Creative Family Fun

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Terri Thompson

Around the World in 12 Dishes: Mexico

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Hola and welcome to Mexico!

Our virtual trip around the world has landed in Mexico this month and we were eager to start cooking.

We’re not strangers to Mexican food and actually eat it quite often, so this month’s food challenge didn’t require any research on my part. The challenge was deciding.

We finally came up with the idea of taquitos. Taquitos are actually quite easy to make and the girls were able to do a lot of the work themselves.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

I set out all the ingredients for our Chicken & Salsa Verde Taquitos, shredded chicken, salsa verde, and crumbled up queso fresco cheese.

Our local grocery store has a wide variety of authentic Mexican ingredients, so instead of our usual cheddar, I decided to try a traditional Mexican cheese. The choice was perfect. The queso fresco melted well and was a perfect compliment to the salsa verde, which is a salsa made from tomatillos.

The girls got to work pouring and mixing. I had already premeasured the ingredients, so the girls were able to work independently on this part.

Once the filling was all mixed up, we started filling and wrapping our taquitos.

Once rolled up tight, we placed them all on a lightly oiled sheet pan.

Before putting them in the oven, spray the tops with a bit of cooking spray to help them crisp up.

We paired our taquitos with some sour cream for dipping and a side of refried beans. Yum! We loved visiting Mexico!

Chicken & Salsa Verde Taquitos

1 c shredded cooked chicken
6 oz. queso fresco cheese
8 oz. can salsa verde
10 flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix the first three ingredients together. Scoop approximately 3 tablespoons of the mixture into the center of each taquito. Roll up tightly and place on a lightly greased sheet pan. Lightly spray tops of taquitos with cooking spray. Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes or until tortillas are lightly browned.

Welcome to “Around The World in 12 Dishes”. We will be taking you on a journey around the world, (loosely) following in Phileas Fogg’s footsteps, exploring 12 different countries with our children, by cooking 12 dishes with them. One for each country visited.
 
The world is such a wonderfully diverse and colorful place. Our children see maps, flags and books. They see postcards and maybe they see films about the world.. but let’s really bring it to life through food! Taste and smell don’t often get explored, we think this would be wonderfully fun and interesting for you and your children.
 
Not only is it an exciting and different way to learn about cultures, but cooking with children brings a host of benefits – from numeracy to science. How can you beat that?

Around the World in 12 Dishes

We had started our journey the same way Phileas Fogg did in London, UK, and Stockholm, Sweden, then continued on to Moscow in Russia and via Indian New Delhi reached Tokyo in Japan. After making a stop in the exotic location of Papeete, capital of French Polynesia, we have now reached Mexico City!

  • March 4 – First country was the UK
  • April 1 – The second country was Sweden
  • May 6 – The third country was Russia
  • June 3 – The fourth country was India
  • July 7 – The fifth country was Japan
  • August 5 – The sixth country was Australia
  • September 2 – The seventh country was French Polynesia
  • October 7 – The eight country is Mexico!

How to join the fun!

  • The only mandatory part is the dish, the rest is all up to you, we just thought it would be fun and more concrete to the kids as to why we are making a unusual dish.
  • Cook a dish from Mexico: The goal is to explore this country through FOOD and activities if you wish. Make a typical dish (sweet or savoury) from the country with the kids, take photos and have fun!
  • Typical dishes: Tacos, Enchiladas, Quesadillas and more.
  • Print your passport: Click here to download, comes with space for a photo of the child with the dish. Here is a little cover for it if you wish 🙂
  • Color a placemat: Once colored/painted or whatever other way you want to do this, you can laminate it or put it between clear contact paper to use it over and over. Great conversation piece for you and your kids. Click here to download it.
  • Make a craft: you can make a country related craft with the kids [optional!]
    • Fun fact: The Chihuahua is the world’s smallest dog and is named for a Mexican state.

Fun Spider Crafts for Kids

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Are you ready to make a fun Spider craft?

I definitely am!

Spiders are so much for for Halloween or any time of the year when you’re learning about these fun arachnids. These spider crafts for kids are perfect for October, and they’re also not too Halloween specific so you can make them throughout the year.

Make some spooky spiders with these fun Spider Crafts for Kids. These projects are fun for Halloween or any time of the year when you're learning about spiders.

I found fun art projects, simple crafts, and even fun robot spiders.

So, grab your craft supplies, pick out a project or two, and have some fun creating together with your kids.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Make some spooky spiders with these fun Spider Crafts for Kids. These projects are fun for Halloween or any time of the year when you're learning about spiders.

Fun Spider Crafts for Kids

Grab some cardboard tubes to make our adorable Cardboard Tube Spiders.

Turn a paper plate into one of our fun Googly Eye Spider Masks.

