Pink Flamingo Day Crafts and Books for Kids

Author Debbi Michiko Florence and I will be celebrating Pink Flamingo Day in our Asian Culture series this month. We will be learning about the Japanese wishing doll, the daruma doll, in hopes of a pink flamingo sighting.

This is part three of our 6 Part Asian Craft and Culture Series:

• November 2017: Asian New Year
• February 2018: Asian Drumming
• May 2018: Pink Flamingo Day & Daruma Dolls
• August 2018: Picnic and Scavenger Hunt
• November 2018: Snow Statues
• February 2019: Sumo

May 2018: Pink Flamingo Day

Pink Flamingo Day is coming up on June 23rd which celebrates the work of Don Featherstone, the creator of the plastic lawn flamingo! Pink flamingos are popping up where I live in Newton, MA.

According to the Newton Conservators: “It has recently come to our attention that there have been a highly unusual number of Phoenicopteris ruber (Greater Flamingo) sighted within the confines of Newton, particularly in the vicinity of Prince Road on West Newton Hill (off Chestnut Street near the All Newton Music School). We have heard reports of whole flocks in some cases (e.g., near the home of artist Jill Hunter) and one or two individual birds in others.”

How is Pink Flamingo Day related to daruma wishing dolls? Jasmine Toguchi’s favorite animal is the pink flamingo and she uses a Japanese daruma wishing doll for a special request.

To celebrate the release of Jasmine Toguchi, Flamingo Keeper, our lineup today is:

• Pink flamingo cupcake recipe
• Pink flamingo handprint greeting cards
• Paper plate Daruma wishing doll
• Pink Flamingo Book list
• 2 Book Giveaway of Jasmine Toguchi, Flamingo Keeper and Pink Flamingo Paper Clip Bookmarks!

Pink Flamingo Cupcake Recipe

Ingredients:

• Cake mix to make cupcakes (any flavor will do)
• white frosting in a can
• red food coloring
• Vanilla wafer/cookies
• Strawberry Pocky sticks
• Chocolate Pocky sticks
• large marshmallows
• black gel icing

Directions:
1. Bake cupcakes according to directions on cake mix package.
2. After baking cupcakes and while they cool, scoop most of the white frosting from the can into a bowl. Leave a little behind in case you need to lighten up the color.

3. Squeeze about 7 drops of red food coloring into the bowl with the white frosting and mix until pink. If you’d like a darker pink, add 1 – 2 more drops of red food coloring. If you accidentally make the frosting too dark or red, add more white frosting to lighten up the color.

4. For flamingo wings: using pink frosting, frost half of vanilla wafer – 2 for each cupcake.

5. For flamingo body: Frost cupcakes with pink frosting.
6. Using a knife (get help from a parent), slit two lines into the top of the cupcake where the wings will go.

7. Slide a vanilla wafer into each slit. Frost inside of wing with pink frosting.

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8. Cut a marshmallow in half to make the flamingo head.
9. Use a strawberry Pocky stick for the neck. Slide the marshmallow onto the unfrosted pretzel end of the Pocky stick to make the flamingo head.

10. Break off the frosted end of the chocolate Pocky stick for the beak. Insert into the marshmallow face.

11. Using the black gel icing, one dot for each eye onto the marshmallow on either side of the head.

12. Put the strawberry Pocky stick into the cupcake body, to make the neck/head of the flamingo.

Enjoy!

If you’re unable to find Pocky sticks (available at some grocery stores in the Asian food aisle or at Asian markets or online), you can use regular thin pretzels.

Pink Flamingo Handprint Greeting Card Craft

I tackled the flamingo handprint card craft even though I am not that crafty. I used watercolor paint but poster paint would be great too. The supply list is simple and I encourage you to use what you have on hand. I didn’t have poster paint so I substituted watercolor because I already have that. I used card stock but any kind of heavy paper will work.

Supply List:

• Washable pink paint (or red and white paint if mixing). Watercolor or poster paint recommended
• Cardstock, watercolor paper, construction paper or any kind of heavy paper
• paint brush
• water

Step 1: Fold paper in half

Step 2: Mix pink paint. Make enough to cover your hand

Step 3: Make a handprint

Step 4: Add in the beak, eye, and legs

Paper Plate Daruma Wishing Doll Craft

Download the daruma wishing doll craft here: Paper Plate Daruma Wishing Doll Craft

Pink Flamingo Book List for Kids

Pink Flamingo Book: Jasmine Toguchi, Flamingo Keeper by Debbi Michiko Florence, illustrated by Elizabet Vukovic

Jasmine’s best friend, Linnie, has just gotten a puppy. And now Jasmine wants a pet of her own—a flamingo! So when her grandmother sends Jasmine a daruma doll as a surprise gift, Jasmine colors in one doll eye and wishes for a flamingo to keep.

Next, Jasmine tries to convince her parents that she’s responsible enough for a pet. She cleans her room, brushes her teeth, takes out the trash, and, most importantly, researches everything she can about flamingos. But soon it becomes clear that her wish may never come true! Will Jasmine’s daruma doll ever get its second eye? Luckily her big sister, Sophie, has a surprise planned that fulfills Jasmine’s wish beyond her wildest dreams. [early chapter book, ages 6 and up]

Daruma Doll Book: Yoko-Chan and the Daruma Doll: The Adventures of a Blind Japanese Girl Who Saves Her Village by Sunny Seki

An orphaned blind girl lives at the Daruma Temple near an active volcano that erupted and damaged the surrounding villages and destroyed all the crops. She got an idea to create Daruma dolls based on frozen water in a gourd that kept it upright. She turned these into a doll with an inscription, “If you fall down seven times, you should get up eight times!” Today the Daruma dolls of Takasaki are the most famous in all of Japan. [bilingual Japanese/English picture book, ages 4 and up]

Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle

This Caldecott honor wordless picture book also have flaps to lift allowing the reader to participate with Flora as she performs a dance with a graceful flamingo. It takes Flora a bit of time to get used to her swim fins but soon she is in graceful harmony with her new dance partner. [wordless interactive picture book, ages 3 and up]

Pink Flamingo 2 Book & Paper Clip/Book Mark Giveaway!

We are giving away 2 copies of Jasmine Toguchi, Flamingo Keeper and these Flamingo Paper Clips that can be used as bookmarks to 3 winners. Please note that Jasmine Toguchi, Flamingo Keeper doesn’t come out until July 2018 so we will ship the winners their books then.

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Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World

• • • Junior Library Guild Gold selection
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