, cream, and milk to a boil in a 4-qt. saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add chocolate and cocoa powder, and reduce heat to low; cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is the consistency of dense, fudgy batter, about 16 minutes.
3. Transfer to a bowl; let cool. Chill until set, at least 4 hours.

Kids Cook:

1. Using a tablespoon, portion out fudge and roll into balls. Roll each ball in chocolate sprinkles until evenly coated.
2. Chill until ready to serve.

Makes 2 dozen

All recipes courtesy of our friends at Saveur.

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!

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)

Click here.

5 Trendsetting Toys from Toy Fair 2014

Last week, Team Little Pim gathered at the Javits Center in New York City for four days of pure joy at Toy Fair 2014. Imagine a football field full of the latest toys from classic companies as well as some exciting newcomers. Now try to wrap your head around the fact that the Javits Center holds roughly 10 times the square footage of a football field. In other words, there were a LOT of toys to play with. An emerging theme at this year’s Toy Fair was customizable toys: toys that kids could build and change themselves. As you might imagine, many of these toys had a digital component, but some of them were simply classic toys with a twist. Here are five of our favorites:

1. Potatoyz – It was only a matter of time before your kids would be able to design and order their own toys online, but who would have thought that it would be as simple as pressing “Print?” Potatoyz begin as little blob-like avatars in the Potatoyz app, where kids can add colors, patterns, facial features, and custom drawings. Within the app, the Potatoyz can play in a variety of different environments, and if your kids really fall in love with their custom characters, they can order a figurine to be 3D printed and shipped straight to your door!

2. DIWire – While 3D printers have yet to become a common household appliance, wire printers are just about to hit the market. A fellow Kickstarter success, DIWire can bend metal wire into complex, detailed sculptures that you design on your computer. It's especially cool for older kids looking to expand their toy horizons. Check out this video of DIWire in action at Toy Fair.

3. Tiggly -- Little kids love to play with iPads, but finding interactive games that teach at the same time they entertain is always a challenge, especially if you're looking for a physical element that allows them to look up from their digital realms. This fun  game is just the ticket: it lets kids play with shapes that they hold in their hands that combine with an iPad app where they learn and explore new concepts. We also love how portable it is; perfect for long car rides and other travel.

4. Stuffies – Who needs another stuffed animal? You can hardly get your kids to clean up all their toys as it is! Stuffies aren’t your typical stuffed animal, though. With up to seven hidden zip pockets, they provide a place for your kiddos to hide their favorite toys. Kids have a special spot to keep their things, while you have secretly won the clutter battle!

5. Ugly Doll – They might be less functional than Stuffies, but we don’t really care. Just look at that face. The latest “bad hair day” Ugly Doll sports a tuft of sculpt-able hair that your kids can style and restyle according to their mood. It’s a simple, but effective update of the classic troll doll. It’s also 100% less creepy than the classic troll doll (okay, maybe 99%).

The New ABCs: Surprising Foreign Alphabets Kids Will Love Learning

Do your kids love saying their ABCs?  Then they'll be delighted to find out about completely new alphabets, such as Russian, Arabic, or Japanese. Not sure where to start? We've created a quick overview of just a few options we have at Little Pim. Try them out with your kids for some tongue twisting, language learning fun!

RUSSIAN

Pay attention to the following letter combinations that do not exist in the English language:

" “hl” as in “Hlieb” (bread) " “zh” as in “Nozhe” (bread), “Zholtoy” (yellow) " “ts” as in “Tsveta” (color) " “hv” as in “Hvost” (tall) " “zs” as in “Litzso” (face)

It’s important to pronounce your vowels correctly to be understood – you should open your mouth wide and purposely stretch out the sounds (always fun instructions for little learners!)

Now try this sentence out:

Hello, my name is Little Pim. I am a panda.

Привет! Меня зовут Крошка Пим. Я панда.

Privet! Menya zavut kroshka Pim. Ya panda.

ARABIC

The consonants in the following table are distinctly Arabic in the way they sound.

Kh -- The "ch" in "Bach" or "loch"; has a raspy sound H -- H is pronounced from the back of the throat The phrase SabaaH al-Khayr(good morning)  has both the “Kh” and “H” R -- A rolled "r" sound, similar to the Spanish R, as in the word marHaban (hello)Gh -- A "gargling" kind of sound between "g" and "r," produced deep in the throat, as in the word Ghadaa (lunch)

Now put them together:

Hello, my name is Little Pim. I am a panda.

• .الصغير "بيم" إسمي مرحباً،
• .باندا أنا

Marhaban, Ismi Pim Assagheer. Ana Panda

JAPANESE

Here are some basic pronunciation guides for Japanese:

• A pronounced “AH”
• I pronounced “EE”
• E pronounced “EH”
• O pronounced “OH”
• Double vowels – note elongation of the vowel

Now see if you can use the rules in the following sentence:

Hello, my name is Little Pim. I am a panda.

