Birthday Feature!

Nothing like starting out my birthday morning by waking up to this Freidafroo feature on Ohdeedoh!! :)

Shout-out to the very best, most creativity-inspiring spot on the www! Thanks Apartment Therapy!!

First Lesson in Life Cycles

The arrival of Spring heralded a new era in Freida's little education. I decided to start doing some actual teaching, through proper "units". This will be the first in a series of (hopefully) many, in attempt to be the first to teach my little lady about the facts of life - on a 2 year old's level, of course! :) Freida has been obsessed with butterflies since she was about 6 months old (she was watching her cousin's Wiggles DVD and upon seeing "The Butterfly Flit" her breathe grew rapid and her little toys didn't cease twirling!), and I figured Spring would be the perfect time to introduce the concept of Life Cycles - via the classic childrens illustrations of Eric Carle.

I broke out the over-sized board book that I had bought a few months earlier, and popped in the included audio CD of the author reading the story of this iconic and beloved little green critter...

Naturally, she gravitated toward "Saturday" - the day he ransacked a picnic...

She always loved that Press 'n Go caterpillar toy (I think it's actually meant to be an inchworm), and she was really interested in learning about how he was born and what he eats etc.

Once we bonded enough with the story itself, I let her play with some story-theme stick-ons (I had found for $2 in Marshalls) which ensued into a full-on foods matching game.

I think the life cycle aspect is really well brought out and easily graspable in this book...

Also, I decided to go with this book as a start to learning in "units" because aside from the life cycle concept, this book can be an awesome art reference (collage style, tissue paper art, an introduction to abstract etc.), a start to the calendar (as it goes through the days of the week), an early and easy-enough math lesson (counting the fruits),  a lesson in cause and effect (poor little guy ate so much he wound up fat and with a stomachache!), etc.

I'll post here and there about this unit as we make our way through this sort of learning exploration for the first time.

For now I'll leave you with a little video, celebrating The Very Hungry Caterpillar's 40th Birthday:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYG1tLt5GCQ]

Also, check out this totally wicked project - felted food to accompany the book!!

Guest Post: Pleasant Cakes

A friend of mine has a cake decorating company I've been meaning to blog about for some time now. When I caught glimpse of her super-adorable Shalach Manos photos via Facebook, I knew this was the right venue to debut her services to the Freidafroo masses! Chani Levine started a Kosher cake decorating business a few years ago, and her incredibly adorable cake designs totally caught my eye! You gotta head over to the Pleasant Cakes Facebook Page to check out the rest of her awesome designs (especially the Patron Cake, Boy's 1st Birthday Cake, Fancy Orchid Cake, Jersey Cake, and Cupcake Bouquet)!

Pleasant Cakes services the greater Los Angeles area, so if you are here in California and looking to up the fun-factor at your party, add a super-special element to any get-together, or simply spruce up special occasion, contact Chani: PleasantCakes@gmail.com/ 310.254.8992

Luckily for us, she graciously agreed to share some of her creativity today with all of us in a fun and easy Sushi Cupcakes DIY Tutorial! Thanks Chani!!

One of the best parts on Purim is coming up with fun ideas for Shalach Manos. This year I decided to put my love for cake decorating and make mini cupcakes that look like rolls of sushi.

What amazes me the most is how easily you can take something as simple as a cupcake and transform it into something completely different with just a few ingredients.  120 mini cupcakes, 1 pound of butter cream icing, 3 containers of white sprinkles, 3 bags of gummy fish, and 15 sushi containers later and I was on my way. It took me a while to make, but it was lots of fun and pretty impossible to mess up which for me is the best part being a perfectionist and all. I must confess though that I did spend an a little more time then needed making sure every sprinkle was placed perfectly on the cupcake. Even those with little or no decorating experience can master these. It does not require any special decorating tool or technique to make them. You can make the mini cupcakes any flavor you would like. I made them yellow cake because I did not want the dark cupcake peaking through the icing. I used white mini cupcake holders, but dark green ones will work just as well as the seaweed but might be harder to find. Put a thin layer of butter cream icing to cover the top of the cupcakes. Dip or sprinkle cupcakes with white sprinkles for the sushi "rice". You can get kosher white sprinkles at most of your cake decorating supply stores such as Michaels or Joannes.  For those that like the taste of coconut, you can also use shredded coconut in place of the white sprinkles for a cheaper option. Cut up gummy fish into tiny pieces and use the icing to "glue" the pieces onto the top of the cupcakes. I also put some whole gummy fish on the tops as well for a little extra pop. I bought 15 sushi containers from a sushi restaurant for 25 cents each, but you can also buy them in bulk at Sams club. I finished it off with a pair of chopsticks taped to the top of the container and it was done.

Its great for parties, gifts, or to make as a fun food craft with children.

Pops for Purim

While I wanted to teach Freida the concept of Shalach Manos, I also felt it was a bit extraneous for a 2 year old to be giving out a basket of food to her teeny-tiny friends. I decided to go with giving over the general idea of distributing treats to your friends; simply the concept of "giving". I can imagine it would be a bit stressful if Freida were to receive heaps of sweets on Purim day, so I went with something that at least I'd be okay getting for my little bug: one little lollipop.

I wish I could say that I'm a creative genius - fact is though, I'm not that awesome. Found these online last year around Valentines day over at DesignMom who found this incredibly hot idea on a blog called 24-7-365. So cheers to those super-moms who made my little girl's first Purim favors this adorable! Naturally, I wanted to go with a Yummy Earth Organic sucker, or at least the Trade Joe's variety, but the wrapper was too big and blocked her face so I had to resort to the sugar-laden, dye-induced Dumdum...(I guess not everything can work out perfect).

The project cost about $4 (for 20) at a photo printing machine in a local pharmacy + $2 for the pops. Bingo! The best part is the fact that I printed plenty of extras so she has something to give to anyone and everyone all Purim long (though initially I just made them for her to give out to her school friends at Esther's Gan). The whole think took about 20 minutes. I took a picture of Freida with her arm outstretched in a fist, printed it with some text, used an exacto knife to cut a slit at the top of the fist and at the bottom, and slid the lolly through. Plus, the shock factor when kids look at the thing is the most fun part. :)

Wishing you all a Purim brimming with joy and heaps of genuine fun! Have a super-awesome Purim weekend!

P.S. You can easily turn this whole concept into a "real" Shalach Manos by just glueing the photo to a juice box, or a bag of chips/popcorn etc.

Beneath the Mask

My preschool/parenting guru (Chanie Perelmuter over at the Hebrew Academy) told us at last weeks Mommy & Me that 2 year olds are prime candidates for run-from-the-room-screaming Purim terror. All the masks and costumes can really scare their socks off! I can imagine that would be something difficult for a mom to contend with whilst trying to keep her toddler quiet through a lengthy Megilla reading... Her advice was to start teaching the "masked" concept now, at least a few weeks before. Have your kids decorate some form of disguise, or unearth some masks, costumes, wigs etc. from the family Purim box in the storage closet, and have your preschooler try them on in front of the mirror. Throw a mini masquerade and teach them a bit about dress-up for the next few weeks... That should ease the impending costume-phobia. The point is to teach them that a mask/costume is a covering, they should know there is a familiar face underneath. Just thought I'd share the wisdom!

(All the mask talk has got me thinking about this theme.)