Father’s Day is just around the corner, and what better way to show Dad how much you care than by creating something special together? If you’re looking for places to take Dad this weekend, check out our list of Father’s Day brunch recommendations.

To make your celebration extra special, download this Zip file packed with adorable, easy-to-make Father’s Day crafts that you and your kids can do at home!

 [Download Your Free Father’s Day Craft Zip File Here!]

Don’t miss out on this fun opportunity to make Dad’s day unforgettable. Whether it’s a silly homemade card or a keepsake he’ll treasure forever, these crafts are sure to put a smile on his face.

Images: Freepik

Gingerbread houses are adorable! And you can’t deny that they smell exactly how the holiday season is supposed to smell. *sniff sniff*

I have a 3-year-old little girl at home who loves arts and crafts, cookies, and singing Christmas songs. And if you combine all those ingredients together, the perfect holiday activity is making a gingerbread house together! Here’s where you can go to buy yourself some authentic gingerbread houses as well as some less authentic (but still delicious) ones.

Pro Tip: Top up on extra candy at the supermarket. Most kits come with the bare minimum of decorative candies.

IKEA

When it comes to Christmas, IKEA gets pretty festive, carrying everything from decorations to trees. Their food section even has gingerbread house kits available. The VINTERSAGA Gingerbread House kit is affordable and conveniently packaged with everything you’d need. All the parts you need for this minimalistic house come in the box and you take it home to build yourself. IKEA couldn’t be a more perfect place for DIY gingerbread houses.

Find it:
1 Taiyanggong Lu, Dongbahe (northwest corner of Siyuan Qiao), Chaoyang District
朝阳区东坝河太阳宫路1号（四元桥西北角）
Open: Daily from 10am-10pm
Tel: 800 810 5679

No-Brand Gingerbread House Kit

I got a few sets of this kit for a gingerbread house-making party upon the recommendation of another parent. Unlike with the IKEA kits, the gingerbread components in these kits are handmade at this Taobao store’s bakery. The kits arrived at my door within two days. Upon opening my first box, however, I was so upset! One of the gingerbread walls had cracked and some decoration pieces had cracked as well. It wasn’t too big a deal, though, as I sent a quick message to the seller with a photo of the issues and a request to replace my broken pieces and they immediately responded to my request with a brand-new DIY box sent out the very next day. Kudos to their customer service!

The Budget Gingerbread House Kit

If you’ve got a bunch of kids coming over and aren’t looking to blow half your paycheck on kits, then this one is a good option. From their small 6cm kit for RMB 20 to their fanciest 10cm kit that comes with extra colored icing and LED lights for RMB 56, this Taobao shop has got some of the cheapest quality kits online.

The Peninsula Beijing

Finally, there’s the crème de la crème of gingerbread creations in Beijing. The last of this year’s Christmas Santa meet and greet events at the The Peninsula Beijing, on Dec 25, will feature a gingerbread house as the children’s craft. From 3pm to 5pm the kids will get to make a gourmet gingerbread Christmas tree with the hotel’s pastry team, listen to stories read by Santa, watch a cool performance, and take iconic holiday photos with the big man and his elves.

Find it:
8 Jinyu Hutong, Dongcheng District
东城区金鱼胡同8号
Tel: 8516 2888

Got other recommendations for where to get gingerbread house kits? Let us know in the comments below.

Images: Mina Yan, IKEA

This year, for Halloween, my little girl gets to have her first Halloween party at home where she gets to invite a number of her classmates to come over for a little toddler-friendly spooky night of fun. And where her Halloween-obsessed mom gets to have a dose of spook on her favorite holiday…

So, without risking scarring toddlers for years to come, we’re going to have some simple crafts that are suitable for three-year-olds, a few fun games to play, and a toddler-friendly Halloween-themed movie and snacks.

Here’s what we’ve planned and where you can get the supplies.

Paper Plate Jack-o’-Lantern

Virtually self-explanatory. All you need are a white plate, orange paint, glue, and pre-cut black shapes for the eyes and mouth.

How did jack-o’-lanterns become a part of Halloween traditions? Halloween originated from an Irish myth about a man named Stingy Jack who tricked the Devil twice. The Devil then promised to leave him alone and not claim his soul when he died.

But after he died, God didn’t allow him into Heaven and the Devil didn’t let him into Hell, either so he was doomed to wander the nights on Earth with a carved-out turnip willed with burning coal to light his way. Wait, turnip? Yup! The first jack-o’-lanterns were made with turnips instead of pumpkins. It wasn’t until immigrants arrived in America that the tradition turned to involve orange pumpkins native to North America instead of turnips.

Shooting Ghost Cup 

This one will be fun for the kids to play with afterward and is pretty easy to make. What you’ll need are small paper cups, a marker, tape, balloons, and fuzzy balls (or whatever else you want to shoot).

Cut a hole in the bottom of the cup. Cut your balloon in half and tape the bottom half of the balloon onto the bottom of the cup. Voila! You’ve just created your projectile launcher! Then proceed to decorate your ghost and see who can shoot their fuzzy balls the farthest!

