by Our Crafty World | Apr 4, 2023 | Bolivia, Home Featured
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I’ve just added another colorful, country facts board to my Etsy Shop for those of you looking for the perfect learning tool to kick off your Bolivia Unit.
This is a board full of color and all things Bolivia – and guess what?
You’ll skip hours of research by instantly printing this board and getting right to learning about this culturally rich South American country!
As with my other country boards, this board is super easy to assemble so pass the job on to your learners to make a board that appeals most to them. There is no right or wrong way to make this board.
Here is what’s included in this 21-page Bolivia Country Facts Display Board digital download:
– Simple instructions for how to assemble your board (please note, you do not have to use the suggested foam board. You can choose a wall, bulletin board, notebook, or even your kitchen table). All work well!
– Two formats of 16 key country fact cards for you to choose from. The first set contains picture-only cards and the second set contains pictures with information text.
– Bolivia country facts informational sheets that explain each of the 16 country facts. Skip the research!
– Matching Game with 16 card sets (a long-time favorite of my students!) – great for quick memorization of facts.
– Salteñas (Beef Empanadas) Recipe. Salteña’s are the national dish of Bolivia.
– Aymara Proverb quote and picture page in Spanish and English. We’ll let that one be a surprise! : )
Benefits of Using a Country Facts Board to kickstart your Bolivia Unit
I have been using country boards in my homeschool classes for over 10 years for this specific reason:
A country board engages students through its country-specific colors, beautiful pictures, small blocks of informational text, creative content that students can assemble on their own, and games and recipes that allow further learning and fun!
A good example of this is my Antoni Gaudi Display Board and Unit Study that kick-started our Spain Unit and lead us into a fun mosaic-inspired art project, for one.
I invite you to visit my Etsy Shop to learn more. Also be sure to check out my blog post, Colorful Bolivia Art and Traditional Bolivia Cooking, to see what we were up to in our own Bolivia Unit!
Thank you for taking the time to bring world culture into the lives of your children or students!
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by Our Crafty World | Mar 30, 2023 | Home Featured, Nepal
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In this blog post, I’m excited to introduce the latest addition to my Etsy Shop. It’s called the Momo Display Board and Recipe Unit. It will take you on a cooking journey through Nepal as never expected before. Read more to find out how!
What are Momo?
Momo are delicious steamed dumplings and Nepal’s most popular dish. They are served everywhere in Nepal, and recipes vary depending on the region.
I have made momo with my students, and my own family, for years. This year, I decided to take the recipe-making experience a bit deeper so that my students would learn not only all about momo but all about Nepal as well.
Momo Display Board and Recipe Unit
Here’s how the Momo Display Board and Recipe Unit will take you on a cultural experience that will fill your classroom or kitchen with photos, factoids, games, delicious aromas, and more…
You’ll be able to see photos of every ingredient needed for this recipe, which kids love to identify and chat about.
You’ll read the history of Momo in Nepal and learn other cool facts that kids of any age will enjoy.
You’ll see actual photos of my students making Momo, which is fun to compare to your own way of making Momo.
You’ll get to play a fun Recipe Scramble Game that puts your sorting logic to the test, as well as a Nepal matching game that kids never tire of.
You’ll learn key country facts about Nepal, like what the flag looks like, where it’s located in the world, some famous landmarks and temples, and photos of people in Nepal making Momo.
You’ll learn Nepal’s national symbols such as its animal, flower, sport, dish, bird, etc.
Who knew you could get this much from making one recipe?
Ready to surprise your children or students with a culinary experience like no other?
Visit my Etsy shop to download this Nepal Recipe Unit by clicking here…
Enjoy!
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by Our Crafty World | Mar 21, 2023 | Bolivia, Home Featured
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In this blog post, I will share the details of the Bolivia art and cooking project we just wrapped up for our Bolivia Unit. Don’t miss our FREE recipe download below and my 21-page digital download, Bolivia Country Facts Board to supplement this project.
COLORFUL BOLIVIA ART FOR KIDS
ROBERTO MAMANI MAMANI-INSPIRED ART
For our art, the focus was on Roberto Mamani Mamani who is an Aymara artist from Bolivia. His work is significant in its use of Aymara indigenous tradition and symbols. His art has been exhibited around the world, including shows in Washington, D.C., Tokyo, Munich, China, Singapore, and London.
I picked Mamani Mamani’s art for its bright colors, which I knew my students would love, but also for the symbolism in his art which serves to share and preserve the deep-rooted traditions of the Aymara people of Bolivia.
Our art class is only an hour and a half so to have mimicked a full painting in true Mamani Mamani style would not have been possible. Instead, we coated 5.5-inch square pieces of watercolor paper with our favorite bright, Mamani Mamani colors using a catalyst wedge – or, in this case, a credit card – which worked perfectly.
