Things to Make and Do, Crafts and Activities for Kids - The Crafty Crow

Sandpaper Globe

As soon as I saw this at Adventures Of A
Rainbow Mama I thought it would be perfect to use
with my visually impaired nephew! I think putting a
sandpaper overlay on the continents is a brilliant idea
and would be a great tactile way for little ones
to become more familiar with the earth.

Crafts Around The World: India!

By guest author Smita of Little Food Junction

"India is one of the oldest civilizations in the world,
spanning a period of more than 4000 years and
witnessing the fusion of several customs and traditions.


It is a land of traditions, festivals and colors.
 

Blessed with mist clad mountains, deep blue seas,
enigmatic deserts and golden beaches on one hand and...


(Photo attributed to Dhirad)
exclusive architectural marvels and heritage sites on the
other, India is a land of all seasons, most exotic flora and
fauna and never the less the most diverse aromatic
cuisine. Modern India is a wonderful blend of tradition
and modernity."

Kite Sandwich


"Colorful Kites are an integral part of the Indian
culture, although kites are flown through out the year yet
the Spring season has its own charm - clear blue skies
and cool breeze makes it the favorite kite flying time of
the year. This theme of Kite Sandwich envelops the
traditional practice of kite flying with modern India's
favorite snack - sandwiches."

Ingredients: 2 slices of bread, lettuce, corn,
finely chopped cabbage, capsicum & carrots,
mayonnaise, salt & pepper

Remove the sides of both the slices, keep a slice
diagonally to make the base of the kite. Cut a small
triangular part from the corner of the second

slice to make the lower base.

 Lay the breads on a bed of lettuce and spread a
generous layer of mayo on both the parts. Smooth
the mayo with a butter knife and gently 

 engrave the basic structure on it.

Arrange the colorful veggies, sprinkle with salt
and pepper, and serve.

Rose Lassi

"Lassi is relished through out the Indian subcontinent.
This traditional yogurt-based beverage is very popular
during the hot summer days. The sweet version
is made by blending yogurt and sugar until frothy.
Sugar is substituted with salt and roasted cumin
powder to make the Salty Lassi. Fruits like mango,
strawberry, pineapple or kiwi can also be added
to make a Fruity version. 

 

Rose holds a very important place in the Indian culture.
The festivities are incomplete without the presence of
this sweet aromatic flower. Rose water and rose syrup
are important flavoring agents of Indian cuisine."

Ingredients: 1 cup natural yogurt, ½ cup cold water,
2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp rose syrup*, a few rose
petals for garnishing


Put all the ingredients (except rose petals) in a
big bowl and use a hand blender to blend the
mixture till smooth and frothy.

Splash a few drops of rose essence in the glass and

pour in the lassi. Garnish with rose petals and serve.

*Recipe for Homemade Rose Syrup

Ingredients 

1½ cups water 
3 cups sugar 

1½  cup organic rose petals (red petals will give
a natural reddish pink color )

2-3 drops of red food color (optional) 
Method 

Boil all the ingredients (except food color) for 15 minutes or until
thickened into syrup. Once cooled, add a few drops of food color. 

Strain through a filter or cheese cloth into a clean glass jar. 

Keeps up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
---
India is brought to you by guest blogger, Smita,
of Little Food Junction. Smita lives in New Delhi with her
husband and daughter and specializes in creating
healthy meals that are visually irresistible to kids. You
will definitely be inspired after looking through
her blog so be sure to visit!

If you have any questions about India
please leave them in the comments by the
end of the week and Smita will answer them!
---

Links of interest:

India at The World Factbook
India at Wikipedia
Mahatma Gandhi
Mother Theresa

Crafts Around The World: Luxembourg!