Dry Ice Pumpkin Patch

This one is by far the easiest but also a favorite among toddlers. If you’ve got real pumpkins, carving a jack-o-lantern is cooler. If you don’t, an orange paper cup will do just fine. Cut out shapes for the eyes and mouth then add in some dry ice cubes inside. Then give each kid a little cup of water for them to pour in themselves. That’s it!

Images: Taobao, Pexels, Pinterest, Little Red Book

I love giving unique gifts, those mementos that someone wouldn’t or couldn’t get for otherwise. They are a much more personal way of telling the people I care about that I put thought and time into selecting something instead of just loading up the Taobao cart.

Recently, I discovered a treasure trove of unique and personal gifts, and to make the giving that much sweeter it all goes to a good cause. Allow me to introduce you to Snowland Art.

In 2010 a Canadian expat named Kristel Ouwehand – aka Tenzin Dolma – established the Tibetan Artists’ Development Company. It is a five-year art and handcraft training school devoted to maintaining the integrity of the art of Thangka, in which students come to live and study the Buddhist art form. According to the website, “The school only takes a small number of students, with a focus on quality rather than quantity… Kristel and her students go through all the exam papers, and each student gives his/her view as to which two or three applicants they would choose to accept.”

It’s a completely democratic process.  What’s more, because so many applicants come from humble backgrounds the tuition for the entire five-year program is only RMB 500. All other operating costs are supplemented through donations and the sale of student work via Snowland Art Studios.

The students make incredible work from portraits to hand-painted ornaments featuring family pets and original decorative pillows to jewelry with intricate Tibetan designs. No tracing is permitted, guaranteeing that each piece is one-of-a-kind and special.

You can see more of the incredible work these students produce on Snowland’s website, or you can join the WeChat group by scanning the QR code below.

KEEP READING: A Different Take on Advent Calendars and Our Favorite Ones To Use

Images: Courtesy of Snowland Art

It’s that fabulous time of year when we encourage children to dress up and go beg strangers for sugar! While many people spend all year plotting and constructing their elaborate Oscar-worthy costumes, others…don’t. In fact, they probably completely forgot until right before they walked out the door. But necessity is the mother of invention. So here are some of our favorite “Mom, I need a costume for school today!” moments.

A little girl waltzed into my class on Oct 31 wearing a green hat and a red dress with a piece of construction paper stapled to it and the word Siracha scrawled in black magic marker. Well played mom, well played!

I worked at a school where they believed in forced fun for the staff. We were required to wear a costume every day the week of Halloween to build “school spirit.” Most people got into it but our tech support guy was not amused. Every day people would give him grief for not wearing a costume so he finally capitulated: a white t-shirt with the words “Error 404-Costume Not Found” written on it in marker.

I had the cutest little boy in my kindergarten class. His parents were both very busy professionals but didn’t have a nanny or regular babysitter to help so they were often, shall we say, forgetful about some of the less important elements of school life. The child was always clean and had his lunch and was generally happy, so he wasn’t neglected. It was just that little things often slipped through the cracks. On Halloween, he came into class wrapped from shoulder to knee in tin foil. I asked him what he was and he started to cry. “I’m a baked potato and I am so hot in this!”

There was a little red-headed boy in my class who came to our Halloween party with a bag of wonder bread tied around his neck. “I’m the gingerbread man!” he proclaimed proudly.

A child came to the Halloween party carrying a box of corn flakes with a fork stuck in it and what I think was ketchup spilled on the box. He was a “cereal killer.” I didn’t know if I should be disturbed or laugh.

A boy in my class had a mom who traveled a lot for work so dad often took care of day-to-day stuff. He was a really nice guy and a super attentive father but he had an interesting sense of humor. For Halloween, he sent his youngest son to class in a giant gift wrapped box with a tag on it that said:

Our director spent 30 minutes trying to explain that while she could see how this might be considered funny by some people, it was not appropriate for school.

We had a family at our school who were massive Comicon fans. Their family vacation every year was to the big festival in California and they had an entire room in their house dedicated to constructing and designing amazing family costumes. I was super excited to see what they would come up with for Halloween. Their daughter came to class in a black t-shirt with two red triangles duct-taped to it in the Black Widow symbol. I guess they felt Halloween is for amateurs.

KEEP READING: Ask An Educator: Is My Kid Anti-Social

Images: Unsplash, Pinterest

I love the week before the kids come back to school! It’s a highly energetic, productive, and creative time as we get organized, rethink projects, refine lesson plans, and design our classrooms. 

Being an expat teacher often means we have access to some really fun and interesting local teaching tools, but it can also be difficult to find the more familiar tools and products we loved back in our home country. Many of us used to use trips home to stock up on our favorite art supplies and classroom materials but this year we all need to make do with what we can source locally. Here are a few places to find your favorites right here in Beijing:

Taobao: This one feels obvious, but it can be hard to know where to go and what to type into the search tool to find good quality and decent prices. I polled a few Taobao Queens, and have listed their top shops for specifically hard-to-find items below. 

Item: Classroom Boards
Taobao Store: yueling8

This is where my creative teachers shine! A great bulletin board makes your classroom feel personal and welcoming. This store carries bulletin board paper, cellophane sheets, and borders, among many other classroom supplies that aren’t always easy to find!

