Cultural Exchange - Mexico 2

Here is another installment of a package we received in the Cultural Exchange we participated.  As I have mentioned earlier we were part of two 6 people groups and this is another package from Mexico that we received.  

First is a letter that we received from the family.  A recipe and some picture cards that can be used for some games or to learn simple Spanish words.

Some wonderful pictures of people from Mexico.

Flag, Currency, tiny maraca, tiny bowl and tiny footwear.

Map of Mexico, some candies and lemon salt.  Also included was a coloring page with Mexican costumes.

A red chili pinata, foam Mexican shapes, corn husk and a paper Mexican doll.

Coloring page of a Mayan pyramid, finger puppets of butterflies to color and some wooden beads for stringing.

The blue item is a lovely Mexican design that can be used as a stencil.  On the other sheet is a set of instructions to parents for all the wonderful crafts included in the package.

Two crafts, making the God's eye and a cute flower mask.

Some facts about Mexico and the significance of the flag.

This was a wonderful package and I was amazed at the number of items included in the package.  I used a lot of items from this package to fill our North America Continent Box.  If only my Box were bigger, I would used all the items from this package!

To see more of our cultural exchange packages, visit here.

Cultural Exchange - USA: Florida

We received this package from a little boy and his family from Florida.

A nice picture of the little boy with the American flag, a couple of USA flags, a quarter and a nice letter explaining the family's lifestyle in Florida.

Candies, popcorn, pencils, yo-yos and a nice baseball!

To see more of the Cultural Exchange Packages that were exchanged visit here.

Cultural Exchange - Mexico

Here are the contents of a wonderful package that we received from Mexico.

First is a lovely letter with information of the kids in the family and the mexican traditions.  It also included a package list and explanation on the contents of the package.  They also sent us a CD with some lovely Spanish songs! Great idea! You can also see a Mexican Corn recipe pictured.

A nice color map of Mexico showing the various states.

A rosary and some pictures of Mary.  In the letter is an explanation of how important this is to Mexicans.

Some pictures of Calaveras (halloween equivalent for Mexicans) and a Skull coloring page.

A toy Maraca, the Mexican flag and a wooden butterfly to represent the Monarch migration to Mexico.  Also included was a Poinsettia and an interesting legend about that from Mexico!

Candies, suckers, gum and powder to make a drink.  Included were some common Spanish phrases (another wonderful idea!).  You can also see a Mexican coin included.

There was so much in this package that I learnt "new" about Mexico!

To see more of the Cultural Exchange Packages that were exchanged visit here.

Cultural Exchange - Canada: Toronto

Both  D and M have been sick with cold this week so we have not done much in terms of schooling other than reading tons of books.  Since there are no updates, I thought I would post about the items we received as part of the cultural exchange from a sweet family in Canada.

They sent us a letter describing what the little girl does daily, about her schooling and of course good stuff about Canada.  It also included a Toronto postcard and a few pictures of the little girl.  We've been to Toronto quite a few times and D was excited about this package!

In the package were some Canada pencils, flag stickers, stamps and Canadian coins.

Some wrist bracelets, balloons, candy, Canada lite flashlight and the Canadian flag.

Sorry for the horrible background in these pictures, I could not manage to get these things out into a better background as my toddler was trying to get into everything!

To see more of the Cultural Exchange Packages that were exchanged visit here.

Cultural Exchange - USA: Ohio

As I've mentioned here before, I am participating in a Cultural Exchange.  You can read about what we sent the other families here.  One of the first packages we received was from this lovely family from Ohio.  The amount of thought and effort they have put into creating this package is just amazing.  Everything was neatly packaged in a nice box, I can only imagine what it would have cost them to ship it internationally!

We received this nice letter with tons of information about the life of kids here in the United States and about the things they do in Ohio.  It also had a nice picture of the family. Here is a look at a page from their letter.

They had included a map of the United States and some coloring sheets.

They had included some Red Carnations and a Cardinal, the State flower and bird of Ohio.  What an amazing idea!  Also included were a snowman and a bale of hay.

More stuff related to the States.

Craft items, rainbow crayons and fall leaves.

US Flag and stickers.  A wooden Star shape for craft work.

Monarch Butterfly, more stickers, watermelon sucker, start shaped silly bands and a couple of american pencils!

Amish County travel brochure and a beautiful postcard if Amish children.  My daughter loves this picture and this has led so many wonderful conversations about the Amish!

Some fun activity books and Star shaped notepads.

A lovely American basket that will be put to so much use in our school room!

Many thanks for the family that sent this to us! I can't even begin to imagine the amount of patience and effort that was needed to put this thorough package together!  We received this package first and this inspired so much of what we put together for this exchange.  We feel so blessed to be participating!

To see more of the Cultural Exchange Packages that were exchanged visit here.

Cultural Exchange - Our Package: India

We are participating in a Cultural Exchange organized and initiated by Melissa @ Chasing Cheerios.  We are exchanging a letter, pictures and items of cultural significance with twelve more families.  We had so much fun putting together this package representing India!

WARNING: If you are part of the Cultural Exchange groups 14 or 26 and want your package to be a surprise please do not read further!

Here is a picture of the overall contents in our package:

First we wrote a letter addressed to the other kids including a lot of pictures of India.  We tried to include pictures of our city, some places from our city, maps, celebrations and sports.  We also tried to put in some interesting facts about India.  Here are a couple of pages from our 10 page long letter:

We included the Indian flag and a two rupee coin in each package.  I wish we could have included more coins or currency notes, but unfortunately this is all I had at hand here in the USA.  There is a small packet of some Indian beads that can be made a part of a necklace or bracelet.

We included a "Rakhi" which is a bracelet tied on the wrist of a loved one.  This is a tradition for the festival of "Rakhsa Bandhan", where sisters tie this on their brother's wrists to protect them from evil.  In turn brothers take a vow to take care of their sisters.  We included this to extend friendship to the other kids. Also included is a pack of "Bindhis", which is worn on the forehead between the eyebrows.  All girl children in India wear this and I've included a picture of my girls in a traditional dress wearing a bindhi!

We included a packet of "Mango Mood" candies and dried Mango Bars to represent Mangoes in India.

We also included a pack of Basmati Rice from India, some Pressed Rice (a story and a recipe for this too!) and some green Cardamom.

I include a story about friendship that also has a relation to the pressed rice pictured above.  I tried to narrate it myself (pardon my story telling skills!) and include pictures to make it interesting.

I included two simple recipes that kids can participate in making with their parents, a Mango Lassi and Pressed Rice Pudding.

Finally some coloring pages, one representing Kids on Diwali day and one a Rangoli.

I got my package all ready in their covers, addressed and taped them shut.  I will mailing those out today and I hope that family that receives it will enjoy it as much as we enjoyed putting these together!

Cultural Exchange - Sweden

We received this wonderful package from a sweet boy and his family from Sweden.  You can read all about their preparation plus a lot of wonderful Montessori posts at their blog Little Red Farm!  On to the pictures now!

I love how they wrapped their package in local newspaper! Great idea!

We are saving these stamps!

Some animals sticker book and a lovely letter that explains a lot of Swedish culture and traditions.

Some money.

Coloring Pages.

Flag, Candies and comic book about Bamse the bear!

Balloons, Stickers, ribbons and crawfish confetti!

We love this package and my daughters love Bamse!

To see the other packages that we've received click here.