While these were set aside to dry, I gave my presentation about Roberto Mamani Mamani and the Aymara people of Bolivia. Here are some of the slides I created to tell about his life, his mission, his art, and his heritage.
After many student questions and a great discussion about aspects of the art and Aymara people, we launched into the second part of our art project which was drawing the sun from one of my favorite Mamani Mamani paintings.
We used white gel pens, but you could easily use a fine, white paint pen or white sharpie. If you use gel pens, ensure they are of good quality or they will not show as vividly on the painted page.
I gave each student a pre-cut circle template to give them the option of tracing a circle on the page before we began drawing the details of the sun. All students opted in for that!
I used my overhead webcam to instruct on how to draw the sun and many students added beautiful details of their own.
You could definitely expand the project by using bigger pieces of paper and drawing a more robust scene from any of Mamani Mamanis’ paintings. You could even let your students choose their own favorite painting to mimic. These would also be beautiful greeting cards!
I highly encourage you to try this Bolivia art project with your children or students!
OJOS DE DIOS (GOD’S EYES)…
Our second art project perfectly tied in another very important aspect of Bolivian culture – weaving. The Aymarans are known for their woven clothing and “aguayos”, a rectangular carrying cloth used by most Bolivian women to carry everything from children to supplies.
It just made sense to weave God’s eyes with brightly colored yarn as the Aymarans might use. A God’s eye is a spiritual object made by weaving a design out of yarn upon a wooden cross. They are commonly found in Latin American countries.
To save time and possibly a big knotted mess, I pre-cut four yarn colors for each of my 15 students, tied them together, and wrapped them around a spoon. This was very time-consuming (I listened to two whole podcasts), but so worth it in the end as I simply handed them out, wasting no class time.
I bought long, colorful dowels for this project (collected sticks from the outdoors work well too).
The students really enjoyed the meditative process of weaving the yarn around and around the cross to complete their God’s eyes. In hindsight, I wish I would have played some traditional Bolivian music while we worked on this project. It would have been a nice, calming touch.
If you are not familiar with how to make a God’s eye, I would recommend finding a YouTube video tutorial. It had been about 30 years since my last one so this was my go-to!
TRADITIONAL BOLIVIA COOKING TO BOOST YOUR BOLIVIA UNIT
SALTEÑAS, THE NATIONAL DISH OF BOLIVIA
At the homeschool coop where I teach, I was asked to teach one art class and one cooking class for each country we study this year.
For Bolivia, I chose salteñas, the national dish of Bolivia. Salteñas are savory pastries filled with beef, pork, or chicken mixed in a sweet, slightly spicy sauce containing olives, raisins, and potatoes. I knew I could easily mimic these using Puff Pastry Sheets and a simple ground beef mixture. You can also find an empanada dough recipe online if you choose.
To save time, I pre-cut each empanada circle round and brought them to class with me. If you roll out the Puff Pastry sheet you can get a good number of empanada circles from each sheet.
I cooked a delicious, yet simple, ground beef filling that I divided up for each table group in class. I have no photos of my students making these empanadas, but the proof is on this baking sheet!
These are not quite as beautiful as the salteñas you would order in Bolivia, but the flavor of seasoned beef and flaky baked pastry definitely made up for it.
To download and print this recipe, click here!
Enjoy!
I hope this post inspired you to learn more about Bolivia and plan a Bolivia art and cooking class with your children or students. Please leave any questions or comments below!
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by Our Crafty World | Feb 14, 2023 | Home Featured, Spain
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Let’s face it…there are SO many interesting facts to learn about Spain’s most famous architect, Antoni Gaudí!
When you teach about Antoni Gaudí – his life, his legacy, his most famous works – it just makes sense to also teach about Barcelona and Spain.
Researching these facts takes time, lots of it, but in this blog post, you will see that I have done the work for you so you can get to teaching about Gaudí – and planning Gaudí-inspired art projects and activities – (literally) immediately.
To teach my students about Antoni Gaudí, I created this Antoni Gaudí Display Board and Unit Study which has 32 pages (a digital download/PDF) full of photos, facts, art lessons, recall activities, tips and photos from my own classes, games, and inspiration.
I took the time to make this because it is important to me that my students learn about Gaudí and Spain in the most visually appealing and sensorial way.
I have been creating display boards for my around-the-world art and cooking classes for the last 11 years, and I am slowly but surely making them available to others in my new Etsy Shop called Countries On Board.
Be sure to “favorite” my shop to learn about each new board that gets added!
