Join us on an educational adventure through each state in the USA! Each post in this series focuses on one state, and includes a regional recipe from that state. This is a fun way to get your kids involved in cooking, as well as learn a bit about United States geography! The post also includes a link to the featured state’s website, where you can learn more about the state. We also include free forms that you can download and print to use along the journey. Geography has never been so delicious!

Make sure to check back each week for the next post!

RECIPE:

ALABAMA Chocolate Pecan Jumbo Christmas Fudge Pie

What You Will Need:

• 1-1/4 cup Chocolate wafer crumbs


• 1/3 cup Butter; melted


• 1/2 cup Butter; softened


• 3/4 cup Sugar, brown


• 3 Eggs


• 12 oz Semisweet chocolate morsels


• 2 teaspoons Coffee, instant


• 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract


• 1/2 cup Flour


• 1 cup Pecans; coarsely chopped


• Whipped cream, sweetened


• Chocolate syrup


• Maraschino cherries with stem


• Mint sprigs

What You Do:

• Combine chocolate wafer crumbs and 1/3 cup melted butter; firmly press on bottom and sides of a 9-inch tart pan or pie plate.


• Bake at 350F for 6 to 8 minutes.


• Cream 1/2 cup softened butter; gradually add brown sugar with the electric mixer at medium speed until blended.


• Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.


• Stir in the melted chocolate, instant coffee granules, vanilla extract, flour and chopped pecans.


• Pour into the prepared crust.


• Bake at 375F for 25 minutes.


• Remove from oven and cool completely on a rack.


• Before serving, pipe sweetened whipped cream on each piece and drizzle with chocolate syrup. Garnish with cherries and/or mint if desired.

Alabama State Information – Click this link to learn more about Alabama attractions, activities, and to request free brochures, maps, and so much more!

US Geography Journal Pages

Alabama Outline Map

• The United States Cook Book – Take a Tasty Tour of America’s 50 States, and learn a lot of United States geography along the way! (PLEASE NOTE: The recipe featured above is not included in this book.)


• US History Cook Book – Serve up a heaping lesson of history with delicious recipes from our nation’s past… from the pilgrims’ first feast to today’s high-tech, low-fat fare.


• Maps of the United States – This reproducible book contains geopolitical maps of each of the fifty states; political maps of the six regions; and political, physical, and thematic maps of the United States. You’ll also find fun facts, geography bee-type questions, and review pages.


• DK State-by-State Atlas – More than an atlas, this book shows and tells young geographers who, what, when, where, and why.


• The Geography Book – From finding directions by the stars, to mapping your neighborhood, to making an earthquake in a box, you’ll have a great time learning about the world with The Geography Book.


• Professor Noggins USA Geography Game – From rural farming communities to urban cities, from snow-capped mountains to tropical islands, this game covers both the natural and political geography of the United States. Learn about the states, cities, and natural geographical wonders that make this country such an interesting place to visit.


• State by State Card Game – Learning about United States geography is made fun and memorable with this unique deck of cards!


• GeoPuzzle USA Puzzle – GeoPuzzles provide a hands-on approach to learning geography.

Make sure to check back next week for the next state in this series!

Copyright © 2007-2009 Escapade Direct LLC. All rights reserved. All content on this site is property of Escapade Direct LLC and may not be used without our written permission.

Create a work of art that gives the illusion of stained glass!

This activity sparks imaginations, stimulates creative thinking, and enhances spatial thinking skills… and it’s just plain fun!

What You Need:

• 7-1/2″ x 10″ White Drawing Paper (cut to size)


• 8-1/2″ x 11″ Sheet of Black Construction Paper (cut to size)


• Pencil


• Markers


• Scissor


• Ruler


• Glue Stick


• Stained Glass Illusion prepared grid (optional)

What You Do:

• Use a pencil to draw a picture onto a white sheet of paper. Try to make your picture large enough to cover the entire sheet of paper. NOTE: If you prefer, see the link below to download and print our prepared grid.


• Use markers to add color to your drawing. Try to leave very little white space on the paper.


• Using a ruler and pencil, create a grid of 1″ squares on the backside of your drawing. This grid will be used as the cut-lines for your project.


• Number the squares sequentially within the grid. This will allow you to reassemble your drawing in the correct order, after it has been cut apart.


• Use a scissors to carefully cut out each square within the grid.


• Use a glue stick to glue all the cut out squares onto a sheet of black construction paper. Use the numbers on the backside of each square to help you put the drawing back into the correct order. Make sure to leave a small gap between each glued square so that the black paper shows all around each square to form a frame between the squares – this makes your artwork look like stained glass!


• TIP: After you number the squares, arrange them back into their proper order, picture side up. Then, start gluing the squares onto the black paper, working from the middle outward in all directions. This will center the picture and allow you to visually keep the black borders even.

Variations:

• If you prefer, don’t number the back of each square; instead, let your kids reassemble their drawing like a puzzle.


• To make this project easier for young children, download and print our prepared grid at Stained Glass Illusion.

You Might Also Like:

DIY Blank Puzzle – This do-it-yourself blank puzzle contains 63 precut pieces, waiting for your designs!

Scramble Squares Puzzle – Tease your brain with these challenging puzzles!

Copyright © 2007-2009 Escapade Direct LLC. All rights reserved. All content on this site is property of Escapade Direct LLC and may not be used without our written permission.

It’s Product Review Monday!
Today’s post is for the MOOV 10-in-1 Street Construction Kit.

Product reviewing can be tough. I know it sounds like a great way to try out new products, but staying focused and objective, looking at products with a critical eye, and not getting too “emotionally involved” with a product can be tough. This was definitely the case with the MOOV Building Set! Our review can be summed up in one simple word: WOW!!! We absolutely fell in love with it and had a hard time finding any faults.

