My business, TLB Music, is hosting a mini-camp summer series for NYC kids 18 months – 5 years and this patriotic windsock project is one of our campers’ activities of the week!  This craft is perfect for young children and the end result looks great as a decoration for the Fourth of July.  Follow these easy instructions to create your own and scroll to the bottom of this post to see the craft supplies I used!

Student Materials:
blue paper, white paper stars, red and white crepe paper streamer strips, glue stick, string

Teacher Materials: star hole punch, small circle hole punch, scissors

Teacher Prep: cut 8 1/2 x 11 blue paper into 7 x 11 pieces (2 per child)
punch white stars (12 per student)
cut strips of crepe paper streamer into strips  (8 per student, 4 red, 4 white)

*If students are older, they can help with the “teacher prep” section!

To begin the project, make sure to look at the American flag and identify colors and shapes! 

Pass out 2 piece of blue paper and a glue stick to each child.

Step 1: On one piece of blue paper, cover one short edge with glue.

Step 2: Attach the other piece of paper on the short end, pressing down firmly.

Pass out 12 white stars (count together!) and discuss how our real flag actually has 50 stars!

Step 3: Glue white stars to one side of your big piece of blue paper. Spread out evenly and make sure to leave the area near the short edges bare. (We’ll be glueing those edges together.)

Pass out 8 strips of crepe paper streamer to each child: 4 red, 4 white. Count together!

Step 4: Turn blue paper over (stars facing down) and attach strips of crepe paper at the bottom (long edge) with glue. Follow the pattern: red, white, red, white, etc.

Step 5: Turn blue paper over (stars facing up) and coat one bare short edge with glue.

Step 6: Attach the side with glue to the other bare short edge, creating a cylinder!

Step 7 (teacher!): Hole punch a hole on each side of the top of the blue cylinder, about 1 inch down from the top.

Pass out 1 piece of string per student.

Step 8: Thread a piece of string across the two holes and tie the string into a knot at the top.

Step 9: Hang your patriotic windsock near a window or fan!

Last weekend, I made this adorable gingerbread house with Ryan, one of my best friends.  We sipped Silk nog and apple cider and decorated for hours.  It was exhausting and messy but so much fun to make!  It was the perfect way to spend a snowy Saturday.  For the house and royal icing, I followed this vegan recipe.

Instead of cutting the house’s pieces out by hand, I used a mold. Here is the mold I used.  It worked really well except that I put way too much dough in the mold. The pieces of the roof came out very thick and felt like a brick!  We were worried the house wouldn’t stand.  So… I’d recommend filling your molds about half way with your gingerbread dough and pushing it down by hand.

In the end, our gingerbread house is standing and holding tons of candy thanks to the super tacky royal icing. Here’s how we constructed the house:

While the icing on our house hardened, Ryan and I went for a yummy brunch at Teany then next door to stock up on sweets at the Lower East Side’s famous Economy Candy.  This candy store is amazing.  They’ve been around since 1937 and have almost every kind of candy you could imagine.  Decades of nostalgia fill the small NYC landmark.   A walk through Economy Candy triggers memories from my 1980s childhood- candy cigarettes, Pez, Kinder, rolls of candy dots, and more!

Since Ryan isn’t vegan, we compromised and decided to decorate with a mix of vegan/vegetarian toppings!  If you’re looking for a list of strictly-vegan sweets for kids, click here.  Decorating tip: be patient!  Ryan and I were very impatient and found our toppings sliding down the roof until we slowed down and held each candy piece in place for a few seconds.  Once the icing sets, it’s like glue so make some hot chocolate (like this one from Oh She Glows) and take your time!

(click here to enlarge image)

These gift ideas are perfect if you’re looking for a way to give to charity while giving to your loved ones!

