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Authentic Guatemalan Dresses for Girls - Trajes de Chichi

Thrilled with the excitement of my son participating in the children's international costume party, I extended an invitation to his friends from his Spanish playgroup.  I shared with the girls' father a flyer of the costume party, and asked if the girls would represent Guatemala.

I'm pretty sure my excitement was apparent because he was quick to say yes, and he too was excited to have his daughters dress in trajes de Chichi. Guatemalan dresses from Chichicastenango de Santo Tomás in Guatemala.
He expressed that he would call his mom, and ask her to send the dresses.  The girls' Abuela actually makes, and sells these dresses en el mercado (market).   I was able to get a glimpse of  the dresses before the costume party, and I have to admit that I became fascinated with the beautiful colors, and fabric. I started researching on-line on trajes from Guatemala. Apparently, the styles differ from region; and the ones that the girls are actually sold in Chichicastenango, Guatemala.

The girls proudly carried their Guatemalan flag, and paraded in their beautiful trajes de Chichi.  What better way to represent your culture!

Road Trippin' with Kids [Tips from Experienced Mamas]


Long car rides do not make for happy kids! Trust me, I know because I have a 6 yr. old who does not enjoy road trippin'!  With a few road trips planned through out this summer all the way to the end of the year I set out to ask all my mommy friends, and family for their best tip or advice for road tripping with kids! 

Of all of the tips, advice, and words of wisdom these amazing moms shared with me one really struck a chord, and holds much truth to it. Not to say that all of the tips were amazing but her words helps me better understand my child. 

Kid Made Guatemalan Worry Dolls: Muñeca Quitapenas

As part of our Discovering Guatemala with Kids Series we made the Guatemalan worry dolls also known as muñecas quitapenas in Spanish.  They are traditional Guatemalan toys, and according to legend children tell one worry to each doll when they go to bed at night and place the dolls under their pillow. In the morning the dolls have taken their worries away. 

I followed the instructions on how to make the worry dolls from Creativity in Motion.  She has a step-by-step picture instructions that was very helpful. 

I bought wooden clothespin, colorful yarn, and I already had the pipe cleaners.  The kids were indeed excited to make them, but after wrapping the yarn halfway they got tired. (So I suggest this activity for older kids) They each picked a color and made their worry dolls.  My son made one with pants because it was a boy, and the girls made theirs with skirts. Cute!

You can also try making the worry dolls entirely of pipe cleaners (chenille stems) click here for the instructions. 


We've been having so much fun learning about Guatemala! Our next post in the series is about the authentic Guatemalan dresses! 

Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop #27



The Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop is a place where bloggers can share multicultural activities, crafts, recipes, and musings for our creative kids. 




Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop is a place for you to share your creative kids culture posts. It's very easy, and simple to participate! Just follow these simple guidelines:
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  • Link up any creative kids culture posts, such as language, culture, books, travel, food, crafts, playdates, activities, heritage, and holidays, etc. Please, link directly to your specific post, and no giveaways, shops, stores, etc.
Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop
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Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop
Here's my favorite from this past month's Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop! Colorful Buildings Paper Collages: Exploring Argentina through Art from Creative Family Fun I absolutely love this post! Thank you for linking-up, and we can't wait to see what you've been up to!

Guatemala ABC's and Mayan Tales Children's Book

With our series Discovering Guatemala with Kids in full gear we visited the library to check some books out.
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My Little Puerto Rican "Jibaro" and the Children's International Costume Party

This year my sweet little boy was representing the other half of his cultural identity: a Puerto Rican Jíbaro. My heart swelled up with pride as I saw him march in the parade held at the children's international costume party waving his Puerto Rican flag. 

Discovering Guatemala with Kids Series: Chichcastenango de Santo Tomás

During my time babysitting two sweet little girls who are half Guatemalan, and half Mexican I was inspired to learn more about their culture. So much that I even turned all of our lessons, and activities into a series Discovering Guatemala with Kids! During this month I'll be sharing various posts on children's books, crafts, hands-on activities, and lots of other resources.

Little one and I truly had loads of  fun learning about the girl's Guatemalan culture, especially the girls who were always more than happy to share all the fun stuff we've done with their parents. 

Chichicastenango, Guatemala 

What better way to learn about Guatemala, then to learn about the town where the girl's daddy comes from.   Today's post is on Chichicastenango, Guatemala and the famous Iglesia de Santo Tomás (Church of Saint Thomas).   This town located in the El Quiché department of Guatemala, known for its traditional K'iche' Maya culture.  

We started our lesson looking for Guatemala on the map, and learning about it's flag.  I made a screenshot of Guatemala map from Google.  I printed in color, and had the kids trace, and cut out the map.    We talked about where Guatemala was located on the globe, and named the bordering countries. Guatemala is a country located in Central America. The capital of Guatemala is Guatemala City. Guatemala means "land of many trees" in Spanish.  Once the map was cut-out they glued it on to a folder.



International Festival - A Cultural Learning Experience Featuring The Philippines

It's that time of the year again, where we have the wonderful opportunity to explore the world under one roof at Columbia's International Festival.  This year's theme country was The Philippines    The festival is a celebration of music, culture, and food from around the world; bringing different countries, and people together in one place. 

We were welcomed with a huge sign that has the word Mabuhay! This is used to welcome visitors arriving in the Philippines, and this was welcoming us to the international festival.

Flag picture via Commons Wikimedia