Korean Vowel Song

I came across this on youtube and thought it was a great song and dance to teach the Korean Vowels. Try it with your kids!

Custom Little Seouls Boy Dol Cake Topper

Pink Cake Box has again created another adorable cake using our Little Seouls boy character! Check out the girl version here.

Dol "Tol" First Birthday Banners

We now rent Dol "Tol" First Birthday Banners! If you would like to reserve one, please email us at info@littleseouls.com. Size is 3' x 6'.

Made of vinyl. Refundable deposit of $100 is required.

Please help save Connor!

Connor is a 5 year old Korean American boy who desperately needs a bone marrow match. Read his aunt Michelle's plea for help:


"Connor is my brother's and sister in law's only child. He’s a beautiful 5-year old who is an avid swimmer, loves all things Ben10, and considers the little mermaid Ariel his girlfriend.

We just learned that he has X-linked hyper IGM. This clinical sounding disease is a devastating immuno-deficiency. The 1 in a million diagnosed usually succumb to liver cirrhosis or lung infection at an early age, the lucky few may survive into their mid-20’s.

Connor’s dad, my brother, says Connor never complains about the many needles that the nurses poke him with during his monthly blood transfusions or about the innumerable flus, stomach aches and other infections he’s had since he was born.

Before I learned about Connor’s disease, I never knew how difficult it is for minority patients to find bone marrow matches. Because matching is dependent on genetics, Connor’s donor will most likely be of the same ethnicity.

A bone marrow transplant is the only hope he has. It’s the only known cure.

Please join the bone marrow registry. You can register online at www.aadp.org or www.bethematch.org (use promo code TeamConnor) - it takes 10 minutes to join.

Please help save Connor and others like him. Thank you."

Michelle (Connor’s Aunt)

*Please help spread the word and join Saving Connor Fan page on Facebook. Asians are under-represented in the bone marrow registry. You can help save a life!

Yesterday workers were sent home to make babies

Here's the article from Korea Times, titled, "Ministry Blackout for 'Procreation'

1-19-2010

By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter

On Wednesday, all the lights at the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs building in central Seoul will be switched off at 7 p.m. Announcements will be made urging staff to stop working and go home.

This not a wartime exercise or a fire drill. But it is a more desperate operation for the ministry, which is struggling to counter the country's low birthrate, even within the organization.

It is a ``Family Day'' event, where all staff members are encouraged to return home on time every third Wednesday each month and spend quality time with their family, and moreover, hopefully, have more kids.

``We will turn off all the lights and nowhere ― even in the pressroom for reporters ― will there be an exception,'' a spokesman said.

This is the first time the ministry will have turned off the main lighting for Family Day.

The ambitious plan kicked off years ago, but the turnout was low. Due to a hectic workload, most staff didn't dare leave for home early. ``The blackout will remind everyone about being a family guy or a good mother-daughter,'' the spokesman said.

Since taking office in September 2008, Minister Jeon Jae-hee has set her priorities on raising the birthrate. Ironically, her ministry workers' average rate of 1.16 per couple is below the average of civil servants ― 1.82.

To hike the rate, the ministry has introduced incentives for officials having more than two children. Gift vouchers worth 2 million won will be given upon the birth of a second child while the amount will be raised to 3 million won for the third birth.

Workers who take maternity or paternity leave will not be given any disadvantages in promotion.

Female workers with children under 12 months old will also be able to have more flexible schedules. Pregnant workers will be excluded from any emergency work.

Jeon told The Korea Times that more births were desperately needed. ``It won't be too long before our children are burdened with supporting the elderly. Korea may lose out in the global economic competition due to a lack of manpower. It is actually the most urgent and important issue the country is facing," she said.

The ministry plans to have the blackout every month from now on.

bjs@koreatimes.co.kr

Dream Child ( 드림아이)

Here's a clip of Dream Child. We just recently added their DVD to our store. A great DVD set with singing and dancing for children. Voted the #1 Children's portal site in Yahoo. Comes with 2 DVDS and 1 CD.

Baby Zabu Playpen

Not too long ago, we wrote about Korean baby bedding. We got a lot of interest in it. We looked and looked and found a very similar type of mat called Baby Zabu. It was created by a Japanese mom, who wanted to recreate a very similar type of mat she used as a child in Japan.

Here's the Korean baby bedding we posted about:

And here is Baby Zabu:


The difference is the Korean version is quite big and not portable. The Baby Zabu is portable and fits in all standard playpens. It also doubles as a play mat for your baby! Currently we're offering FREE SHIPPING on all Baby Zabu's!

Join us to help the Haiti Earthquake victims...

For one week starting tomorrow, we will donate a portion of our proceeds to help the Children's Hunger Fund for the Haiti Earthquake victims. Join with us. Just $24 can help a family with food and other aid. Click here to donate.

Koreans now prefer daughters over sons

It has been a known fact that for generations, Korean parents preferred having a boy over a girl. The reason primarily being that Korea was a patriarchal society that placed value on continuing the familial blood line. Recent studies conducted by the Korea Institute of Childcare and Education revealed that would-be dads preferred daughters (37%) over sons (29%), while the rest were neutral on the gender. According to Dr. Lee who conducted the 2008 survey, "Many parents prefer a baby girl to a baby boy as they believe a daughter will bring them greater happiness and family unity than a son."

Story Credit to Agence France -Presse and Chosun Ilbo.

Hello Kitty Rice Cooker

I'm still a Hello Kitty fan and when I saw this, I was really tempted at getting one. It won't really match my kitchen decor but it's so darn cute! If you're interested in purchasing one, the price is $150. You can contact us to special order it.

New Doljabi Raffle Tickets!

What are doljabi raffle tickets? These tickets are given out to party guests at the beginning of a dol (tol) first birthday party. Each ticket has an unique number on it and each guest is handed one ticket. At the sign in table, the host will provide labeled doljabi item containers for the guest to predict which doljabi item your child will select during the doljabi event. For example, if the guest thinks your child will select the pencil, they will place the raffle ticket into the jar labeled "pencil." At the end of the party, when the child selects the doljabi item, the host will pick up the jar labeled with the selected doljabi item and select a raffle ticket. The guest with the winning raffle ticket usually goes home with a small prize.

If you want to learn more about, the doljabi event, please click here.

Korea- inspired kid's clothes

A children's clothing company called Tea, has come out with their new Korea-inspired kids clothing! Available for only this year, the Korea designs are modern yet classic. Here are some designs available now!

South Korean Kids Boot Camp

Some kids are leaving their video games at home and opting to do boot camp instead during their winter break...most thinking it was going to be fun but not realizing it was like real boot camp. Take a look at this and the poor kids faces!

New Trend Alert! Winter Warmers

These cute strawberry shaped heating pads are a must-have for the winter in Korea. They have natural grains inside and made with a high-quality velvet. You just pop it into the microwave for 30 seconds and the heat last for hours.

Although they're really cute, what I do is put white rice into an old sock (make sure you tie it up really tight) and this does the same trick. Great for sore shoulder aches!

January Baby of the Month Winner!

Baby Spencer who is 17 months old!

Happy New Year!

We hope everyone has a great first day in 2010!