Package from Utah

Our state culture swap package from Utah has arrived.  It contained Utah postcards, brochures, a map, recreation guides, hot cocoa, salt-water taffy, a Jacob's ladder game, a Utah chocolate truffle bar, a lacing project in the shape of Utah, statue symbol flash cards, instruction and equipment for how to play a pioneer game called Graces, lime Jello mix, information about Utah's signature foods and recipes, info about how Utah was settled, and state facts.

The kids really liked it, especially the salt-water taffy.  L really enjoyed the Jacob's ladder and he liked the flash cards too.  V said the hot cocoa was yummy!

Now that he has an idea of what to expect,  L is very much looking forward to the arrival of the other state packages.

Week review...

We took advantage of the nice weather on Wednesday and Thursday with trips to Washington Park and Jacobus Park.  All the kids love going to a park but getting out of the door is always a challenge for me.  Sometimes it takes a good 20 minutes or more for us to get ready.  By the time we get out the door, I'm already exhausted.  Everyone needs a change before we can go and then I have to get everyone's shoes, coats, and hats on too.  By the time I get the last person ready, the first person has removed their shoes and socks and I have to start over.  But still it's worth it because they have a blast once we get there and it's great exercise.

Other things we did include decorating little pumpkin gourds, making halloween sticker pictures, playing dollhouse, ponies, baby dolls, little legos, pretending to be a variety of different animals, having play-food picnics, coloring with crayons, and much more.

Here are some of the books we read this week.

"A Good Day" and "The Salamander Room" continue to be favorites.  L really enjoyed "A Log's Life".  And S seemed to like "Happy to be Nappy" and "Sing-Along Song".  V is oddly particular.  She did not like "The Watcher" and refused to listen to it after the 4th page, but she was content to be read "Harry The Dirty Dog".

State Culture Swap - Wisconsin

General Wisconsin Info

My state exchange culture swap packages are all ready to go!  Here are some pictures of the package I made for Wisconsin.  Each package contains 4 envelopes.

The first envelope contains a Wisconsin Map, a Milwaukee Map, a variety of tourist brochures and information, worksheets and coloring pages about Wisconsin, Info about Wisconsin Dairy Farming, a recipe for cream puffs, a postcard of Lambeau Field, a Packers pen, and Harley-Davidson playing cards.

Wisconsin Wildlife

 The next package is about Wisconsin Wildlife.  It contains information about animal tracks, Wisconsin woodland animals, an eagle mobile activity, coloring pages, and Schleich animals figurines.

Famous People From Wisconsin

The next envelope contains information about Famous People from Wisconsin:  Georgia O'Keeffe, Golda Meir, Les Paul, Harry Houdini, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Laura Ingalls Wilder.  It has a little quiz,  a little house book, a shoebox guitar activity, magic tricks, and more.

The final envelope contains information about Native Americans in Wisconsin.  It has coloring pages, a map showing reservations, a maze activity, a summary about Black Hawk, and more.

Wisconsin Native American Indians

Each package also contains a letter from us about Milwaukee, Milwaukee postcards, a Racine Danish Kringle, and some nature we collected at Washington Park.

I hope our exchange families are happy with what we've put together.  We are expecting packages from California, Utah, Florida, and Pennsylvania.  I know the kids will like opening the packages when they arrive.  I can't wait!

Greetings From Wisconsin

China

This month, D is supposed to learn about China.  Here are some of the books and DVDs we got from the library to find out more about China.

At the end of the month there will be a quiz and she will have to get all the questions correct if she wants to open the Barbie Doll of the World that represents China.  L is rooting for her and he already has his eye on the panda that comes with the doll.

The quiz this time looks like it's going to be even more difficult than last month's about Argentina.  And there are more questions this time too.  I'm sure if D applies herself like she did last month, she shouldn't have any problems!

L's latest masterpiece

L says this is a "pass walk" which he describes as a walkway through a forest of trees and a pond.

I think it's great how he fills the whole page with paint.

Fall Theme

These are some of the books we've been reading over the last couple of weeks.  Our theme is FALL, but we always read a variety of other books too.

Earlier this week, we took a walk to Jacobus Park.  It's a pretty long walk, but there's a lot along the way for the kids to see from the stroller.  They were really interested in the surroundings when we went over a bridge and they could look down as we went over the train tracks and across a river.

L & V enjoyed playing on the playground and the swings, in particular.  After we were done playing we took a little walk and collected some fall nature:  colorful leaves, seeds, nuts, twigs, etc.  L also collected a beetle along with his other nature items.