 When we first had kids, I had understood there were two methods to make them bilingual: OPOL (one parent one language) or mL@H (minority language at home). In the first nine months of my daughter's life, we were OPOL and then some. My husband spoke Arabic to our daughter, I spoke English and we spoke French together. The language of the country was German but the languages of our community of frequent people in our lives were Spanish, German, French and Arabic. Read more » |
 Bijoy and the Big River
By Meera Sriram and Praba Ram
What’s it like to grow up on a river that serves as your family and community’s livelihood? That’s the setting of this story that follows a day in the life of a young boy, Bijoy, growing up in Northeast India along the Burha Luit river.
Bijoy loves to swim in the river and spot xihu, an endangered species of dolphin, which is generally blind. Read more » |
 My kids hear Arabic every day from their dad but it’s amazing how much more of a hold Spanish is taking after seven months of learning it. They take Spanish several days per week in a small class with two friends. Plus many of their close friends are native Spanish speakers so we are socially in an environment with Spanish around us pretty frequently. Read more » |
A perfect day in Tulum with my four and six year olds. Wish we were still there. . Read more » |
 Encouraging your children to speak the minority language isn’t always easy. You may encounter resistance or face kids who understand the minority language but prefer to speak in the majority language. To boost their use of the minority language, make it fun! Here are five games that will help get your bilingual children talking. They’ll be having so much fun they won’t even realize they are using the minority language!
Telephone
I had a major bilingual “a-ha” moment this past week when playing the game of telephone with my kids. Read more » |
My daughter's school has asked us to help contribute to an exhibit they are going to hold in the library on great female figures, either historical or someone in your family. I picked Malalai Joya to present because she's one of the most badass women alive. With unflinching bravery, Joya has stood up for women's rights in Afghanistan and spoken about the state of affairs of her country, overrun by warlords and corruption. Read more » |
 This past week I was interviewed by Plushkies, a company that makes lovies in the shape of countries, on their blog about raising global kids. They asked me why I think raising global kids is important. I told them it isn't important. It's a necessity. You can read all about it here:
Raising Global Children Day 1: Traveling to Morocco with the Five Senses
And this week another cool thing happened. Read more » |
 Where are you from?
Guatemala and Belize. I was born in Guatemala and raised in both countries during some of the worst years of civil war in Guatemala. My dad was Guatemalan and my mom Belizean.
Where do you currently live and what countries have you lived in?
I currently live in Berkeley, California. I have lived in Guatemala City, Belize City and Caye Caulker, Belize, Miami, Mountain View, CA, Oakland, and Palo Alto, CA
How old are your children and where were they born? What is their cultural heritage?
My children are five (Max) and six (Abigail), and they were born in Berkeley, CA. Read more » |
 I come from a family of Italian-Americans, at least on one side. The thing is, I am actually only one-quarter Italian, as my maternal grandmother is second-generation Italian and my maternal grandfather, Austrian. Yet my Mom and her five sisters identify solely with the Italian side. Visiting my grandmother growing up meant spaghetti with meatballs, eggplant parmesan, helping her dig up potatoes in the garden (she grew all her own vegetables) and chocolates “hidden” away in the same spot in a child-accessible cabinet Read more » |
 I am not a very creative lunchbox maker. Although I wish I could cultivate a sense of simple pleasure in making my kids' lunches everyday, I tend to approach making lunches as an obstacle in the way of my sitting on the couch at night and relaxing. (I always make them at night as I am sure I would run out of time in the morning.)
