Disclosure: As a participant in the Walmart Moms Program, I’ve received product samples and compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

My 7-year-old daughter, Vanessa, loves it when I tell her we’re going to do a craft together. Although I’m never sure if I’m doing things right, just quality spending time with her and my younger son trying to make something beautiful and unique with our own hands is enough to make me love it too!

Since we’ll be spending Nochebuena at my sister’s house this year and she’s asked all of us to bring an ornament for her Christmas tree, we decided that we would make them, making sure we somehow incorporated the Spanish language. After trying to come up with something totally different, I remembered I had once seen an ornament made with the wooden tiles of Scrabble, one of my favorite board games.

Believe or not, I have a really old one that I’ve kept for many years even though it’s missing many of the letters. I know I could’ve just ordered the ones missing, but I never got around to it and since we wanted to make some original ornaments, I figured the time had come to put the tiles to good use.

So we decided to make ornaments with words in Spanish that represent the holidays for us using Scrabble letters. If you don’t have a set of Scrabble, you can get one for less than $20 at Walmart. While it may feel weird to get a board game just for a craft, think about the compliments you’ll get on your unique ornaments.

Other than the actual wooden tiles, you’ll need some Christmas-themed ribbon, a gun glue and any other trinkets you may want to include and you can find all of it in the crafts section of your local Walmart. We got some jingle bells and we ended up doing two different types of ornaments. One with the words spelled out horizontally using colorful foam sheets as the backing and one with the words  spelled out vertically using ribbon as the backing.

The first thing we did was come up with a list of words in Spanish that we associate with the holiday season. Then, we grabbed the ribbon of our choice and we laid down each letter attaching it to the ribbon with a bit of glue. We left a bit of space between each tile because we wanted the polka dots to come through, but you don’t have to. We also left extra ribbon on top to make a loop to hang the ornament.

My favorite part of this craft is that the options are endless and the kids get to practice their spelling in Spanish!

Thanksgiving is almost here and before we have a house full of food, family and friends I wanted to take time with my kids to make cards to thank those that are in our lives.

My kids love quick crafts and I love easy clean up!  These DIY washi tape turkey Thanksgiving gratitude cards are definitely fast and so easy, not to mention the little turkey is adorable! My son is now learning to write sentences so this will be a great way to document his milestone this holiday.

To make these Easy DIY Thanksgiving Cards you will need:

• cardstock- brown and white
• glue spots — 3d or popup work best
• washi tape in festive colors
• scissors
• marker
• optional- circle punches in 2″ and 2.5″

Let’s get started!

If you have punches go ahead a punch out one of each, if not feel free to freehand your circles on the brown cardstock. You will need one for the body of your turkey and one for the head.

Using the body circle (the larger on) adhere the washi tape to the back. We used about 2 inches long and folded over 3/4 of the way leaving a sticky edge for adhering to the back of our turkey body.

Yours should look like the picture above. Add as many washi-tape feathers as you’d like!

At this time prepare your card. Take the white card stock, fold the long way, cut and fold again. This makes 2 cards. The crease of the card will be at the top.

Have the kids adhere the washi tape. Washi tape is forgivable and can be repositioned. No mistakes no hassles!

Once all your feathers are on, using a glue spot, adhere the head of your turkey.

Flip your turkey over and add some wash tape legs. We cut a stip in half and added them on just like the feathers.

Add three glue spots to the body part and adhere to your card towards the top. Set aside.

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Add a beak and some gobble! Cut a triangle out of washi tape turn it upside down. Crinkle some red washi tape for the gobble, adhere to the back of the upside down triangle and stick to the head circle.

Add a sentiment — follow this easy tutorial.  Decorate with some washi tape,  add to card with some glue spots and done!

Make a few more and don’t forget to have the kids write inside! Ready to be given to those you are most thankful for!

My son starts kindergarten this year! We received a letter from his teacher  excited to welcome him to class and his face lit up!

He immediately wanted to write back with a picture much like what he does with his snail mail pal but instead I told him how about we make her something super special.

We came up with these cute potato stamped bilingual art tea towels. Each stamp means something to my son. The apple is his favorite fruit. The ABC stamp shows he knows his alphabet and the Hola is to share with his teacher that he is bilingual.  He can’t wait to hand it over to his new teacher.

To make some bilingual Art Tea Towels too here is what you’ll need:

1-Brown paper bag- to cover your area and use for pain mixing

2-Fabric Medium to mix with paint

3-Acrylic paint in your favorite colors

4-potatoes you can carve 2 stamps out of 1 potato

5-a napkin or tea towel to use as your canvas

6-Knife, Carving tools* and paint brushes. (dull pencils, wooden craft sticks, craft knife, piercing tool, etc.)

* parents, please help children with the carving and always handle carving tools with caution.

Cut potato in half and start carving your shape. Use a dull pencil to trace or sketch your image on potato.

 Continue cutting potatoes and carving until you have created all the shapes you would like to use.

If you are carving words, there are two ways to do so — you can carve directly into the potato and not shave any thing surround letters or you can create actual letters be sure to shave down at least half an inch.

Also, all words must be spelled and written backwards.  It helps to write it out first, write out again backwards, and then carve.

