image from fumira.jp
Can you believe the holiday season is upon us? I just put up a homemade wreath on our front door and am looking forward to turkey dinner with close family and friends this week. I love this time of the year, and I especially love that my husband gets some time off from work and we get to spend a lot of time together as a family! Because of that, I will probably not post anything new for the rest of 2012 (um, just kidding). I am going to leave you with some holiday links, my favorite posts, and my current favorite websites. Click on the “***” to go to the sites. See you in 2013!
CHRISTMAS
1. Decorate for the holidays using origami! ***
NEW YEARS
1. Send a New Year’s card, Japanese-style: ***
2. A past blog post about ways to celebrate the new year like the Japanese: ***
3. Printable, Japanese-themed calendars for 2013 (they are adorable!): ***
SETSUBUN
1. Setsubun isn’t until the first week of February, but for those who like to plan ahead, here is a past blog post about it: ***
FAVORITE POSTS
1. How to survive a long plane ride with a toddler! *** (reader favorite!)
2. Ideas for souvenirs to take to Japan: ***
3. The yummiest homemade purin recipe! ***
4. Is the cold weather making you think of sunnier days? Or maybe you live somewhere that’s currently summer? Check out my How to Have a Natsu Matsuri post: ***
5. Since Obama just got re-elected, this video is worth watching again: ***
6. How to Begin Teaching Your Child Japanese: ***
FAVORITE JAPANESE LEARNING WEBSITES
1. Brother.co.jp ***
2. Honda Kids ***
3. Links to LOTS of great printable hiragana practice sheets ***
4. Ready Steady NihonGo! ***
5. Erin’s Challenge: ***
KEEP YOUR KIDS BUSY AND LEARNING DURING THE HOLIDAYS:
1. Blog post with a lot of great links to websites that teach you how to play traditional Japanese children’s games: ***
2. Ekaki-uta’s (Drawing Songs) are fun for all ages! ***
3. Japanese Fingerplays… a great way to pass the time on the drive to grandma and grandpa’s house! ***
4. Play karuta! ***
5. DOZENS for Japanese videos for kids via YouTube: ***
How will you spend the rest of 2012? I’d love to hear from you. Readers comments give me the motivation to keep up this blog!
Love your printable post card–so cute!