With extra time on a Sunday night (and admittedly feeling a little half-assed about my girls' lunches after combing lunchbox ideas on pinterest--pinterest is great at making your own attempts at all things crafty or culinary look substandard), I decided to try to do something fun and bento-esque (but I pause to even associate my B-grade lunch in the same class as Bento, cause it's not even close). Read more » |
My daughter's letter to the tooth fairy last night included asking for a "gun" for her sister. Notice she has also asked for $100. She's six, where do they get these ideas? For the record, she got $2 and no gun. And what she was really asking for, was some gum!. Read more » |
 Here’s a recipe for a simple family dinner, that is always a top favorite with my kids. Even though we’re a part Moroccan household, with one gluten-free daughter, we eat a lot of Asian food, not only cause we love it but also because so much of it is naturally gluten free. I have never been to Korea so can’t make any claims to the authenticity of this dish, but I can guarantee its tastiness and kid friendliness Read more » |
 The first historical figure in American history that my daughters learned about is Dr. Martin Luther King. My six-year-old recognizes him in every bookstore we go into it lately, as books on him are everywhere during African American History Month. She has enjoyed coloring in his picture and putting it up on our fridge.
But the thing my kids like the most is singing this song that my kindergartener learned at school and taught to her sister. Read more » |
 I was sure not to fail on helping my kids make (or let’s be real—making for my kids while they kind of help) cute Valentine’s this year. But alas I did. With so many cute and easy ideas out there, like this from Rookie Moms, and this from Parent Hacks, not to mention all of these adorable and doable ideas from The Crafty Crow, I felt motivated--I was all over it this year. Read more » |
 This French store is a decorator's dream. You can make your own strands of lights or purchase larger globes of light to spruce up any room. And they make it really easy for you. Thanks to Oh Happy Day's blog post on decorating her kid's room in these lights, I fell in love with the pictures and clicked over to the French store.
There are so many gorgeous options!
They are also totally affordable at 22 EUR. Read more » |
 This was daughter's homework book one day this week:
Granted, both girls found the book a tad dull, as it is not always as fun reading historical accounts at that age as it is to read books where animals talk and unicorns make appearances, but I was glad they made an age appropriate book on such an important figure in U.S. history. The first two historical figures my older daughter has learned about in kindergarten so far are Dr. Read more » |
 Materials
4 white paper plates
Paint—you definitely need some red
Streams or tissue paper
Pom poms for eyes
Pipe cleaners
Construction paper
Stapler, glue
Instructions
Let your kids paint each of the 4 papers plates in different colors. Make sure you have some red and gold (yellow) in there. Red symbolizes good luck and gold wealth. Read more » |
 “Many moons ago,” the story begins, “the people of China had no calendar.” So the Jade Emperor set out to rectify that. He created a calendar based on animals, giving each year a different animal. But he wasn’t sure which order the animals should come in, so he held a race for the animals to cross a wide river. As the legend of the Chinese zodiac unfolds in the pages of The Great Race: The Story of the Chinese Zodiac by Dawn Casey (author) and Anne Wilson (illustrator), we learn how each year became a different animal. Read more » |
 I woke up Sunday morning to quite a bit of banging in the kitchen. I was a tad concerned about someone getting hurt or something catching fire, as we don’t normally leave the kids in the kitchen unsupervised. They knew better than to use the stove though, right? But my kindergartner does tend to possess a degree of independence and ignore-the-rules confidence, especially when she feels she is doing right. Read more » |
 Lately, my kids have had a lot of questions about language—why they have to take Spanish, why do we speak other languages. My four-year-old has also hit the typically four-year-old stage of really resisting my changing languages with her from English to Spanish. It makes her really angry and she will command me to “Speak English!” If a book happens to have a Spanish word in it, she will cover the page with her hand and tell me not to talk like that. Read more » |
 In our family these days, we have developed a new obsession with Burmese food. My six year old and I had a lunch date on Friday after school at our new favorite Burmese place, Burma Superstar. I have no idea how authentic the food is, but we loved eating lotus root chips, noodles in coconut sauce with chicken and green tea salad. Even better, it was all gluten free! Eating gluten free, which she has had to since she was three, is pretty easy when you take advantage of the world's cuisines and discover how many alternatives exist. Read more » |
 Inspired by this amazing photo of Chinese New Year decorations, we set out to make lanterns for the Lunar New Year. Ours is a faux lantern as it’s purely decorative and not made to house a candle.