Item: Bean Bag Chairs and Reading Cushions
Taobao Store: 虹彩汇生活馆 

I love a book nook. I think encouraging children to view reading as a fun, cozy activity is vital to lifelong learning, so sprucing up a corner of the room with a place to cuddle up in with a book is super important. Bean bag chairs at this shop are as inexpensive as RMB 42, so you won’t mind if you only get a year or two of use out of them.

Item: Story and Picture Books
Taobao Store: 小时光图书店 

Getting good-quality English picture books and early readers for your classroom library can get expensive fast. This particular Taobao store has hundreds of titles, including books by Eric Carle and Dr. Seuss, as well as a good selection of Caldecott Medal winners at reasonable prices.

Teacher’s House Shop: This is a WeChat resource that was recently recommended to me. They have everything from classroom materials to games and books and organizational solutions at reasonable prices. Bonus: The whole site is in English, which makes it easier for those of us still struggling with Mandarin.

Teacher2Teacher: This is an online marketplace for teachers to buy and sell lesson plans and class materials, and it is a rich resource for printables and instructions on making great class activities and decorations.

Website: www.teacher2teacher.education

Buy and Sell Groups: A lot of teachers are moving on and cleaning out their classrooms as well as their homes. Check out any of the second-hand groups in WeChat like live LIGHTER, live BETTER!! or 2nd Hand Beijing Bargains. You never know what might show up!

Back-to-School Swap: You have tons of teacher friends and they have teacher friends too. Set up a coffee date or happy hour where everyone brings their unwanted teaching materials and trades their items. It’s a chance to clean out your class closet, get inspired with new products, and also get in some networking!

KEEP READING: Luxcessaries Every Beijing Teacher Needs!

Images: Unsplash, Taobao, WeChat

This super simple project only requires four items you already have in your house, and it will provide hours of summer fun. Scan the QR code to watch the one-minute how-to video.

KEEP READING: Fun DIY for Bad AQI: Tactile Table

Photos: Canva

As the season of giving approaches and we try to move from “more stuff” to “savings account” gifts for our kids, I went searching for a cool bank we could make without breaking the bank. And I found it in our beijingkids archives! Enjoy this Maker’s Corner from 2013 that can start your kids on the road to understanding how to save their kuai.

One of the tools for teaching children to save money is to give them a piggy bank to stash their pennies. Today’s kids might wonder what a piggy bank is, or why it’s called what it’s called. After all, how many pink pig-shaped saving banks are in stores these days?

Rather than expect kids to want to display and treasure a fat pink piggy bank bought from the store, Keystone Academy’s Visual Arts teacher has combined recycling and her son’s interests to create a spaceship savings bank!

Ten-year-old Gabriel demonstrates the craft for us with few materials for a simple decoration, but there is room to either simplify or complicate this craft. Use a thicker colored paper instead of tissue paper and draw the windows or use glitter pens and stickers to make a space shuttle so colorful saving money can’t possibly be overlooked!

Estimated time: 60 minutes’
Suitable for: 7+

Materials:
1. Empty plastic water bottle
2. Colored paper
3. Tissue paper
4. Scissors
5. Permanent marker
6. White glue
7. Glue stick
8. Craft glue
9. Plate
10. Brushes
11. Circular objects in different sizes

Prepare the body of the shuttle.
1. Cut a hole in the plastic bottle.
2. Paint white glue on the water bottle with a brush.
3. Cover the plastic bottle with tissue paper.
4. Brush over the paper. Leave it to dry.
Prepare the shuttle trappings.
5. Trace a big circle on colored paper, cut the circle out, and fold it in half to then make a cone.
6. Trace and cut three bigger and three smaller circles with different colored paper.
7. Create fins out of colored paper by first folding the paper two times. Then, draw the shape of the fin and cut two out at once.
8. Fold the straight edge of fins to create a place to put glue.

Prepare the shuttle for launch.
9. Glue the cone on the cap with craft glue.
10. Glue three fins on the shuttle.

11. Glue two circles together to create windows. Attach the windows to the body of the shuttle with glue.
12. Decorate the rocket with permanent makers by drawing ladders, nails, symbols, or signs.

This article originally appeared in the September 2016 Issue of beijingkids magazine. Click here for your free online copy. 

KEEP READING: Gratitude Journal 2020: “We Won’t Take for Granted Our Health”

Photos: Dave’s Studio

First of all, we’d like to thank everyone who submitted their beautiful, creative, and heartfelt design submissions. Over the past few weeks, we asked kids to submit their design for our COVID-19 T-Shirt Design Contest.

We hope it provided a little space for reflection and creativity during this difficult time as we show support for all those fighting COVID-19 around the world. The submissions were sent in and the votes were cast.

Over 860 people cast their vote and we’re excited to announce the winner!

Congratulations to our winner, 14-year-old British School of Beijing, Shunyi (BSB Shunyi) student Lina Patuschka.

Thank you to all those who’ve participated. Together we’ll overcome COVID-19!

Photos: beijingkids, Lina Patuschka