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Make a Footprint Ornament!

Get in the Spirit of Barefoot Books and Make Your Own Footprint Ornament

I have been going through our Family's Christmas ornaments.  We have the handprints of our  kids when they were little.  They were made out of plaster paris in school.  If I had know then I would become a Barefoot Books ambassador I would have surely made this Christmas Baby Mistletoe Ornament.

From the

The Good Stuff Guide

 

Printable Templateswww.myscrapnook.com

Christmas Baby Mistletoe and Holly Craft

Submitted by Angeliina Lawson

Angeliina Lawson created this Christmas decoration or tree ornament for her 10-month-old son David's 1st Christmas present for his relatives; and, she was nice enough to share the directions so you can make one too. Materials Needed:

• 2 packs of oven baking clay in green
• 3 red stem balls
• 10-inches of red string to fold over
• 1 straw
• 1 hot glue gun
• 1 glue stick
• 1 sharp knife
• 1 baking sheet
• 1 Sharpie pen

Instructions:
Preheat the oven as directed on the oven baking clay packaging. Take clay out of packaging and flatten with hands to the size of your child's foot. Make sure the surface is smooth so the footprint comes out visible. Place your child's foot on the clay, pressing down on the heel, top of foot, and all the toes for a good impression. Lift straight up and check out the impression. You can use your fingers to fix areas or make them deeper to see better.
Take a sharp knife and cut along the footprint. Smooth out the edges and if you need to reshape the toes a little to make them more recognizable. Take a straw to make a hole at the heel for the string to go through after they are baked.
Place in the oven for 30 minutes. Let cool. Decide how wide you want the feet to be and line up the holes at the heels and use hot glue gun to glue together. Double the 10-inch string so its 5-inches long and string it through the holes at the heels. Tie a knot then tie another knot at the very end of the string so you are left with a small loop to hang the mistletoe.
Lastly, you take the 3 stem balls and with the wire attached to each red ball twist them together and use the now single wire to string through the holes in the heels. Take the wire and wrap it around thee front holly so that it secures them but also hides the wire. Write the child's information on the back so you remember who, when, and how old. Then hang the mistletoe where you would normally hang mistletoe for a kiss. This is great for gifts to the family and friends!

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Happy Halloween!

Illustrations from The Barefoot Book, Tales of Mystery and Magic , retold and narrated by Hugh Lupton, illustrated byAgnesse Baruzzi. Now on sale for only $12.99!  Click on card to view!  Share with your friends!

Yay for Books!

This says it all!

Fall Flash Sale

Save this Weekend.....http://marshamiles.barefootbooks.com

School Is Back!

Celebrate the new school year with our Ruby's School Walk.  It is now available in paperback for only $7.99.  Wonderful  way to deal with those going back to school jitters.  Ruby's Walk will help calm those feelings. 

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Ruby's School Walk

Ruby’s morning walk with Mom on her first day back to school is far from ordinary. With a tiger ready to pounce and mighty beasts that loom and lurk, getting to school seems like an impossible task. Will she find the courage to make it there and begin her real adventure?

Ages 3 to 7 years
Written By: Kathryn White
Illustrated By: Miriam Latimer

http://store.barefootbooks.com/ruby-s-school-walk-4036.html/bf_affliate_code=000-032x

Let The Games Begin!

Do you know where Azerbaijan is?  (Hint:  it is by Georgia, No, not in the US)  Give up?  To help you can buy Barefoot Books World Atlas...there's a gorgeous map on pages 30-31 where you can find Azerbaijan.  Our Atlas is currently on sale for only $14.99, usually $19.99.   More ideas below from the Living Barefoot Blog on enjoying the Olympics with your children.  Also check out Barefoot Books extensive multi cultural books to learn about different countries or our Spanish, French, Bilingual books to learn some other languages.  These can be found at http://marshamiles.barefootbooks.com  

 

10 Ways the Summer Olympics can Lead Families to Discover the World: A World Geography Lesson for Kids

by Leah Lesser Thu Jul 26, 2012 9:00 AM EDT

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The Summer Olympics, with the athletes’ dramatic personal stories, unbelievable athletic prowess and excitement about thousands of people from hundreds of countries unified through sport, inspire children’s imaginations like no other global event. But the Olympics aren’t just about watching amazing athletes and rooting for your favorites. It’s also a great opportunity to turn children onto world culture and geography.

With 204 countries competing in the 2012 Summer Olympics, there are many important and fun things to teach children that go far beyond the speed at which a human can run, the awe of a gymnast performing multiple flips on a four-inch wide beam, and the number of paces a horse needs to take in order to successfully clear a high jump.
Here are 10 ways to spark children’s imaginations with the many multicultural aspects of the Olympics.
1.  Enjoy some food from the country of your child’s favorite Olympic athlete.
2.   Have a World Atlas app or book handy while you watch the games and learn one fun fact about each country in the competition.
3.  Make flags representing the countries competing in your child’s favorite competition.
4.  Get out that world map and mark it with medal counts as you watch the Olympics together.
5.  Learn how to say “Hello” in the different languages of the countries represented in your child’s favorite sport. ( The Barefoot Book, If You're Happy and You Know It  with CD it is wonderful for this.)
6. Read books with your children about the nations and cultures represented in the Olympics.
7. Have your child pick an athlete from any country then research their training conditions.  Discuss why the land the athlete comes from helps contribute to their athletic abilities (i.e., marathoners from Africa train in desert heat and higher elevations, making London streets easier for them, etc.)
8. When the medals are handed out and the flags go up, the winner’s national anthem is played. Find out what the words of the national anthem mean and sing it with your child.
9. Learn the capital cities of the countries of the athletes participating in your child’s favorite Olympic sport.
10. Figure out what time it is in the home country of the winning athlete and in London and encourage your child to calculate the best time for the athlete to call home and share the exciting news with their family.
Are you planning to use the Olympics as a teaching opportunity in your family?  Share with us your ideas!
*This article has also been featured on www.incultureparent.com.

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