Source: Flickr –zTransmissions
Materials:
Balloon (inflated and knotted; the color doesn’t matter as you will take the balloon out at the end)
Tissue paper (red is traditional)
Glue
Paint brushes
Red or yellow ribbon
Scissors
Instructions:
1. Read more » |
 As a half-Moroccan household, you would think I would have embraced cooking with preserved lemon much sooner than I did. Truth be told, I was a bit intimidated by preserved lemon. I didn’t know how to make it and thought a fresh lemon slice would suffice just fine as a substitute. I was very, very wrong.
The first time I encountered preserved lemon (l’hamed marakad in Moroccan Arabic) was on my second trip to Morocco Read more » |
 Hurray for Three Kings’ Day by Lori Marie Carlson (author) and Ed Martinez (illustrator) tells the story of the Three Kings tradition through the eyes of little sister Anita, Tito and Tomás. Although we read this book in English, it is also available in Spanish.
In the introductory note, the author explains that she has combined different Latino Three Kings traditions to make the book appeal to various groups that celebrate the holiday. Read more » |
 Fukuwarai, roughly translated as lucky laugh, is a traditional Japanese game played during the New Year's celebration. It's both educational and fun and aren't those the best type of games?
One player is blindfolded and has to place the features on a blank face as the other players coach him/her. The object of the game is to place all the paper cutouts in the shape of the eyes, nose, and mouth on the face. Read more » |
 The Three Kings, also known as the three wise men, tres magos or tres reyes, historically walked to Bethlehem over 12 days. To commemorate the Three Kings, make some crowns. All kids like dressing up, especially as royalty, so indulge their pretend play aspirations.
Materials
Any color construction paper or poster board
Any shiny materials you have around the house and/or fake jewels
Ribbon
Glue
Instructions
1. Read more » |
 Last week I volunteered for a few hours in my daughter's kindergarten class in Berkeley, California. I loved this glimpse of multiculturalism at work in her class that I witnessed.
Scene: I am sitting at a table with Chu-hee, Amir, Zaire and Rihanna. They are practicing writing “I like to” and gluing a picture of what they like.
Zaire asks me as he glues, “Who lives in your house?”
Me: Me, Jasmin, Lila and their Baba. Read more » |
 Materials:
Brightly colored tissue paper (in the spirit of Diwali)
Sequins or glitter
Glue and Q-tip to apply it
Scissors
Clear glass jar (transparent)
Craft wire (or even heavier string could work)
Beads
Small candle
Instructions:
Cut the tissue paper into small pieces--depending on your child's age, they could also do this step. Read more » |
 Eid is a time for food, family and celebration. Lamb is a popular dish because of the animal that is sacrificed. Below is a Moroccan dish I learned from my mother-in-law (with some variations). She made this last time I was in Morocco with my family and an animal was sacrificed in celebration of my second daughter’s birth.
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients:
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 Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but they can sing! My kids started learning Spanish at the end of August for four hours per day after school for my kindergartner and two hours per day for my preschooler. It's amazing to see their progress in just six weeks. They can speak basic phrases and respond to simple questions and commands like "take off your shoes" and "wash your hands. Read more » |
 One month ago, we embarked on our official trilingual family journey, introducing over four hours of Spanish daily (via an afterschool program I created) to my oldest, and two hours per day to my youngest (due to different kindergarten and preschool schedules). My goal is for them to be fluent speakers of both Arabic and Spanish. Arabic is the language my husband has spoken to our children since birth, as we have diligently followed the OPOL method. Read more » |
 A seminal study conducted in the 60s and 70s found that young kids who could delay gratification turned out more successful in school, received higher test scores on their SATs and were better able to cope with stress and frustration when they became teenagers.
