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May 14, 2014
Beach Theme Activities· Literacy· PreK· Reviews and Giveaways

Travels with Charlie: LOUISIANA Crawdad Cookie Craft #BookingUSA

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Booking USA
Full Disclosure: Blue Apple Books provided a copy of the book (Down South) to us for participating in the #BookingUSA event. All opinions expressed are our own! This post also contains affiliate links.

Booking Across the USA is here!ย  Today, 14 May 2014, over 50 participating bloggers areย  sharing activities and crafts related to each of the 50 states (we have the pleasure of posting about the great State of Louisiana)!

Booking Across the USA is inspired by theย Travels with Charlie series by Miles Backer and illustrated by Chuck Nitzberg.ย  Blue Apple Books published the four book series which includes: ย Across Midwest, Down South, Way Out West, and Travelin’ the Northeast. ย The books are filled with history, trivia facts, bright landmark illustrations and a little picture of Charlie the dog somewhere on each state page (think: finding WALDO) to engage children of all ages. ย The books are a fun way to explore and learn about each of our 50 states.

Travels with Charlie 4 Book Series
Travels with Charlie 4 Book Series

LOUISIANA – Down South

Since 2005, Louisiana is a state widely known due to Hurricane Katrina (the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history). ย Katrina destroyed large sections of the Gulf Coast, including New Orleans and surrounding areas. ย Today, nine years later, New Orleans is a city where the sounds of great jazz and large equipment co-exist: ย rebuilding, resonating,ย  and surviving when few thought it possible.

A few interesting facts about Louisiana:

  • The state bird of Louisiana is the pelican.
  • Louisiana was named in honor of King Louis XIV
  • Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. that does not have counties – instead they have parishes.
  • Louisiana has the tallest capitol building in the United States.

FUN things to do with kids in Louisiana:

  • Louisiana Purchase Gardens and Zoo
  • Audubon Memorial State Park
  • Frog Capital of the World
Mudbug Madness CRAWFISH BOIL
Mudbug Madness CRAWFISH BOIL
  • The Mudbug Madness Crawfish Boilย  – “began in 1984 as a two-day street festival in downtown Shreveport is now one of Louisianaโ€™s largest and most popular Cajun festivals, featuring renown Cajun, Zydeco, Blues and Jazz artists, mouth-watering Cajun cuisine, raucous contests, and fun for all ages. Now a four-day festival held each Memorial Day weekend, Mudbug Madness is nationally recognized as one of the Southeast Tourism Societyโ€™s Top 20 Events, drawing as many as 56,000 people in one day.”

Crawdad Cookies

LOUISIANA CRAWDAD COOKIES

Louisiana leads the nation in producing more than 90% of the domestic crawfish crop (yes, a crawdad is the same as a crawfish). ย Even if you can’t attend an authentic crawfish boil, your kids can celebrate Louisiana at home with a crawdad cookie food craft.

Materials needed: ย Vienna finger cookies (one per crawdad), 1 strawberry (per child/craft), knife (adult only), paper plates (1 per child), craft sticks (one per child to spread frosting), toothpicks (2 per child – holds the strawberries in place), prepared commercial red frosting, and candy eyes.

Invite the kids to create by placing all supplies out on a table or a tray. ย An adult should hull the strawberries and cut two pieces to resemble the claws of the crawdad for each child (see photo above). ย The children can attach the strawberries by placing two toothpicks between the sandwich cookie layers and inserting the strawberry claws. ย Have the children spread red frosting over the top of the cookie and add two candy eyes.

The crawdad cookies are a fun food craft to make & EAT when learning about the state of Louisiana!

Crawdad Song – a classic favorite as sung by the great Andy Griffith:

Other books about Louisiana for kids to enjoy!

Today is Monday in Louisiana by Johnette Downing
Today is Monday in Louisiana by Johnette Downing
101 One Things for Kids in New Orleans by Carol Anne Stout
101 One Things for Kids in New Orleans by Carol Anne Stout

GIVEAWAY From Blue Apple Books

Beginning today, 14 May 2014, you can enter to win a set of all four TRAVELS WITH CHARLIE books thanks to Blue Apple Books.

GIVEAWAY GUIDELINES:

To enter the giveaway you will need to complete the Rafflecopter section below.ย  Thatโ€™s it!ย  You have from 5/14/14 at 12:00a.m. (EST)ย until 5/20/14 at 11:59p.m. (EST) to enter.ย ย One entrant (must be 18 years or older) will be randomly drawn and sent an email (make sure to check your junk folder)ย on or aboutย 5/21/14.ย  The winner has 48 hours to respond with a mailing address (US only).ย  If the information is not sent by the deadline, another entrant will be selected.ย  Good luck! ย NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. ย VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Our many thanks to Growing Book by Book for coordinating this special event. ย To check out other activities for different states please visit the website!