Using the Antoni Gaudí Display Board and Unit Study, your children or students can make a Gaudí-inspired picture frame that teaches about Gaudí’s claim to fame, trencadis (mosaic art).
My students loved piecing together the paper mosaic tiles included in this unit study to make their frames and then learning how to draw Gaudí’s most famous work, La Sagrada Familia.
This unit study also provides templates to practice making mosaic art in other ways.
This broken tile project was a class favorite. Seems simple, but takes brain power and time!
(These tiles are available on Amazon and I have used them across many other classes throughout the years.)
When you purchase this Antoni Gaudí Display Board and Unit Study, you will be emailed a link to immediately download all of the printables for making a display board.
Simply hand off the printables to your children or students to design and complete the board to put on display in your home or school room!
To get the best idea of what content is included in this 32-page unit study, it is best to read the description and watch the product video here.
Also! If you would like to include any aspects of food when doing this unit study, then be sure to check out my Easy Paella Recipe Board and Cooking Unit to teach about, make, and sample Spain’s national dish!
This Spain cooking unit contains so much, including two recipe variations for small or large groups.
My students LOVED making Paella!
I encourage you to consider teaching your children or student about Antoni Gaudí, Spain, and Paella!
Also, be sure to check out my other Country Display Boards at my Etsy Shop, Countries On Board:
Pavlova Recipe and Display Board for Australia Unit
Dia de Los Muertos Display Board and Unit Study
Momo Recipe and Display Board for Nepal Unit
And remember, there are more country boards to come!
I’d love to hear if you have ever made or used display boards to teach about other countries. If so, please leave a comment below!
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by Our Crafty World | Oct 20, 2022 | Home Featured, Mexico
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In this blog post, I want to share with you some teaching highlights of this past weekend’s Day of the Dead art and cooking classes that I taught to students in my community.
I will show you what I planned, as well as tell you all about my brand new Dia de Los Muertos Display Board & Unit Study that was a hit with my students and made teaching about this festive holiday an absolute breeze.
In this class (filled with mainly 8-12-year-olds) we did two art projects, one cooking project, and sampled some yummy Mexican treats.
Before class, I set up an ofrenda (altar) at the front of the class, and put up my Dia de Los Muertos Display Board for all my students to see.
When you download this display board, you will receive a 27-page Day of the Dead unit study that includes everything you need to make the Festive Papel Picado you see hanging on the wall behind the ofrenda.
This Display Board & Unit Study contains so many other engaging activities such as this – worth a look!
For our first art project, we made these beautiful Nichos (Mexican shadow boxes).
After using my Dia de Los Muertos Display Board to explain all the aspects of Day of the Dead, my students learned the most important tradition of the holiday – preparing an ofrenda (altar) for a loved one that has passed. Ofrendas are decorated with items that represent the loved one, so in sticking with that theme, my students decorated their nichos with colors and embellishments that they felt represented themselves.
We hand-drew and colored the monarch butterflies in our frames as as this type of butterfly has great significance in the celebration of Day of the Dead.
For our second art project, we embossed tin skulls made from my all-time favorite Mexico craft supply, Aluminum tooling foil.
You can see that we also used this tin to embellish the tops of the Nichos above.
When it came time to take a break, I presented a platter filled with Mexican treats and unique flavors that my students might not ever have a chance to try. I sourced these items from our local Mexican grocery store.
In my Saturday class, I prepared a plate with papaya pieces sprinkled with Tajin, Nopalitos cactus bites sprinkled with salt, a bite of tamale, and a wedge of pan dulce (Mexican sweet bread).
We sampled these one by one and took the time to discuss flavors and opinions.
Students LOVE taste-testing foods from different cultures!
In my Sunday class, I handed out Mexican sweets, again sourced from our local Mexican grocery store.
(I created a really fun Mexican Market Hunt activity in my Dia de Los Muertos Display Board & Unit Study that will get you and your children or students out into the community embarking on a simple, yet impactful field trip!)
We also made Tres Leches Cake which is not typically eaten during Day of the Dead, but it’s so darn fun to make that I just couldn’t resist!
Students love poking holes in the cake with toothpicks and then pouring the tres leches (three milks) over the top of the cake. The cake is then cooled, and topped with homemade whipped cream.
Day of the Dead is one of my favorite holidays to teach about and I finally feel like I have all the information about the holiday in one visually appealing learning tool that I now know all my students enjoy.
If you want to teach about Day of the Dead, but don’t have time to do research and gather information about the holiday’s most important aspects, then you just might welcome my Dia de Los Muertos Display Board & Unit Study into your home or classroom!
To learn more about this comprehensive resource, be sure to visit my Etsy Shop, Countries on Board! I am adding country boards and recipe boards every week.
Please feel free to leave any comments or questions below!