Apparently, delayed gratification is an intrinsic quality. Whether you can delay gratification or not can be clearly seen in children. Read more » |
 A few weeks ago, my husband I spent an inordinate amount of hours at work. It was one of those truly hellish weeks for working parents, where we both had important and long work commitments at exactly the same time, which made for a childcare scramble. Luckily, our babysitter was very accommodating (including arriving at the ungodly hour of 6:30 a.m. Read more » |
 Eid Mubarak! All dressed in their new dresses for Eid and ready to spend the day at a party. (And that's the only face my three-year-old makes in pictures these days.). Read more » |
 They play beauty salon and wear barrettes. (A pic of my husband and daughter from this weekend that makes me smile.). Read more » |
 So you want to write a multicultural children’s book. You know you have a great story to tell but how do you know if it really works for kids? What makes for a great story? Is there a market for it? What do publishers look for? To answer all these questions and a bunch more, we interviewed Tessa Strickland, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of one of the leading publishers of multicultural books, Barefoot Books. Read more » |
 This year is the first I have gotten serious about Ramadan decorations. Now that my girls are three and five, they have a much greater understanding of holidays. My five-year-old gets excited by crafts and decorating and was eagerly looking forward to our Ramadan preparations.
My plan this year is to fill every window with stars and moons and decorate our doorways too. Read more » |
 Meera and I got talking after she wrote her fantastic article 10 Reasons Parents Should Read Multicultural Books to Kids. We felt we had a responsibility to let Barnes & Noble know how we felt about their children’s book selection, particularly that multicultural titles are so poorly represented. So we put together this letter and sent it to them. Read more » |
 Over the weekend, I announced I was going to cook Moroccan couscous for the first time. Usually, this dish is my husband’s domain.
My kids seemed horrified. “But you’re not Moroccan,” My five-year-old informed me. “Only Baba can make that because he’s Moroccan.”
“What are you Yasmine?” My husband asked.
“I’m Moroccan.” And after a moment she added, “And German. Read more » |
 Raising bilingual kids, if nothing else, involves commitment. Bilingualism isn’t automatic.
Long before having children or meeting my multilingual husband, I knew I wanted to raise bilingual kids. I was not brought up bilingual and learned the majority of my languages as an adult. As a result, I wanted my kids to have the gift of bilingualism from childhood. Read more » |
 I tend to be a bit anti-technology when it comes to my kids, who are three and five. I grapple with what the right amount of technology is, and whether I think technology in the classroom is a good thing. I tend to favor a Waldorf approach (although my children don’t go to a Waldorf school) of no technology in the classroom and at home. However, the iPad and its language learning apps may be changing my mind. Read more » |
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I recently participated in a talk on raising bilingual kids over at The Motherhood, with many great co-hosts. We had a fantastic time chatting about different issues we have encountered in raising bilingual kids as well as trading tips and ideas on the topic. The Motherhood put together a great summary of the talk, which can be found here for more information. Read more » |
 I never cared much about Valentine's Day until my oldest daughter was two. That year at preschool, she received her first Valentine's Day cards. The box that they crafted to hold the Valentine's and all of the cards within it became one of her favorite things to play with for many months. Each day, she took out the box and sorted through all the Valentine's, sometimes ordering them and sometimes forgetting them in different places around the house. Read more » |
 One of the first things I found myself unconsciously doing when reading aloud to my kids was changing the word “Daddy” in stories to “Baba.” My kids, before preschool, had no clue what a “Daddy” was. Beyond the usual Goodnight Moon and other American classics, I gravitated toward more multicultural books to show my kids my own love of the world (and perhaps subconsciously to see if I could find any "Babas" in books!). Read more » |
 This past week, we have had our new Arabic-speaking babysitter everyday for a total of 12 hours all week. From day one, she told me the girls understand her 100%, which we know already, it is just their speaking Arabic that has been problematic. In case you missed it, I talked all about that in "All I Want For Christmas is Perfectly Bilingual Children. Read more » |
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If you haven’t checked out all these great articles from our most read articles in 2011, then you definitely should get caught up on them now. Here are our InCultureParent readers’ favorites over this past year.
