Mondorfment Continent Swap Hop and Giveaway

Well mamma's...it's FINALLY done!!  All the swaps have arrived and nearly all have been mailed out.  This swap was my first Montessori swap and let me say that craft swaps where it's just an items for each person is SO different than a bag and box of bunches of stuffs! :)

There were two groups.  Two because well...I HATE coming in on a blog and it's full and no one makes room....no room for Rory!  So, when there was more...I had to open a second.  I took the Arctic and Antarctic with both groups as I'm lazy and it's easier to make the same thing over again! ;)  It was actually the last picked from group 1 as I had a first come first pick yo' own continent...or area.  I divided Central America and Canada and even divided Eastern and Western Europe up into their own areas as there's such a big difference in my opinion concerning the culture, animals, people, and language.  So...they were all divided up even more.

So, group 1 consisted of....

1. me with the Arctic/Antarctica
2. Sara H. had Canada
3. Leann at Montessori Tidbits had USA
4. Annie H. had Central America
5. Melanie has South America
6. Aly at Power of Two had Africa 
7. Colleen at Sunrise Learning Lab had Asia
8. Sandra M. had Eastern Europe
9. Karen of Little Acrons had Western Europe
10. Tommie K. had Australia

Group 2 had...

1. me again with the Arctic/Antarctica goodies
2. Leann at Montessori Tidbits covered all of North America (itdn't she sweet?)
3. Marina covered South America
4. Elly at Child and Me
5. Amanda H took care of Africa
6. Kerryanne of Earth Friendly Mama handled Asia
7. Jendra C was down under with Australia and Oceania

Now for this blog hop everyone that participated (dude...ya'll need to start bloggin!  The blogs are a bit thin up there!!!!) would post about THEIR contribution.  So...I'm going to share what I did. :)

Basically, we all sent a bunch of electronic materials.  Before an almond butter cracker or sandwich or some such met with my burner I would have burnt a cd of the materials I created and included that with the swap.  But, welllllll...the cd is on hold while we look into buying a new home computer.  I made TONS of 3 part cards of the arctic and antarctic, the flora and fauna, trivia, explorers, clothing, calls and sounds, maps, games, etc.  There are also some REALLY cool links and paper piecing projects too.

Now to the fun picture stuff! :)  By the way...these are my pics and works.  Unless you have gained permission from me you may not use them.  Link backs are super cool otherwise and I won't hunt you down.  Remember...Say No To Blogerism! 

 

Here on the left is the Gentoo penguin egg, along with the felted polar bear and the ice that is used for sorting, pouring or decorations for your nature table.  The pic on the right is of a wooden penguin for your initial sounds and such.  I also use the little wooden pieces in my felt board since they'll stick.  I create stories based on what the kids pick out.  We also now have them create stories based on what we each pull out.

 On the left is a work I made courtesy of lovely wiki. Basically, it's the life cycle of the Emperor Penguin.  You can download it here.  It's pretty straight forward in matching up the month with the 'activity/topic'.  There is also a control card for the kids to check their works.  On the right is a puzzle of either a penguin or a polar bear.  Some of those who sent extra materials received both.  Behind the puzzles you see a brown round thingy...it's a cork board for punching activities.  Granted it's not an arctic thing but just something extra.

 

 This is the magical stone  that holds the aurora borealis.  Legend has it that a warrior came upon it one day and broke some of the rock releasing it to the heavens.  Unfortunately he was not able to release it all and it waits, trapped, wishing to be free.  When you look at it you can see the colors shimmering and moving.

 The left shows a small picture frame with card to display along with the current continent.  I use mine as a label like thing.  In the center you see a white bag and what looks to be a piece of paper with penguins on it.  The bag is instant snow.  That bag makes a nice big amount and is simply a blast.  You keep it misted and you always have snow.  Done with it?  Well, you simply let it sit and evaporate leaving behind your crystals to reuse again!  And, the penguin paper is Antarctica money!  It's SOOOO cool!  And, on the right is the really cool Antarctica bags from Subway.  We are using ours to hold the animals as they like to spill about the bin.  It lets me just grab them out for when they want to use them on the large map or when Sunshine wants to play with them on her playmat.

I hope you enjoyed being in the swap if you were and I hope you'll join us next time.  I have to say I have the WORLD'S BEST SWAPPERS so...nener nener neeee ner!  (Yep!  I put on my big girl pants this morning! ;) )

I did 2 contests within the swaps also.  The first one was being the first swap in got you a gift.  I played fair by checking the mailed by date.  Also, at the end of the swap everyone but me voted on the best/most enjoyable swap.  I'll let you know who won the gift certificates to Amazon after all the votes come in. 

There were a few private swaps going on amongst the group swaps and so far...everyone has gotten their things.  Except for Sandra...I owe her a ram, sheep and a bull as well as some coins since I gave them to someone else on accident.  AND!  I divided up the erasers amongst everyone when they were actually only for Colleen.  I just found that I messed the erasers up this weekend when I was away with Leann and Karen for the weekend.  I'm still hunting for exact replacements but I have found some larger sized ones...

All in all it was a great swap...boxes were hard to come buy when you have enthusiastic swappers who go above and beyond, but, luckily Ben works at a factory and he stole all their glue boxes.  I've had him stockpile a bunch for me for future swaps. 

Be sure to grab the code to join in the Mondorfment Continent Swap Blog hop.  Also, Leann's hosting a blog hop about what's in your continent bin so don't forget to check that out.  If you'd like to receive what my fellow swapmates received from me (minus the cork board and the penguins might be different but with all the extra files) please grab Mondorfment's button over there on the right for your blog, subscribe to the blog or blog about the giveaway.  Leave a comment for each thingy you do to be entered and kindly leave your addy or link.  Good luck!



Honey