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by Our Crafty World | Sep 6, 2022 | Australia, Home Featured
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In this blog post, I will share with you how to teach an Australia cooking class for kids that can be done in your home, homeschool group, or classroom.
I will show you the materials I used, how I planned the class for 14 students, and how I put a unique twist on the final stages of making this delicious dessert.
“Light as Air” Pavlova
This Australian recipe is called Pavlova. Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert topped with homemade whipped cream and fresh fruit.
Originating in Australia in the early 20th century, it was named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova because the dessert and the dancer are “light as air”.
I haven’t met a student in the last 10 years that hasn’t loved it.
In fact, in today’s class of 14 students, they ate every last crumb of four dinner plate-sized Pavlovas. That is equivalent to almost one-quarter of a pie EACH!
How to Teach this Australia Cooking Class for Kids
Here are the steps I took to teach my class about Pavlova using my Pavlova Recipe and Display Board and how we made the dessert as a group.
Before class, I prepared my Pavlova Recipe and Display Board. This is a must for every around-the-world kids class I teach.
Benefits of Using a Display Board to Teach A Cooking Class for Kids
Display boards enhance every class I teach and make learning much more interactive for my students.
Learning boards do exactly this:
– Take the learning off of the page/screen and into the imaginations of your students
– Invoke curiosity and wonder about the world of food through photos
– Serve as a learning tool that can be walked around a room, passed around in a group, referred to for recall, and used as a supplement for any country unit
– Add decoration and theme to a classroom or schoolroom
– Can be assembled by teachers or students as a precursor to any other country unit activity
The Pavlova Recipe and Display Board I created is a 13-page PDF digital download that includes the Pavlova recipe, step-by-step photo instructions, actual photos from my Australia cooking class, the display board printables, beautiful Australia graphics for decorating your board, tried and true tips and tricks, and an Australia country facts handout to invoke a new-found interest in Australia and inspiration for further studies.
Tips for Prepping Your Schoolroom to Teach an Australia Cooking Class
Before my students arrived I set the table and prepared fruit plates, one for each of the four groups. The wooden spoons in the photo are group dividers.
I chose fruits that were colorful and would be easy to cut with a dinner knife.
To start the class, I walked around the room, engaging my students with Pavlova Board, asking and answering questions:
Can anyone tell me why there might be a picture of a ballerina on this board?
Let’s look at the ingredients…you will see eggs as one ingredient. Because Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert, it is only the eggs whites that are used. Can someone tell me how to separate the yolk from the egg white?
What country is Pavlova from?
Can anyone tell me what the state sport of Australia is?
And on and on…
Creating Fruit Art In Groups
Next, we eagerly jumped right into making this delicious dessert.
I had already baked the Pavlovas ahead of time as our class length is only one hour. Do not be intimidated by this! The total time for making and baking the Pavlova is under 45 minutes.
This recipe makes two dinner plate-sized Pavlovas, so I made the recipe twice (note: I did NOT double the recipe…I made it twice) for four Pavlovas which was perfect for 14 students.
In table groups, students were tasked with cutting their fruit and strategizing a design for the top of the Pavlova. This was the interesting twist that made cutting fruit fun!
I gave them an empty dinner plate to lay out their design.
My students really enjoyed cutting their fruit and thought long and hard about which angle to cut their fruit in order to achieve the design they were looking to create.
As students worked together like artists with their fruit, I pulled table groups one at a time to prepare the homemade whipped cream.
Once the whipped cream had been made, they returned to their seats to spread the whipped cream evenly across the top of the Pavlova and then transfer their fruit art design onto the top.
This officially set my students into “get that in my belly” mode!
The end result was a beautiful display of Pavlovas ready to be devoured!
This around-the-world cooking class is twelve weeks long so we are creating simple recipe books to add each recipe to.
The recipe, which is included in my Pavlova Recipe and Display Board has a thumbs-up, thumbs down meter so students can record how much they liked the recipe.
Students always rush to their books after sampling the recipes to record their personal ratings.
We finished our class by personalizing the front cover with colored pencils. This was a nice wind-down activity after busily cooking our way through class.
How to get started teaching this Australia Cooking Class for Kids
To get started planning your Australia cooking class for kids, be sure to view the listing for my Pavlova Recipe and Display Board in my Etsy Shop called Countries On Board.
It is a 13-page PDF digital download that contains so much more than just a recipe. Click here to read all about it!
Good luck with your Australia cooking class!
Please leave comments or questions below. I would love to hear from you!
Also, be sure to follow my Etsy Shop (Countries On Board) and subscribe to my newsletter to learn more about how to bring world culture into the lives of your children or students, whether in your home, homeschool group, or classroom.
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