1. Why African Babies Don’t Cry
2. Breastfeeding in the land of Ghengis Khan
3. Reunited Outside the Orphanage Walls
4. Falling off the Opol Wagon
5. Read more » |
 This contest is now closed. Congratulations to Annice Johnson for winning the calendar and Laura Barta for winning the map!
There are so many good things happening that we have not one but two giveaways. We’re celebrating reaching 1000 Facebook friends, plus it’s the holidays for many people so it’s good timing. It’s a feel good season all around. Read more » |
 When it comes to raising a bilingual child, I have several beliefs about how you can waste your time. I think it’s a waste of valuable second language reinforcement time if you don’t watch movies in the minority language, read books and listen to music in that language and most of all, have a babysitter or nanny in that second language. I would also never pay for private school if that education is not in another language. Read more » |
 One of the requirements for our Thanksgiving was that each family had to bring a dish from their country. We had Indian Samosas with chutney, South Indian idlis with another type of chutney, Mexican minced meat stuffing and chicken, a French beet creation (our French friend said it was French but didn’t have a name for it), baked brie in puff pastry, and another French potato dish Read more » |
 It’s been over a year since we took any trips on an airplane. I forgot how much I enjoy the hustle and bustle of airports, even with kids, as I love their excitement over the little things: Planes! Escalators! The scale at check in!
I often hear about parents who gave up their jet-setting lifestyle when kids came along because travel was too much work. Read more » |
 By Carol Baicker-Mckee
Children across Europe leave their shoes out on St. Nicholas day for St. Nicholas to come and fill them with candy. This is a fun craft which can double as a neat decoration or gift "box" in the spirit of St. Nicholas Day.
Materials:
Printed copy of the template, which is available as a pdf here
Lightweight cardboard (I used some from an empty cereal box)
Scrap paper (I used the insides of security envelopes, which I am absolutely addicted to these days--I have fits if anyone rips the envelopes when opening bills)
Good glue, like Alene's Fast Grab Tacky Glue (and no, Alene's does not give me any kind of a kickback for mentioning their glues)
Scissors
Pencil for tracing the patterns
Instructions:
1. Read more » |
 This weekend we had a taste of all sorts of fall festivities and also celebrated Day of the Dead for the first time at a joint pumpkin carving/Day of the Dead celebration play date. (I must admit, these blended cultural celebrations are truly some of my favorites as they are the perfect reflection of how all the mixed families out there (and not solely multicultural families but also people who love incorporating diverse cultural elements into a celebration) create traditions. Read more » |
 We were an unlikely group—a Russian, two Germans and an American, spanning over four decades in age. Max, the Russian, had only two things that rallied his national pride: his fondness for the word ‘motherfucker’ and his love of cigarettes—his teeth were so heavily stained from smoking they bordered on rotting. Gerhard was a German hippy—the real kind--who engaged in some serious German revolutionary movements back in his day and told funny stories of trying to hide the smell of his marijuana plants when his wife’s very square teacher friends were over. Read more » |
 Lately, both of my girls have taken to calling my youngest, Lila, “Lilita.” Although they do not attend a bilingual Spanish preschool, two of the three teachers are native Spanish speakers. While they have Spanish class on Fridays, the influence of Spanish extends beyond the songs and words they learn on that day. The Spanish diminutive has crept into their English vocabulary with ease. Read more » |
Win the multicultural children's book, A Party in Ramadan, courtesy of Boyds Mills Press. Thanks Boyds Mills! A Party in Ramadan is a fantastic book about Ramadan for both Muslim and non-Muslim children alike. If you would like to read more about it, check out our review here: http://www.incultureparent.com/2011/08/a-party-in-ramadan/ (Please note we received the copy to giveaway after our review, at our request. Read more » |
 With many multicultural families formed by adoption or expanded by adoption (and obviously not solely multicultural families), we felt it was important to address some etiquette surrounding adoption. Most people have friends who have adopted, but there are still many misconceptions about adoption. Sometimes people don’t know what’s alright to ask and what’s not. Read more » |
 We have a weird relationship to babies and sleep in the West. I was reminded of this when I spoke to my German sister-in-law recently (she lives in Germany and is married to my husband’s brother). She had just arrived back in Germany from Spain, where she was visiting her little sister who had just had a baby. My sister-in-law commented that the baby was great, except “she doesn’t sleep in her bed, only in the arms, so that’s a little hard. Read more » |
Five babies are born every second around the world. These little global citizens hold our promises, deepest desires and intentions for the future. InCultureParent takes a look at the beautiful women across the globe giving birth to our future generation. In each of the countries represented, we also present its ranking in Save the Children's Mother's Index. Read more » |
 A Party in Ramadan by Asma Mobin-Uddin and illustrated by Laura Jacobsen, is the perfect Ramadan book for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Centered around a child’s pony party during Ramadan, the book adeptly bridges both worlds through a mix of Muslim and non-Muslim characters.