 Mix your paints with medium. For every quarter size blob of pain add 3-4 drops of medium you want your paint to be thinner but not runny.

 Apply paint onto the potato stamp and have your kids go wild!

We only stamped once for every time we applied paint. If you want a washed look you can definitely get two stamps out of one application of paint.

 Let them dry. All done!

Fold and attach a cute note with some ribbon for your child’s teacher!

Greet this year’s teacher with a big ¡HOLA! May your kids have a great school year!

Our culture is a big part of why we teach our kids Spanish. But even if Spanish is not the language of our ancestors we know that learning another language gives us and our children a deeper understanding of other people and cultures. For this week’s #BilingualKids Round-up we have focused on fun crafts for kids that celebrate culture and the diversity in our world.

Proud to be Me Self-Identity Craft

This beautiful craft by Ruby of Growing Up Blackxican is all about instilling a positive self-image in kids. It teaches kids to love their heritage whether it be from one ethnicity or many. Click here to read Ruby’s story and craft instructions.

Guatemalan Crafts and Activities for Kids

Paula of Growing Up Bilingual shared a round-up of crafts and activities for kids to celebrate Guatemala’s history and culture. Click here to view activities and crafts.

Discovering Culture Through Collage: Romare Bearden

This craft by Moms Gone Global was inspired by Romare Bearden’s art. Bearden was an African-American artist whose style was shaped by his experiences growing up as well as art from other cultures. Click here to find out more about Bearden and for craft instructions.

La Oruga Muy Hambrienta

Danielly of Un Dulce Hogar shared this simple and cute craft to do after reading the children’s book “La Oruga Muy Hambrienta”. This very popular book can be found in English and Spanish. We love that this craft is a fun way to reinforce the art of storytelling and it’s also a great catalyst for conversations in Spanish. Click here to view the craft instructions.

Food Traditions Around the World 

It’s no secret that food is a big part of every culture. The Piri-Piri Lexicon blog shared a list of simple recipes from around the world that our niños can help us prepare.  This is a great activity to introduce our kids to different foods and start a conversation about other cultures and countries, one dish at a time.

Secret Message Valentines for Dia del Amor y Amistad! I love that in Spanish a common way to to translate Valentine’s Day is saying “Day of Love and Friendship.”

My boys love all things spies, secret agents, mission impossible…. So when  I told my oldest that we were going to write secret messages to his dad and brothers, he was on board.  This is even a super easy Valentine’s card you can have kids make in class or to give to classmates.

I am always looking for simple  ways to make 40 plus Valentines for my boys classmates. One of our desires as parents is to help our boys see that Valentine’s day is not just for lovers but a time to share “nuestra amistad y amor” with our friends, neighbors, those in need…

What you will need for our Secret Message Valentines are basic things you can find around your house.

Supplies:

• white card stock paper shaped into hearts
• white crayon
• water color paint

The “invisible ink” is the white crayon.  The watercolor paint is what helps uncover the secret message!

1. Write your message with the white crayon on your white card stock paper. Make sure you press down hard when writing.

2. Make cupids arrow and attach over heart.

2. Give your Valentine their secret message and let them know that they will need water color paint to uncover the message. Or you have the water color paint on hand and let them paint over it in front of you.

I’m officially on vacation… and I couldn’t be happier. I don’t plan on doing much the next two weeks, except spend lots of time with my kids and my husband doing pretty much NADA!

But before I sign-off until 2013, I just wanted to share with you some of the great Christmas content we’ve gathered throughout the years since we launched SpanglishBaby. After all, this is the fourth holiday season we’re celebrating! From posts about how we celebrate La Navidad in our bilingual and bicultural households to really cool Christmas-related activities and yummy recipes, there’s something for everyone, so check it out:

POSTS ABOUT CULTURE/TRADITIONS:

A Christmas Gift: 9 Villancicos Navideños {Printable Lyrics PDF}

Christmas Carols for Posadas – Villancicos Para Pedir Posadas {Printable}

Celebrating Las Posadas: From Mexico to the US

Navidad in El Salvador

A Bicultural Christmas Photo — We asked our regular contributors to share one photo that represents Christmas for their families.

Posadas in Mexico: The Largest Nativity Scene in the World

Santa Claus: Does It Matter What Color He Is or What Language He Speaks?

A Mexican Holiday in Pictures

Your Bicultural Holiday Traditions — A series of posts written by bloggers and our contributors exploring how the holidays are celebrated in their bilingual and bicultural casitas.

A Multicultural Noche Buena Feast

POSTS ABOUT ACTIVITIES:

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas Bath Fun: Christmas Kids Activity

Christmas Party Favor: Snowman Play Dough

Burrito Sabanero Puppets on a Stick {Holiday Craft}

Christmas Activity for Kids: Snowman Bowling

Christmas Activity Sheets in Spanish {Printable}

Poinsettia Craft {Printable Activity}

POSTS ABOUT FOOD:

Gluten-Free Quinoa, Almond and Sherry Cake — Christmas with a Twist

Christmas Baking with Kids: Gingerbread Man

Choco-Mint Christmas Cookies

Last Minute Holiday Drink: Warm Winter Margarita

MERRY CHRISTMAS! ¡FELIZ NAVIDAD!