We’d also like to thank the other participating bloggers in #BookingUSA –

Growing Book by Book, Everyday Snapshots, Teaching in the Fast Lane, The Educators’ Spin On It, Crayonbox Learning, Enchanted Homeschooling Mom, 3rd Grade Thoughts, Mama Miss, Teaching Stars, Fabulously First, Lemon Lime Adventures, True Aim Education, Guided Math, Primary Inspired, Surviving a Teacher’s Salary, Second Grade Smartypants, The Brown Bag Teacher, The Preschool Toolbox, Country Fun, Picture Books & Pirouettes, One Lesson at a Time, The Resource(ful) Room, Creative Family Fun, Peace, Love, and First Grade, Edventures with Kids, Africa to America, Teach Beside Me, Elementary Matters, Inspiring 2 NH Kids, Pink Stripey Socks, Kid World Citizen, iGameMom, Second Grade Math Maniac, Rockin’ Teacher Materials, Great Peace Academy, Kathy Griffin’s Teaching Strategies, Journey of a Substitute Teacher, My (Not So) Elementary Life, Stir the Wonder, Kidding Around Greenville, The Good Long Road, Kathy’s Cluttered Mind, Curls and a Smile, Dilly Dabbles, Mama Smiles, Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy Crafts, Sprout’s Bookshelf, All Done Monkey, Growing Firsties, ALLternative Learning, Delightful Learning, Kids Yoga Stories, and Where Imagination Grows.

20 Comments

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Melissa says

    May 14, 2014 at 6:10 am

    OMG!! These are the cutest things EVER – LOVE IT!!! Off to pin ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
    • pschooltoolbox says

      May 14, 2014 at 12:18 pm

      Melissa – thanks so much for stopping by AND your comment!

      Reply
  2. Country Fun says

    May 14, 2014 at 7:07 am

    Too cute! It will be fun explaining the difference between your crawdads and our lobsters.

    Reply
    • pschooltoolbox says

      May 14, 2014 at 12:18 pm

      Deb – yes, that will be fun! I thought the same when I saw your lobster craft this morning! Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  3. Michelle @ Delightful Learning says

    May 14, 2014 at 10:00 am

    Oooo, fun! Wish I’d made an edible snack now! Very creative!

    Reply
    • pschooltoolbox says

      May 14, 2014 at 12:17 pm

      Michelle – thanks so much for visiting and your comment!

      Reply
  4. Alyssa says

    May 14, 2014 at 1:58 pm

    Oh my goodness, these are precious!

    Reply
    • pschooltoolbox says

      May 14, 2014 at 2:29 pm

      Alyssa – thanks so much for stopping by!

      Reply
  5. Lisette says

    May 14, 2014 at 3:00 pm

    Those are SOOO cute! Love them!

    Reply
    • pschooltoolbox says

      May 18, 2014 at 7:55 pm

      Lisette – they are fun to make and eat (I had a FEW):) Thanks for your comment!

      Reply
  6. Carly @ Africa to America says

    May 14, 2014 at 3:30 pm

    Oh my goodness, how adorable are those cookies?! What a fabulous idea!

    Reply
    • pschooltoolbox says

      May 18, 2014 at 7:54 pm

      Carly – thanks so much for your comment and for stopping by!

      Reply
  7. Jodie @ Growing Book by Book says

    May 14, 2014 at 8:59 pm

    Oh my goodness, those cookies are too cute! Thanks so much for participating in the Booking Across the USA project!

    Reply
    • pschooltoolbox says

      May 18, 2014 at 7:54 pm

      Jodie – thank YOU for all of your hard work! Awesome group…great giveaway. It has been an honor to work with you!

      Reply
  8. Stephanie says

    May 15, 2014 at 3:50 pm

    I learned that Nebraska is the home of the Kool Aid museum. Also, I had no idea that Louisiana was the only state with no counties!

    Reply
    • pschooltoolbox says

      May 18, 2014 at 7:53 pm

      Stephanie – awesome! Thanks so much for your comment!

      Reply
  9. Jill says

    May 16, 2014 at 11:43 am

    How sweet and adorable those cookies turned out! Looks like a fun edible activity ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
    • pschooltoolbox says

      May 18, 2014 at 7:53 pm

      Jill – thanks so much for your comment and stopping by!

      Reply
  10. Suzanne G says

    May 17, 2014 at 9:21 pm

    I learned that Louisana’s bird is the pelican. Very cool!

    Reply
    • pschooltoolbox says

      May 18, 2014 at 7:52 pm

      Suzanne – yes, it is! We will be traveling to Louisiana next fall…can’t wait! TY for your comment!

      Reply

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