Young Leena is not yet expected to fast during Ramadan, but she has chosen to in order to partake in the celebration with her family, especially her Auntie Sana who is coming over for iftar dinner on the first night. Read more » |
Every global citizen needs a map to inspire them. Maps are amazing tools for learning, imagining and playing. I can still remember my round globe that I spent hours spinning as a child--ah, the wonder at where my finger would land! InCultureParent found some of the coolest maps on the market for your little global citizens.
Pssst...Looking for more cool maps and globes? Be sure to check out these:
Gorgeous globe for a child's room
Do-it-yourself Globe for Kids
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10
1. Read more » |
 I’ve made an interesting bilingual discovery with my own children that was confirmed by an expert in child bilingualism. Norma, one of my girls’ amazing preschool teachers, has been helping me out while my husband is away. She is a native Spanish speaker, and I have encouraged her to speak Spanish with the girls. Before she started with us last week, the girls have already impressed me with the many Spanish songs they have learned during “Spanish Time” at their school. Read more » |
 Tanabata is a time when people make wishes for the year ahead. All wishes are written out and hung in bright colors on a bamboo branch.
Materials:
Bamboo branch or any tree branch if bamboo is not available
Construction paper or other colored paper
Scissors
Hole punch
String or thin ribbon
Pens
Instructions:
1. Have your child cut even strips of construction paper using child scissors. Read more » |
 A mask is a must for celebrating the Virgen del Carmen. Make your own fun mask out of a plastic milk jug and other items you have around the house already. Crafts that use recycled materials get an A++ in our book.
Materials:
Plastic milk or water jug
Yarn or string
Masking tape
Paints, permanent marker, feathers, etc. to decorate
Paint brush
Scissors
Instructions:
Carefully cut off the handle section of the plastic jug. Read more » |
 And the winner of the documentary Speaking in Tongues is.....Qalil Little!
Congrats Qalil and we hope you enjoy it!. Read more » |
 Tired of crackers, cheerios and raisins? Try one of our snack suggestions from countries like Palestine, Brazil and Morocco for some new ideas to jazz up your snack repertoire.
1. Mexican Paletas (popsicles)
With flavors like coconut pineapple, cucumber chili and banana milk, these blow your average popsicle out of the water. Read more » |
 After browsing many Scandinavian recipes for this issue, we struck upon one that is summery, Swedish-inspired and delicious. The place where we found it is sort of the Swedish stereotype—eh hem— Ikea . Just because Ikea makes some of the most popular furniture worldwide doesn’t mean they can’t cook as well so we thought we would give it a try Read more » |
 The flashing-neon preface to this recipe is that this is our InCultureParent twist on poutine, the popular Canadian French fry specialty. Because we always try to feature healthy recipes, it didn’t feel right to us to encourage you to eat French fries, even if they are Canadian French fries. So we made our own variation of this Canadian dish, with baked sweet potatoes as French fries Read more » |
 It hadn’t taken me long upon arrival in Germany from Armenia to figure out that Germans didn’t do small talk. The taxi drivers didn’t chit chat like New York cabbies. Neither did receptionists, bank tellers, cashiers or anyone really. In fact, they didn’t respond much at all to my attempts at small talk.