{Photo by jcortehals}

Do your little ones love play dough?  Do you have mis-match baby socks you have no idea where the other pair is?

Well then this is the perfect stocking stuffer idea or party favor for your holiday gathering.  It’s easy to make and the kids will have loads of fun with it. This Christmas our familia decided we would simplify your spending and one of the ways we are doing that is by making some of our regalitos for our stocking and I can’t decide between this one or the Snowman Bubbles that I used last year as a party favor for my son’s class. They are both festive and easy.

What you will need for this happy little guy is:

• Baby food jar or any other kind of jar
• baby sock
• black permanent marker
• orange construction paper
• ribbon
• play dough

1. You can either make your own play dough or buy some white play dough.  We used store bought play dough and placed it inside the baby food jar.  Make sure the lid is put on tight so dough doesn’t dry out.

2. Draw the snowman face and cut out a triangle from the orange construction paper and glue it on.

3. Tie the ribbon on the sock leaving the opening free so you can slide the sock over the top of the jar to cover the lid. See picture below:

This lovely party favor or stocking stuffer took me about 5 minutes to make. It’s also great for teachers who are wanting to make inexpensive and easy gifts for their class.

¡Feliz Navidad!

Are you looking from some indoor activities for winter?  Snowman Bowling will keep the kiddos entertained while mami cooks or even for your holiday party fun.

Snowman bowling was featured in the Spirit of Christmas, Winter Issue and now I get to share it here with you, in detail.  The best part of this activity is it’s really simple and works for all ages.  Mi bebé who is 2 years old loves to knock the pins down with his feet and laughs hysterically when they fall.  He did try it with a ball but preferred to throw the ball at us and kick the pins with his little feet.

Everything you need for this Winter fun you should be able to find in your home. I used creamer bottles but you can also use water bottles and stuff them with white tissue paper to create that white snowman look or you can even use mini cereal boxes and cover them with white paper. Oh, another idea is to use a can: soda or from beans or corn….  Just paint it white or cover it with white paper.  I am sure I covered all the bases and you are bound to have one of these items in your home.

As I mentioned it’s easy set them up and let the fun begin. You can use any type of ball or styrofoam balls so it can look like nieve.

You will need:

• creamer bottles
• ribbon
• orange construction paper for the nose
• black permanent marker

1. Start by drawing the face don’t worry you don’t need to be picasso for this. All you need to do is draw 6 dots. 2 for the eyes and 4 for the mouth.

2. Cut a triangle for the nose and glue.

3. Wrap your ribbon around the neck. You may need to glue it on.

And for our over acheiver crafters, give frosty the snowman some buttons and a hat.

One of my biggest tasks is to keep the kids entertained while the family is busy cooking and preparing everything during the holidays.

Lately the trend has been these amazing glittered body art designs. I like to think of them as the modern face paintings.

Not only are these fun and festive but the designs are endless.

While my son was excited about getting fall leaves, my daughter requested a rainbow turkey.

Since we didn’t use body glue (which lasts 3-7 days), we tried out a more temporary adhesive for a day of wearing our designs.

I am sure this will be a hit with the kids this holiday!

To make your own Glitter Holiday body art designs here is what you need:

Supplies

1-Fine glitter

2-Elmer’s Glue

3-Makeup sponge

4-Dry brush

5-Paint brush

I’ve created this easy-to-follow-along video so you can see how we got our design started. Follow along with the video or the steps below.

Instructions

1- Clean the area where you will place your design

2- Using the paint brush, apply your glue

3-To make the turkey like we did start with 2 circular shapes to form a turkey

4-Tap on the glitter using the same glue brush

5-Tap off the excess glitter

6-Using the makeup sponge firmly press down on design

7-Use the dry brush to remove any unwanted glitter surrounding your design.

8-Repeat the steps to finish your design.

9- We added 4 fathers to our turkey. Apply one at a time. We also added eyes and a beak.

Enjoy creating these designs. We hope they are a hit with the kids at your next holiday gathering!

Dia De los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is one of our favorite celebrations. The kids enjoy the dressing up and crafting while I enjoy bringing my grandparents back to life.

This year I wanted the kids to make something to go along with the theme of calaveritas. We enjoy decorating the skull faces with bright colors and shapes much like an authentic sugar skull. These are perfect for Halloween or Día de los Muertos.

To create your own calaverita here is what you need:

1- Craft glue spots

2- Glitter Glue

3- A skull paper to use as stencil

4- Magnets with or without adhesive

5-Jewels

6-A black marker

7-Felt (we use glittered stiff felt)

8-Scissors (not pictured)

Let’s get started:

Trace your stencil onto the felt lightly and cut.

With a marker draw a nose and a mouth.

Add jewel eyes and trace with glitter glue.

Continue to embellish your calaverita using different color glitter glue.

Wait for it to dry (over night is best) and add your magnets.

If magnets have adhesive, peel and paste.

If magnets don’t have adhesive, use glue spots to adhere.

All done!

¡Feliz Día de los Muertos!