1. Superfruit Lip Balm by Peacekeeper Cause-Metics  (view online) “Peacekeeper Cause-Metics is the first cosmetics line to donate all of its after-tax, distributable profits to women’s health advocacy and urgent human rights issues.”
2.  Youth Hoot Beanie by Krochet Kids Intl.  (view online) “With every product you purchase, you are helping Krochet Kids provide women in Uganda or Peru with fair and consistent income, skills training and mentorship.”
3. Beech Wood Troubadour Headphones by LSTN (view online) “For every pair sold, LSTN helps restore hearing to a person in need through the Starkey Hearing Foundation.”
4. Species Adoption by World Wildlife Fun (view online) “Your symbolic adoption supports WWF’s global efforts to protect wild animals and their habitats.”  Choose from over 100 species to adopt! For a $50 donation, you’ll receive a plush animal, adoption certificate, photo, and species info card!
5.  Hope Soy Candle by Juara (view online) “10% of proceeds from this candle will be donated to Walubi charity relief organization dedicated to aiding Indonesian disaster relief efforts.”
6. Gold + Silver Dust Set by SAME SKY (view online) “SAME SKY provides jobs globally for women struggling to lift themselves out of poverty. Instead of a handout, we believe in giving a hand-up and the tools to become self-sufficient. Trained as artisans, SAME SKY women earn 15 to 20 times the average wage in Sub Saharan Africa. 100% of net proceeds are reinvested to train and employ more artisans in need.”
7. Navy Navia Throw by JADEtribe (view online) “With every item you purchase, you are helping JADETribe provide financial opportunity for women in Southeast Asia and support the artisitic and cultural tradition of textile weaving.”
8. Just Like You by the Just Like You Foundation (view online) 100% of the profits of this amazing book go to charity. You can choose which charity you would like to donate to at checkout!
9. Charity Pot Hand & Body Lotion by LUSH Cosmetics (view online) “Every penny (yes, every single penny) that you pay for a pot, excluding the tax, goes to fund and support grassroots charities all around the world.”
10. Earthwise Rust Men’s Vegan Classics by TOMS (view online) “With every product you purchase, TOMS will help a person in need. One for One.”
11. Grey Ikat Women’s Vegan Classics by TOMS (view online)
12. Earthwise Cranberry Bimini Tiny Vegan Classics by TOMS (view online)

This Halloween, make your own bats with your kids! This free, printable template is perfect for practicing fine motor skills while creating adorable decorations for the holiday. Crafty parents: these cute creatures can double as a wine bottle topper.  See pictures below!

What you’ll need:

• Printer and paper for printing template (click PDF link below)
• Scissors (tip: cut out pieces for young kids new to scissors)
• Removable double stick tape or glue stick
• Fishing line, monofilament line, or string for hanging

Printable Halloween Activity for Kids- Create Your Own Bat PDF

Start by printing the above template and use black crayon to color the reverse side of the wings (and body if you’d like). You can color solid, add a pattern, or even use a leaf underneath the template to create an impression with your crayon!

Next, cut out all the pieces from the template. This is challenging scissor work for little hands! Supervise or help cut out the tough parts for young kids. For the bat feet and handle of the Trick or Treat bag, don’t worry about cutting around the little black pieces! Just round off the image at the outside border.

Use removable double-sided tape or glue to line the edge outside of the dotted line on the body.

Now, simply roll up the body, securing it with the sticky edge. Be careful to line up the ears!

To attach the wings, first cut a bit of the line or string you’re going to use to hang your bat. Cut extra so you can adjust your length after completing. (If you’re using as a wine topper, skip the line/string). Place it with some tape or glue in the center of your wings…

then attach to your bat body!

Now is the really fun part: customizing your bat! Choose a set of eyes and attach them with tape or glue.

Next, add the feet and accessories!

You can use a bow as a “hair” bow or as a bowtie.

I put the Trick or Treat bags hanging from my bat feet but you could also have your bat carry its bag from its wings.

I decided to use my candy corn as bat ears! You can put yours in your bat’s wing, feet or put them in the candy bag.

For adults: check out how cute the bats look as wine toppers! They fit perfectly!

These bats are so lightweight, it’s easy to hang them in almost any way. They look adorable hanging in front of a window or you can make a mobile by attaching a few bats to a twig, then hanging your stick with more fishing line!

