Julia Inserro's Blog, page 2

Bahrain's Dino Park - 2019

Bahrain is full of fun things for kids to do. The difficult part can be finding out information about them. If it’s not through word-of-mouth from another mom, then I tend to find out about most events because I pass a billboard on the highway.

The latest adventure was spotting the large billboards with a T.rex advertising Bahrain’s Dino Park. The billboard gave very little information other than its location, at Prince Khalifa bin Salman Park, and dates of December 2019 through March 2020.

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DIY Christmas Ornaments for Kids

I love maps. And I love Christmas. So, when I was thinking up a craft that could go specifically with my new book - Where Would Santa Go? - I thought it would be fun to combine the two.

Like my other DIY crafts, this is all about using what you have at home. The only added item you’ll need is a map. Whether you print it out from the Internet, or actually use up old paper maps, is up to you.

Then, using plastic lids from any source, trace a circle using the chosen lid around the part of the...

Mall-time with kids in Bahrain

When we arrived in Bahrain three years ago, I diligently set about checking out all the local malls with play areas and discovering everything you could do with toddlers. It was not an altruistic activity. I had a four-year-old and two two-year-olds and it was July in Bahrain. It was highly motivated by sanity-seeking desperation.

And I quickly learned that there was always a new mall or play area or trampoline park to explore. I also learned that they come and go.

Here are two key things I...

Christmas Crafts for Kids

As you saw from my DIY Dinosaur Costume post, I love making crafts at home out of recycled materials (toilet paper tubes, tissue boxes, whatever!). I often find myself hesitating over the recycle bin with an item in my hand wondering what I can do with it.

Today’s craft involves some recycled materials, too.

I have a whole stack of felt, but you could also use paint or craft paper or even bits of fabric. This is very much a “use what you have” craft - as all of mine are. (It’s how I cook,...

FREE Countdown 'til Santa Calendar

It’s that time of year again!

“When’s Santa coming?”

“How many days until Santa gets here?”

“When is Christmas?”

“How long do I still have to be good?”

Although, if I’m honest, these questions are year ‘round for my kiddos.

And THAT’S the reason I created this Countdown ‘til Santa calendar.

Now I can just direct my kids to the calendar and they know exactly how many sleeps there are until Santa comes!

As soon as I saw the amazing illustrations by Natalie Merheb for Where Would San...

DIY Dinosaur Costume

Okay… it’s one week until Halloween and your kid asks you for a dinosaur costume. No time to shop, no money to shop, but you do have miscellaneous craft bits hanging around. We can do this!!

This is super easy and very forgiving and requires NO SEWING (three of my favorite things).

You can actually use things around the house:

Felt bits or construction paper

Glue gun, glue, or tape (even a stapler could help)

Make it as decorated as you want (or don’t)

TAIL

Cut a strip of fel...

help)

Camel Craft for Kids

These were inspired by the children’s book, My Camel Wants To Be a Unicorn.

My kids and I had such fun creating these clothespin camels. (And it was a great craft for using up all those little bits of ribbon, pompoms, glitter, beads and sequins that are inevitably hanging around.)

You just need:

paper

crayons, markers, paint, whatever you want

embellishments - glitter, sequins, pompoms, ribbon, etc.

clothespins (2 per camel)

scissors

glue

Start with the camel cut-out/stencil. You can draw one yours...

DIY Dinosaur Shadow Puppets

This craft was inspired by Pterosaur in the Hardware Store.

My kids love three things (well, more than three, but for this purpose, it’s three):

Dinosaurs

Cutting, gluing and taping things

Shadow puppets

So, why not combine them to make these awesome dinosaur shadow puppets?

They’re super easy and great fun. And I’ve made them even easier by providing you with FOUR dinosaur templates. Just subscribe HERE and download the Activity Book for Pterosaur in the Hardware Store. In addition to the four...

My First Mom Trip - An Emotional Journey

Most moms go to a spa or the beach for their kid-free mom trips. Maybe some go to an exotic location with a rich history or a city with lots of museums or tourist sites. But I think most just go to relax and laugh and have little umbrellas in their drinks. 

For years I had been talking about doing this with my friends. But we’d always had excuses why it wouldn’t work this time or that. Three years ago, when my friend Sarah announced that they were moving to Rwanda I was beyond excited. “I’m c...

Gorilla Trekking in Mom Jeans

There are two sides to my recent gorilla trekking mom-trip adventure. Both are mine. The first reveals the emotional side of my journey, which you can read about HERE. But this is the tale of the physical journey. The arduous physical journey that left me gasping for air, dripping in mud, with bruised toes, and ever so grateful for a strange man’s hands on my ass. 

Once I finally committed to going to Rwanda to go gorilla trekking with my friend, Sarah, I bought tickets from Bahrain to Rwanda...