• こんにちは、
• 私の名前は小さいピム。
• 私はパンダ。

• Konichiwa, watashi no namae wa chiisai pim,
• Watashi wa panda

Ready for more unique alphabets? Keep the fun going with Litte Pim's Mandarin Chinese and Hebrew.

Our Valentine to You: Free Little Pim Valentine Coloring Pages

Here's a treat that will be even more welcome than Valentine sweets for your little ones: fun coloring pages featuring our favorite panda, Little Pim, playing Cupid. Just click, print, and color for Valentine's Day fun. Joyeuse Saint-Valentin!

Print Version 1

Print Version 2

4 Surprising Infographics about Bilingual Education

Did you know the most commonly spoken language on earth is Mandarin? Or that students who studied a foreign language for at least 4 years scored an average of 140 points higher on the math SAT than those who didn’t? We found these fascinating facts and much more as we explored language learning and bilingualism Infographics around the web. We’ve collected a few of our favorites here. Click through to see the full graphic.

1. Second Language Acquisition By The Numbers

(credit, Huffington Post)

The facts and nothing but the language facts are the focus of this Infographic, including the most popular language to study in the United States (Spanish) and where scores improved on the SAT when students studied a second language (actually, they improved in all three sections!):

bilingual huffington post infographic

2. 50 Awesome Facts About Languages

(credit, UIC London)

If you’re looking for biggest, best, and most unusual language facts—from the number of world languages (7,000) to the easiest foreign language for English speakers to learn (Frisian, only spoken in parts of the Netherlands) this Infographic is for you:

3. The Benefits of Being Bilingual

(credit, BlueData International Institute)

What are the benefits of bilingualism? This Infographic links speaking a second language to improved concentration, boosted brain function, and increased creativity just for starters. Find out more:

4. Languages of the World

Finally, check out this Infographic from our friends at Pimsleur (which was created by Little Pim founder Julia Pimsleur Levine’s father, Dr. Paul Pimsleur) exploring the perceptions and realities of language learning in the United States.

Sochi Olympics Bingo!

The 2014 Winter Olympics is being held in Sochi, Russia, creating the perfect opportunity to introduce your children to not only the excitement of Luge and Speed Skating, but to basic Russian winter sports vocabulary as well.

We've made learning even more fun with this Sochi Olympics BINGO! To create your own bingo card using our word list, or your own special Olympics words, click here.

Winter Olympics Russian Vocabulary List

• спорт [Sport] - Sports
• зима [Zi-ma] - Winter
• снег [Snyek] - Snow
• Лёд [LYOT] - Ice
• Cнежинка [snye-ZHEEN-ka] - Snowflake
• Снежная буря [SNYEZH-na-ya BOO-rya] - Blizzard
• Холод [HO-lat] - (The) cold
• Коньки [kan’-KEE] - Skates
• Лыжи [LI-zhee] - Skis
• Санки [SAN-kee] - Sled
• Сноуборд [snow-BORT] - Snowboard
• Кататься на коньках [ka-TAT’-sya na kan’-KAH]
 - Skating
• Кататься на лыжах [ka-TAT’-sya na LI-zhah]
 - Skiing
• Кататься на санках [ka-TAT’-sya na SAN-kah]
 - Sledding
• Кататься на сноуборде [ka-TAT’-sya na snow-BOR-teah]
 - Snowboarding

If you're interested in exploring Russian more with your children, check out our great Little Pim Russian programs here.

A Sweet Craft for Valentine’s Day: Stained Glass Heart Cookies

Here’s an easy, and very tasty, way to transform store bought cookie dough and colorful candies into sweet treats to give or keep for Valentine’s Day.

Supplies

• Sugar cookie dough
• Hard candy, crushed into small pieces
• Cookie cutters
• Parchment paper
• Cookie sheets

 

Directions

To start – purchase (or make, if you’re feeling your inner Julia Child) plain sugar cookie dough. If it’s not in sheets already, roll out to ¼ inch.

Use a large heart shape cookie cutter to create a base shape. Then using a smaller heart cutter, or plain circle shape, make a hole in the center of the cookie.

Put the cut-out hearts on a parchment lined cookie sheet (the parchment is important here so the hearts don’t stick to the pan).

Take hard candy (we used leftover candy canes, but the sky’s the limit colorwise, think LifeSavers or Jolly Ranchers), unwrap and crush with a rolling pin between two layers of parchment or in a plastic bag.

Now fill the hole in the center of heart with the crushed candy.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until candy is melted and dough is golden brown.

Voila, stained glass hearts!