Happy Halloween Crafting!

Today is National Lasagna Day! This is one of my favorite recipes from my Vegan Recipes & Foods Pinterest board. Doesn’t it look delicious?  It is the Vegan Lasagna with Basil Cashew Cheeze from Oh She Glows, photographed and reviewed by 86 Lemons.  Basil cashew cheese is one of the best vegan foods I’ve been introduced to in the last couple years!  It is so diverse:  you can spread it on bread and crackers, bake it on pizza, make creamy sauce with it, or cover it with breadcrumbs and pan fry!  Make your own following the recipe above or buy a pre-made version, like the amazing basil cashew spread called Basilcotta from Regal Vegan.

With the Fourth of July just around the corner, I thought it was the perfect time to begin holiday crafting! To get started on your American flag, simply print out the sheet below. All you need is a red and blue crayon or colored pencil, a stick to create your flagpole, and double-sided tape.

Click the image above for your printable sheet!

Coloring in the blue behind the white stars can be a difficult task for small hands. A tip to help kids stay in the lines is to outline the stars with your blue crayon or colored pencil, creating a slightly raised boundary, before coloring around the rest of each star! After coloring, ask your children to count all the stars. How many are there? How many horizontal rows of 6 are there? How many horizontal rows of 5?

Next, use your red crayon or colored pencil to color in every other stripe beginning with a red stripe at the top. Ask kids: How many red stripes are there? How many white?

When you’re done coloring, cut out the flag, leaving the left-hand margin intact (you’ll use that edge to attach it to your flagpole!).  After, use some double-sided tape on the back of the flag’s left border to attach it to the top of your flagpole.  Press firmly!

Your flag is finished!

Send a picture or scan of your completed flag to thebirdfeednyc@gmail.com to be featured in a Bird Feed children’s art gallery.

Tomorrow is the first day of Winter! To celebrate, we’ve compiled a list of our favorite winter-themed songs for chilly days indoors. Of course, there are many that we couldn’t fit in our top 10. Feel free to add your personal favorites in the comments box below!

1. Baby It’s Cold Outside (Zoey Deschanel and Will Ferrell in Elf )

We love this classic clip from the 2003 film.

The First Movement of Winter creates imagery of a powerful, swirling snowstorm.  Movement 2 is entitled “La Pioggia” (“the rain”, in Italian).   In this Movement, the plucked strings imitate the sound of icy winter raindrops while the violin solo plays a quiet melody.  The Third Movement is meditative and understated until the sudden return of the storm towards the end.  Although the longest on our list (almost 10 minutes), this classical masterpiece is well worth a listen.

Singer-songwriters Bareilles and Michaelson teamed up to write this simple, beautiful song for the 2008 album The Hotel Café Presents…Winter Songs.  The Hotel Café is a live music venue in Hollywood where both singers performed in their early years.  The video animation is adorable!

This Holiday staple was written in 1934 and over 150 artists have covered it since!  We love this version of the classic by Mraz.

This song is originally from the 1997 animated musical film Anastasia.  The haunting melody has stuck with us since we first saw the movie almost 15 years ago.  Do you remember it?  This piano version is captivating and impressive.

This song is originally from 1945 and has been covered by many.  Sing along with Dean Martin’s 1966 version!

This one is the first track off The Rolling Stones’ 1973 album Goats Head Soup.

Home for the Holidays was published in 1954 and first recorded by Perry Como that year. This version, recorded by The Carpenters, is from 1984.

This song was one of the first to pop into our heads when compiling this list.  Although it’s slightly melancholic (we promise, the next one is upbeat!), we love this performance and the meaning behind the song.  Winter is about Amos’ relationship with her father as she grew from a child to a woman.  This performance shows Amos’ raw talent 20 years ago, right at the time when she released her first studio album Little Earthquakes.

This video will definitely get a smile out of you! The Marimba Ponies are a children’s performance group from Japan. Watch and sing along with the talented and adorable group as they play Sleigh Ride on Marimbas and other percussion instruments. We love the little guy cracking the “whip”!