Each day on my way to the office, I stopped at the same bakery to get a broetchen (roll) followed by Wacker’s café for my morning latte machiatto. Read more » |
 The Sam Taeguk symbol is found on traditional Korean fans. It is a variation of the Taeguk symbol found on the Korean national flag. The Taeguk is comprised of two colors, red and blue. The red represents heaven and the blue represents earth. The symbol represents harmony similar to a yin yang symbol. The Sam Taeguk includes yellow to represent humanity. Read more » |
 When we started investigating a Korean-themed book to cover in May, the suggestion that came up over and over from many Korean-Americans and others was Bee-Bim Bop, by author Linda Sue Park and illustrator Ho Baek Lee, so we took heed. Bee-Bim Bop is an adorable, sing-songy book about cooking this favorite (at least one of my favorite) Korean dishes, bee-bim bop, which means mixed-up rice in Korean Read more » |
 Thanks to everyone who submitted awesome videos of their kids singing in languages like Luxembourgish, Korean, Amharic, French, Spanish, Italian and German. We loved watching every one of them and also found it inspiring how many of you are teaching your kids songs in other languages.
But after this contest, we made a giant note to selves: this may be the last time we do a contest where we have to pick just one winner of adorable kids doing adorable activities like singing. Read more » |
 Sarson ka sag is traditionally a Punjabi dish, often made on Vaisakhi but not exclusively. It’s totally delicious, vegetarian and incorporates one of the world healthiest veggies—mustard greens—in a way that even your kids might eat. Mustard greens are an excellent anti-cancer vegetable, can lower cholesterol and have been known to be beneficial for colds, arthritis and depression Read more » |
 Dyeing Easter eggs is one of the most popular Easter traditions, found in many parts of the Christian world. Here's an American way to decorate eggs that I learned growing up, with the twist of using natural dyes.
Materials:
Candle and matches
Natural dyeing agents (red cabbage, turmeric, beets)
Pot
White vinegar
Salt
Strainer
Small bowls
Eggs
Large metal spoon
Paper towels
Drying rack
Instructions:
1 Read more » |
 Q: What is the tradition in your culture when the baby loses his/her umbilical cord? What do you do with it? Is there any special celebration?
Japan: I am 47 years old and I have my own little umbilical cord piece in a little red box. My mother had kept it and gave it to me when I was grown up. In Japan, everyone keeps it as a memento. I also have my child's umbilical cord in a little box, even though she was born in the U. Read more » |
 The 2010 Mothers' Index rates 160 countries (43 developed nations and 117 in the developing world) in terms of the well-being of mothers and children. If you're a mother in Europe or Australia, don't plan on moving. Norway, Australia, Iceland and Sweden are the best performing countries. The top 10 countries, in general, attain very high scores for mothers' and children's health, educational and economic indicators. Read more » |
 Let your kids get messy and colorful in the spirit of Holi. A large paint canvas or poster board will do. And let them go to town with their hands, brushes if they desire, and paints. We have created a couple paintings for our house like this.
Craft 1: Make a Painting
Materials:
Canvas or poster board (large!)
Paint
Instructions:
First, change the kids into old clothes that you don't mind getting ruined. Read more » |
 Thandai is a refreshing milk-based drink, accented with bold flavors. It is traditionally consumed in Northern India during the festival of Holi. You can find many variations of this recipe and nothing is quite set in stone so feel free to experiment with spices and proportions.
Ingredients:
4 cups of milk (whole milk is best but you can substitute for low fat or soy)
½ cup almonds
1 T poppy seeds
1 t black peppercorns
4 green cardamom pods, crushed
Read more » |
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I learned from the Speaking in Tongues film blog (which I am very excited to finally get to see this upcoming weekend) that Pyschology Today has a new blog on bilingualism, written by the expert, François Grosjean.