By guest author Katy of Sycamore Stirrings

"Moien! Greetings from Luxembourg.
Never heard of Luxembourg? You’re not
alone. Let me share a little information
with you. Luxembourg is a tiny country
wedged in between France, Germany and
Belgium. I’m not exaggerating when I say
tiny; Luxembourg only has an area of 1000
square miles. For you Americans, that is
about the size of Rhode Island! Luxembourg
has 3 national languages – French, German
and Luxembourgish. Yep, that means children
who go to public school here learn 3
languages! Pretty amazing, huh?
Luxembourg borrows many of its holidays
and traditions from France and Germany.
Today, though I’m going to share a holiday
with you that is purely (well, almost)
Luxembourgish – Bretzelsonndeg.

Bretzelsonneg, or Pretzel Sunday, occurs on
the 4th Sunday in Lent. This year it will be on
March 14th. On this day boys give the girl
they like a pastry shaped as a pretzel. The
larger the pretzel the more the boy likes the
girl. If the girl feels the same way she will
give the boy a decorated egg on Easter
Sunday. On leap years the roles are
reversed. This practice is celebrated by
singles and married couples. 



About now the local bakeries are starting
to sell these special pretzels. Here in
Luxembourg you can always tell what holiday
it is by what is available in the bakery! I’m
going to share with you an easy way to make
pastry pretzels of your own so you too can
participate in Bretzelsonndeg. Your kids
will love giving pretzels to their
friends and teachers.

Bretzelsonndeg Pretzels

Supplies:

• 1 refrigerated pack of “pate feuilletee” aka puff pastry
• Cinnamon sugar, chocolate flakes, sliced almonds, Nutella
• Icing (see below)
• Melted butter and pastry brush
• Baking pan, lined with parchment paper
• Sharp knife
• Cello bags and tags (optional)

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees (200 Celsius) and prepare your baking sheet.

Step 2: Open your pack of pastry and cut it into ½ - ¾ inch strips

Step 3: Fold the strips in half lengthwise. Before doing this, you can sprinkle the strip with cinnamon sugar or spread it with Nutella.

Step 4: Twist your folded strip. This was the hardest step for my kids; I ended up doing the twisting.

Step 5: Shape your twisted strips into pretzels on the baking sheet.

Step 6: Brush them lightly with melted butter. Bake for 10 minutes. Watch them closely!! Once they start to brown they go quickly.

Step 7: Cool and then spread icing over the top. I made a simple icing using ½ cup of powdered sugar and 1-2 tsps of milk. I found that it’s easier for kids to “frost” using the back of a spoon. Decorate with cinnamon sugar, chocolate flakes or sliced almonds.

Step 8: Let the decorations solidify to the pretzel and then insert into cello (or waxed paper, brown paper) bags, add a tag (click here) and tie.

Happy Bretzelsonndeg! 
Addi from Luxembourg." 
---
Luxembourg is brought to you by guest
blogger, Katy from Sycamore Stirrings.
Katy is an American currently living in
Luxembourg with her husband and
daughters. She has been giving us peeks
into the differences between the U.S. and
Luxembourg in her blog posts titled
"Little Differences" that I find fascinating
and I think you will too!

If you have any questions about Luxembourg
please leave them in the comments by the
end of the week and Katy will answer them!
---

Links of interest:

Luxembourg at Wikipedia
Luxembourg at the World Factbook
Luxembourg maps to print

Welcome to Crafts Around The World!

One of my favorite memories from grade
school was when we had to give an oral
report for social studies. The assignment was
to pick a country of our choice, share facts
about the culture and include some sort of
interactive project like a food to eat, game to
play, or craft to make. That memory is what
inspired me to put together Crafts Around
The World, also known as, CAW :)

The posts for the next couple of weeks
will focus on crafts, activities and food from
all around the world. As a special feature,
I have guest bloggers that have graciously
contributed a project tutorial to help you
learn a little more about the country that
they call home. A new category has been
created, "Crafts Around The World"
so you can easily find these posts
in the future too.

Also, each guest will answer any questions
that your children have about their country!
Just leave questions in the comments and
they will be answered there as well :)