As I was researching Iceland I learned a few things, primarily they eat a lot of fish, and there is not much info out there on Iceland for kids. Practically none.
I did eventually find an Iceland fish craft, that I incorporated with a go fish game that I’ve had pinned forever and voila our Iceland craft was born.
Iceland for kids: Go fish craft
Supplies (affiliate links): Foam-Sheets, sequins, Match Sticks, Yarn, Magnets, empty altoid tin, Glue, Paper Clips
Directions for Iceland craft
1. Cut out something vaguely resembling a fish from the fun foam. Bemoan the fact in your head they do not look anywhere near as cute as the ones from the post you saw. Laugh as your kids happily create 200 fish blobs.
2. Glue on sequins for some bling. In the inspiration post they were supposed to represent ice. I don’t think bright pink is very ice like. When the glue is dry flip over the fish and glue on paper clips. It may take several hours for the glue to dry, there were a lot of sequins.
3. Tie about 9 inches or so of yarn onto the end of the matchsticks. Then stick the magnet to the other end of yarn.
4. Stuff about 200 fish into your empty altoid tin. It’d be cuter if you decorated it, but that would slow down the kids ability to play with the game. Laugh as they disappear with said game, and entertain themselves for minutes on end.
Attempt to get as many fish onto your “hook” as you can at one time while your sister screams you’re cheating, and that’s not fair.
Oh wait that last part may be optional.
Iceland for kids: Icelandic Pepper Cookies
Recipe vaguely inspired by Icelandic Pepper Cookies, vaguely because I was out of supplies.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup softened butter (or microwave it just before mixing, same thing right?)
1 1/4 cup of white sugar honey
3/4 cup light corn syrup maple syrup
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt used salted butter which we accidentally bought
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons cloves
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
So let’s pretend I did anything remotely right with this recipe and they turned out wonderful.
Instead it went like this:
Uh oh, no sugar, desperate call to baking friend, no answer, google sugar substitutes, use honey
Where’s my brand new jar of corn syrup? NOWHERE, that’s where. Maple syrup can work, it’s probably just corn syrup made to look like maple syrup anyways.
No don’t shatter the egg all over!
Why won’t these cookies cook? It’s been almost 20 minutes and they’re still not cooked all the way through
And in the end we had a cookie that tasted rather like a spice cookie, and still somewhat doughy and did not come off the cookie sheet looking like a cookie, but like a giant blob. It’s like my ability to make cookies has disappeared.
Poor me. So, no there are no pictures of the finished result.
Iceland for kids: Country Report
Invent your own funny story for the excuses my kids gave why they hadn’t originally finished the report I gave them. The list was long and varied.
They did eventually complete their page with much silliness abounding. Much silliness. So much silliness.
Get your own version of the Iceland country report. Meanwhile I’ll consider hitting my head against the wall with my computer problems, so many things not working right. Get the country report lapbook pages.
Head off and see other people’s take on a study of Iceland for kids.
Adventures In Mommydom, Afterschool for Smarty Pants, All Done Monkey, Crafty Moms Share, Maroc Mama, Glittering Muffins, Kid World Citizen, Mermaids’ Makings,The Mommy Talks and The Usual Mayhem.
Are you looking for more geography resources, then try The Ultimate Homeschool Geography Guide.
And….. this post right here is why I love reading your blog. It’s so good to know that other people have days like this!
Think of the great lesson in perseverance despite adversity that you taught the kids with this one 🙂
Days, weeks…… Sometimes it feels like months.
It really was, and now I need to get my husband to help me figure out what’s going on with my computer because this is going to drive me nuts.
Yes, I have had trouble finding stuff for Iceland, too. Looks like you guys had a lot of fun, despite the cookie mishaps.
We did, now that I’ve FINALLY figured out how I want our country studies to look it’s going so much smoother.
What a frustrating project! Looks like your kids had a blast, though!
They certainly did. It’s been amazing to me what troopers they are with my cooking forays.
I know it probably wasn’t funny as it was happening…but it made me smile 🙂
It wasn’t as it happened, but afterwards…..
Drives me nuts too when a project/craft looks nothing like its inspiration 🙂 But the fun that is had makes it worthwhile – most of the time! Seems like the kids enjoyed playing with their new toy 🙂
Oh they sure did, and it gets carried around to be played with now a fair amount.
Okay, after I read this earlier, I (joined quickly by the children) started Googling “Iceland for kids” which led us to Gimli (sort of like wrestling only crazier)…elves…trolls…vikings…the arctic fox…Vigdis Finnbogadottir (first female president in the world)…geothermal power…the forbidden dogs of Reykjavik…and so much more. Iceland is really cool! Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
YEAH! Glad to provide some inspiration, it really is pretty cool. I was trying to think how best to explain it to my kids.
LOL! Oh, Ticia, you are so funny. I just love your antics in the kitchen. You try so hard!! In my head it all went perfectly and the recipe tasted divine!
That’s how I’ll pretend to remember it as well.
I really wanted to do Iceland, but it simply didn’t work out with our schedule, plus Smarty wasn’t interested. Those cookies look great!
So sorry it didn’t go well again but I’m so very glad you are still with us and the kids had fun 🙂 Thanks for participating!
I love the way you describe making the cookies; we’ve tried recipes like that. The cookies usually taste good though! 🙂
You are absolutely hysterical! I loved reading this post. I can’t wait to try some of this with my daughter. We are heading to Iceland in a few weeks and I’d love to have some pre-vacation taste for the food and culture. Thanks again!
Have fun! I’ve seen some really cool videos of Iceland, it looks like an amazing place to visit.
I was researching for my class. Thank you for the recipe and the ideas.
Glad to help!