My First Haggadah

I printed some of the pictures from our little model-Seder last week, and used them to make a mini Haggadah-style picture book to help keep Freida involved during the Seder. While assembling the photos, I realized that I could use a harder lamination and that the book would likely end up being a long-lasting member of her little library - something she could reference and look through all year long, and, hopefully, as a keepsake for years to come...

I found the cutest (actually, the only cute) Seder-Plate illustration on Kveller from Design Pocket. I let Freida color it up and used it as the first page in the Haggadah, but it would make for a great coloring page for the kids to do the day before the Seder. You can download and print it here.

A few months ago, I helped my brother out with a linguistic job he was doing for Matisyahu (mazel tov on the newest little man!!). The religious reggae/rapper wanted a Sefirah chart made hip by using more modern, theme-related one-word ways to describe the 10 Kabbalistically-famous attributes (e.g. for "Kesser" we went with "Bejeweled"). Inspired by that minimalistic logic, I came up with 13 easy-to-read, easy-to-recognize words to navigate the many often-over-complicated steps of the Seder: Drink, wash, dip, break, ask, wash, bite, cry, remember, eat, search, thank, and sing.

Some colorful card-stock paper + card-stock frames, a little lamination job, and 2 metal rings later, the whole thing came out super-cute, and Freida is supremely proud and excited for Monday night!!

Chag Sameach dear Mamas!!

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!!

On the Flash Sale Radar...

The Mini Social is brimming with heaps of goodies today! Including 3 of my most favorite children's books, some charming casual-dress clothes for boys, legendary loot by mid-century artist Charley Harper, awesome graffiti style learning via Alternative ABC's, and a collection of adorable baby threads!

If you are not a Mini Social member yet, you are now officially invited to join the party here.

Happy thrift-ing!!

Green Eggs and Pam

In honor of the birthday of Theodor Geisel -the madman-genius who is Dr. Seuss, (and for Mimi who let me in on that super-random, super-notable fact!), I'll share a kosher-kitchen recipe inspired by his most non-kosher of books. Green Eggs and Pam (well, technically it's not even real "pam", just extra virgin olive oil from a Misto spray bottle) came to me when I was a single workin'-girl, at home in Chicago for 24 hours for a friends wedding, and famished/hungover at about 4am in my mother's cook-tempting kitchen. Out came the eggs, the skillet- the pesto! It's not a recipe so much as a revelation... Whisk eggs with a generous dollop of pesto; scramble, fry, or poach your way to savory-breakfast perfection! Garnish with flecks of goat cheese, feta, or even parmesan.

Plus, once we're on the Seuss subject, I'll leave you with some loony links I love:

1. Best graduation gift ever!

2. Cartoon + Converse Collaberation

3. Vintage Seuss Onesies

4.  A totally rad Purim getup - for 2!

5. Seuss-inspired furniture

6. Ever seen a Hebrew Wocket?

Happy Birthday to the man who encourages our children to "Hop on Pop" - which is especially helpful in the early morning!

Kids + Casa

I landed upon "Where Children Sleep" by James Mollison, over at Creative Review last week, and I just can't stop thinking about it! The whole project was so intellectually and emotionally provoking! Maybe it's just me, and although this is nothing novel, I still find it so incredibly interesting that a room - the most physical and tangible of things - can say so much about it's dweller! Perhaps it is just the magic of Mollison's lens that manages to provide such deep insight from the life of the child as well as from the room. While most of these stories provide keen insight to the lives of children around the world, some of them are more heartbreaking... I found it fascinatingly educational, and this is definitely something I think all (older) children would benefit from - as an exploration of the many diverse lives of other children the world over.

You can read Where Children Sleep here.