Trend: Kawaii – Craft Gossip

There is a fun trend coming to the US from Japan termed “kawaii”, pronounced “ka-why-ee”, the simple definition is “cute” and it’s a big trend in clothes, food, toys and even crafts and stamps. This trend borrows alot of influences from Japanese anime and manga forms of animation. Here’s a wikipedia page if you’re interested in more info. I wanted to share some of the great stamp shops that focus on kawaii, the images are so sweet and so much fun!

NikoArt has some of the most adorable kawaii stamps, Nicole Holi is the wonderful illustrator for these stamps. You can buy wood mounted sets or individual stamps. I particularly love this Forest Friends set:

image by Niko Art

and this cupcake:

image by Niko Art

The Mayberry Sparrow offers terrific hand carved kawaii style stamps like this absolutely adorable bunny:

image by The Mayberry Sparrow

Craft Pudding offers cute tiny wood mounted stamps like this girl with a bird on her head, how sweet is that??:

image by Craft Pudding

Craft Chi offers fun little acrylic stamp sets like this fruit and nut set:

image by Craft Chi

Hope you’ve enjoyed this peek into the fun world of kawaii stamps!

-Heather

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Learning about Hanukkah is important for people of all faiths as a reminder that December isn’t just about Christmas and that their are many other important holidays that happen during this time. Hanukkah unit studies can give you ideas for incorporating the holiday into your holiday studies that happen in December, or to use at home for learning about people of different faiths.

Homeschool Superfreak has a lot of basic ideas for how to build a Hanukkah unit study, as well as FAQs about what Hanukkah is and why it is celebrated. This list is a good stargint point but doesn’t include all the details you’ll need. For example it says you can play the dreidel game but doesn’t explain how to do that or why it’s important. (If you need that information, this post from Mama Smiles is a good source.)

Teachers Pay Teachers has lots of great lesson plans and activities if you’re willing to pay a little bit to get some good content. Two I really like are this Hanukkah PowerPoint presentation from Shelia Melton, which provides a good overview of traditions, food and the history of Hanukkah; and a virtual field trip to Jerusalem from MagiCore, which includes lots of videos showing the city and activities like playing dreidel, drawing a menorah and making latkes. It’s a Google Drive folder and also includes writing activities and more for kids in second to fifth grade.

Kids Activities Blog has some simple printables with facts about Hanukkah and things kids can color in like a Star of David, sufganiyots (jelly doughnuts) and a menorah. These are great for learning the basics.

Homeschool Giveaways has a printable ebook about Hanukkah complete with questions kids can answer after they read. This would be a good one for older kids with good reading comprehension.

NurtureStore’s Hanukkah unit study includes a printable mini book, tons of crafts, as well as math and writing activities. I love the dominoes game that’s part of the unit.

And check out our previous posts for more Hanukkah crafts and learning activities!

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