Unlike other hand size building blocks or small-scale assembly kits, the MOOV building systems feature large, easy to handle pieces that kids immediately are drawn to as soon as the box is opened. They know that whatever is going to be built, is going to be impressive! The kit design features pieces that are all highly engineered, EXTREMELY well made, with precision and tight tolerances. All the parts fit together perfectly! The mix of wood, metal, plastic, foam and rubber pieces go together to make cool, colorful looking finished machines that are very sturdy. The fastener system is ingenious – no tools, screws, nails, or bolts. Simple round rubber rings and grooved rods act as “nuts and bolts”. The rods fit through the bright painted metal parts, and the CNC machined laminated plywood pieces with perfect precision. The rubber rings snug up against the wood parts to form a unitized construction frame that MOOV claims will hold over 50kg (110 lbs). This is probably very conservative for safety reasons, since we tested one vehicle with a full-grown adult that weighed about 185 lbs., and saw no damage. These things are tough!

Our youngest tester (age 7) had no problems manipulating all of the parts. The full-color, step-by-step instructions include a parts pull-list on each page. By gathering the proper parts before building, it ensures that no parts are missed during each assembly – a VERY nice touch. Text is limited to a few words, and numbers, with the majority of construction depicted by 3D CAD/CAM exploded views showing assembly of the different pieces. This assembly style promotes reading, number recognition, and counting, not to mention advanced planning skills, and increased hand/eye coordination and spatial thinking skills.

Right out of the box, our three person team of testers assembled a 3-wheeled “chopper” with no adult assistance. The three children quickly began working as a team, each working on subassemblies individually, as well as finishing major assembly steps as a team. Once they completed the chopper according to the instructions, they each took a quick test ride. Then (not surprisingly), they quickly started to disassemble, modify, and rebuild it using their own design ideas to improve and customize their creation! Very fun to watch youngsters bounce ideas off each other as they imagine what the end build needs to look like, and how parts will go together to achieve their visions.

While the price is steep, when you consider there are 10 different vehicles to build, not to mention the countless ideas kids will create on their own, the price is well worth it. Only negative was the thin foam pieces supplied for seats didn’t have enough padding for older kids – but that was easily solved with a folded towel or small pillow for extra cushioning! We highly recommend this set, and envision it will last many, many years, and provide countless hours of fun for children of all ages!!

Okay. First, let me say that I don’t think everyone is going to let their kids dig a huge hole in their backyard – I understand this. But I have to say, a huge hole in our backyard has been the source of some pretty great adventures and experiences!

I gave each of our three boys their own shovels earlier in the year, secretly hoping they would use these new shovels to help me dig holes for all the plants I wanted to get in the ground. One day, while I was digging holes in my Butterfly Garden, my kids were digging a hole in our backyard. Our backyard is a field several acres in size, so a hole in the ground didn’t seem like a big deal to me. I kept a watchful eye on my boys while they were digging in the hard clay. It was amazing that they worked tirelessly as a team on that hole in the ground, yet getting them to pick up their clothes in their rooms is like asking them to move a mountain. But that’s a different story.

At one point, I noticed that the hole was getting so deep, I was certain they would hit water! Then I heard my middle son exclaim “Mom! There’s water in the hole!” – Sure enough, I looked out and saw that my son was standing in the hole up to his chest!

This hole in our yard has remained for several months. It is a spot that my children visit on a regular basis. Sometimes, it is a hiding place, an area to crawl down into when invisible invaders are at hand. At other times, it is a perilous snake pit, crocodile lair, or boiling tar pit that must be avoided at all costs! At one point, they were sure they could use it to trap the large black bear that eats our bird seed and berries! Thank goodness they haven’t captured him yet!

My husband doesn’t like having to mow around the hole, but he never fills it in either. In fact, I’ve caught him a few times standing over it out in the yard, hands on his hips, shaking his head – but with a big grin on his face at the same time. He knows the importance of the hole too.

It’s rained a lot in our area the last several days, so of course, the hole is now full of water, and becomes a whole new adventure area (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun). The boys take turns jumping into the hole to feel their feet being sucked into the mud – this is endless fun for them. It suddenly becomes a sea of quicksand, waiting to gobble up any unsuspecting adventurer who happens to wander too close – then it’s all hands to the rescue to save their hapless team member from the quagmire. Throwing mud balls into the hole, and watching the mud splash onto their brothers always seems to signal the end of a successful rescue. What fun to watch!!

I think every child should experience the very basic, simple pleasure of digging a hole. Crawling into the hole, playing in water and mud in the hole, jumping over the hole…. childhood just doesn’t get much better than that.

So if you’ve got a safe spot to do so, go ahead – give your kids a shovel. Encourage them to dig a hole – a big hole – in your yard! You can always fill it in later, the grass will always grow back, and you’ll never know the hole was there. But the simple pleasures they will get from their own creation will be memories they will have forever.

The BERG MOOV Street Kit (10 in 1 Wooden Ride-on Construction Set) from the Netherlands is here!

Make it! Moov it!
A wooden toy for self-construction!
Make your own vehicle in no time at all!

MOOV is a FULL-SIZE quality wooden building toy that allows children (ages 5 to 15) to build and rebuild quality ride-on toys! Using the rings, wheels, axles and other parts in the construction kit, kids can build bikes, scooters, racers, and more. All without the need for tools! Feel like remodelling a model? Take it apart and easily build something new. The wooden parts, rings, shafts and frames are multi functional.

Visit us at MOOV Street Kit for more information and to see the video!

MOOV is available in three kits: Starter, Advanced, and Street (shown here).