Try a STEAM project and make one of these Halloween Robot Spiders from Inspiration Laboratories.

Use natural materials to make these cute Twiggy Spiders from Kitchen Counter Chronicle.

Make some spooky spiders with these fun Spider Crafts for Kids. These projects are fun for Halloween or any time of the year when you're learning about spiders.

Rock painting is fun, but painting these Playful Rock Spiders from Kids Craft Room is even more fun.

Make some simple and cute Paper Plate Spiders like these from I Heart Crafty Things.

Turn a pine cone into a spider with this cute nature craft from Fireflies and Mud Pies.

Make your own spider ring with this fun craft from Fantastic Fun and Learning.

Make some spooky spiders with these fun Spider Crafts for Kids. These projects are fun for Halloween or any time of the year when you're learning about spiders.

String some beads to make this cute Beaded Spider from Hands On As We Grow.

Build some spiders out of LEGO Bricks with these plans from Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls.

Make a 3D spider out of paper with this cute craft from Red Ted Art.

Dress up like a spider with this simple Spider Headband Craft from Fantastic Fun and Learning.

Make some spooky spiders with these fun Spider Crafts for Kids. These projects are fun for Halloween or any time of the year when you're learning about spiders.

Make handprint spiders on a fun web with this idea from Happy Hooligans.

Or, you can turn your handprints into fun Spider Window Clings like this idea from Hands on As We Grow.

Turn a mason jar lid into a cute spider with this craft from Fireflies and Mud Pies.

Make some spider pencil toppers like this fun idea from Happiness is Homemade.

Make some spooky spiders with these fun Spider Crafts for Kids. These projects are fun for Halloween or any time of the year when you're learning about spiders.

Spider Web Crafts

Do some simple weaving with yarn to make one of our Paper Plate Spider Web Wreaths.

Add a little science to your art when you make this fun Fizzy Spider Web Art from Inspiration Laboratories.

Use watercolor resist to make some pretty spider web art like this at Let’s Lasso the Moon.

Use popsicle sticks to make these simple Spider Webs from Buggy and Buddy.

Which of these fun spider crafts is your favorite?

Make some spooky spiders with these fun Spider Crafts for Kids. These projects are fun for Halloween or any time of the year when you're learning about spiders.

If you enjoyed these fun Spider Crafts for Kids, the above photo is perfect for sharing on Facebook or you can save the photo below on Pinterest.

Make some spooky spiders with these fun Spider Crafts for Kids. These projects are fun for Halloween or any time of the year when you're learning about spiders.

You may also like one of these fun crafts for kids:

Pom Pom Caterpillar Craft for Kids

Three Blind Mice Craft

Hole-Punched Bookmark Craft for Kids

Cardboard Tube Penguin Craft

Kid’s Co-op: Halloween Fun

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It’s Kid’s Co-op time! Link up your favorite kid-related posts and then check out all the fun that has been linked up from other bloggers.

Last week there were so many fun ideas linked up to the Co-op.  Outdoor fun, indoor fun, cooking fun, and lots, lots more. This week I’d like to share some fun ideas for Halloween.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Reading Confetti made awesome secret message pumpkins. What messages would you leave inside?

 

 
 
And Kara’s Classroom had some story-telling fun with these Halloween story stones.
 
 
Now it’s time for you to share all the fun you’ve been having! Please join up and share your favorite post. (And, we’d love you forever if you’d link back to us!) Your link will show up on all of the hosts’ blogs. It’s time to link up, visit some new blogs, and have a lot of fun!
 
 

Halloween Cats

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I love Halloween crafts and despite our busy October, I hope we get a chance to do several this year.

For this craft, we decided to dig into our endless supply of empty cardboard tubes and made Halloween black cats.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Supplies Needed:

Empty cardboard tubes
Black paint
Glue
Googly eyes
Tri-beads (or something for the nose)
Pipe cleaners cut into small pieces

Before painting, I folded in the tops of the tubes to make ears. You can use the above picture for a guide. There is no need to glue, tape, or secure in any way. Once folded, it will stay this way.

Now it’s time to paint! Cover that tube in black paint. If you stick your fingers in the bottom of the tube and hold it that way, you can paint all sides easily.

After painting, it would probably be best to let the black paint dry completely. We didn’t because we were a bit too anxious.

We made the faces using googly eyes, tri-beads, and pipe cleaners. If you don’t have these items, look around in your stash for something fun for the faces. Get creative; the possibilities are endless!

We did have a problem with the pipe cleaners slipping off before they dried. So, you may need to hold them on there for awhile. But, once dry, they stick well.

I had plans of using these as a Halloween decoration this year, but the girls thought they were better used as puppets. Their idea was fabulous! It’s fun to make our own toys.

Have you started Halloween crafting yet?

10 Ways to Play This Weekend: Week 11

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