His most recent article is a fascinating look at why children connect languages to a particular person and why they are so adamant about it. Read more » |
 Last night, I finally had the pleasure of meeting one of ICP's contributors, Frances Kai-Hwa Wang. Frances is a talented writer, journalist and activist and writes the witty and insightful Adventures in Multicultural Living column about her experience raising four multicultural kids.
Here's a pic from our meeting.
On the other side of me is Saill White, the amazingly talented website designer and programmer who made InCultureParent come to life and whom ICP would be lost without. Read more » |
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**Disclaimer: I generalize quite a bit in this piece about Germans and Americans. I am well aware that my generalizations do not fit everyone and I can find examples on both sides of people I know that do not fit into the descriptions offered. So before you would like to object that not all Germans are cold or selfish for example, I can say, I wholeheartedly agree with you and know many Germans who are both warm and generous. Read more » |
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Not everyone has the same reasons for raising bilingual children. For some, it is necessity: a language particular to the country you're in, your family language, your parent's language. For my family, our kids learning Arabic is a necessity. Arabic is their father's native tongue and the language half their relatives speak. Not teaching them would be unthinkable. Read more » |
 A Japanese friend wanted to learn English so she started watching CNN while on the treadmill at the gym to train her ears. It was during Obama's presidential campaign so words like "voters" and "election,†were jumping back and forth among the announcers and repeated all the time, so she was able to catch them.
One day she asked me, “I understand the meaning of "vote" but I don't quite understand the meaning of "election," with heavily-accented Japanese. Read more » |
 This is a traditional Armenian Christmas recipe. In the early days, at every Armenian feast, Anooshabour was a traditional must!
Ingredients:
1 c. skinless whole grain wheat (also called shelled wheat berries)*
1 1/2 c. golden bleached raisins
2 c. dried apricots
3 qt. water
Read more » |
 More than its rich history, artists or cuisine, Armenia is probably best known for its carpets. While carpets are not synonymous with Armenian Christmas, they do represent something typically Armenian, so this month's craft is to weave a carpet. This is a fun project for kids and also good for fine motor skills.
Materials
Scissors
Glue
Various types and colors of paper
Instructions
1. Read more » |
 Japanese Children's Favorite Stories
By: Florence Sakade and Yoshisuke Kurosaki
Review By: The Editors
First printed the early 1950's, this is the third edition of the book. It contains ten classic Japanese fairy tales from the original printing together with ten newer stories. The stories are full of fantasy and provide a window into another culture without needing experience in the culture for children to appreciate them. Read more » |
 By Stacey Snacks
The Yiddish translation of Kugel is any baked pudding in Eastern European Jewish culture. My favorite is a noodle kugel, also known as noodle pudding. There are two types of noodle kugel: a sweet kugel and a savory one (which has no sour cream or cottage cheese).
The sweet one (made with dairy) has to be served with a meal that is free of meat, and the savory one could be served alongside a meat dinner (making it kosher) Read more » |
 By Carolyn Lanzkron
Here's a quick and easy Hanukkah craft for kids. We made Hanukkah candle magnets by painting a couple of those promotional business card magnets that seem to breed behind our refrigerator.
Materials:
2 junk mail magnets (you can always buy the magnets if your junk mail supply runs low)
Paint
Scissors
Instructions:
Cut one magnet horizontally into nine candles--8 Hanukkah candles + 1 for the shamash (the central candle on a Menorah used to light the other candles). Read more » |
 As much as Diwali is a festival of lights, it is also a festival of sweets. There are so many amazing sweet dishes made in celebration of Diwali. Here we present one of them, Kheer, an Indian rice pudding.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1/2 cup basmati rice, washed and drained
4-5 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 tablespoon rose water (optional but worth it)
Read more » |
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