Cooking
These were so fun to make I decided that even if they turned gray while baking I’d post this. Luckily they stayed green and the blueberries are supposed to look like water, I think they do right? My son had a blast, we ended up skipping nap he was having so much fun with a bowl of flour while they baked and he even exclaimed, they “Kinda look like the earth mama.” I take it as a success!
- Gather your materials. The recipe (see below) I used is from the May 2008 edition of Everyday Food ( I cut it in half and used whole wheat flour) . You will also need blueberries, and blue and yellow food coloring. I was out of green but I would still suggest blue and yellow as it give your more control over how it mixes with the brownish color if you are using whole wheat flour.
- When baking with my son I measure out the dry and wet first and let him help from there. There is no right or wrong way of doing this it’s just what I do.
- Mix the dry.
- Mix the wet- apparently it smelled yummy.
- Mix together .
- Add the food coloring.
- Add in the blueberries.
- Spoon into the muffin tin.
- Grab some extra flour , measuring cups and let your little one play. He played for a long time with plain flour. Yes it was a mess but fun normally is.
- Celebrate cause they look enough like earths that it was well worth it! Enjoy .
Recipe
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, melted.
2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
2 large eggs
½ cup whole milk
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Mix dry, mix wet. Add wet to dry, add blueberries ( 1 cup) . Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes.
Source: May 2008 edition of Everyday Food by Martha Stewart
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We are in the middle of a heatwave and I am so done. My kitchen is too hot to do anything in and with the fans blowing art supplies it’s impossible to do much art. So today we made organic yogurt popsicles , and went outside and played in the shade with our Ocean we made a while back.
- Gather your materials. You will need 2-3 large strawberries ( ripe ripe is best) , a banana, and a small yogurt. You will need a blender and some popsicle molds as well.
- Count your strawberries as you pop them in.
- Next up the banana.
- Squeeze the yogurt
- Blend!
- Taste to make sure it’s ok.
- Pour into the molds
- Pop in the sticks ( I asked specifically for each color, I can’t help it I’m a teacher through and through and these mini lessons just happen)
- Freeze
- Enjoy!
click on the picture for the full instructions and even more !
I am not a big meat eater, but somehow my son is a huge carnivore. He has recently discovered hot dogs and I feel like it may be the end of healthy eating as I once knew it. That or I’ll go broke buying the organic nitrate free ones! Either way I explained we were taking a break from eating hot dogs but that we could make one for art time today. Here is what we did!
- Gather your materials. You will need a brown paper grocery bag ( or other paper) , a brown or black marker, some glue, red and yellow paint, scissors and ketchup and mustard containers. You could use real ones but the beauty of these are that they are solid , washable and kids can’t see that there is only a tiny bit of paint in them. Since there is so little the mess will be manageable.
- Pour the red paint into the ketchup bottle and yellow into the mustard. I thinned it out a little.
- Cut off a large piece from your grocery bag, and draw a bun and a sausage.
- Cut them apart.
- Glue the sausage to the bun.
- Add your condiments. Ignore my impromptu strap in the picture!
- Let dry and cut out.
Song
I’m a little hot dog
here’s my bun
Put me on the grill
until I’m done
Add some mustard
and ketchup
take a big bite
and gobble me up!
Book
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Today is Canada Day and Fourth of July is just a few sleeps away . What is a holiday without treats? Last year we made these adorable flag cupcakes and this year we made the Star Treats that were gobbled up at church. Do you have a favorite treat? Leave a comment and share! To all my fellow Canadians, Happy Canada Day!Star Treats
- Gather your materials. You will need 5 1/2 cups of marshmallows, 5 1/2 cups of rice crispy type cereal, 1/4 cup of butter, some non stick spray , a large sauce pan , a baking sheet and a star cookie cutter, and red , white and blue jelly beans.
- Make your rice crispy squares by melting the butter over medium heat, add the marshmallows melt them add the cereal. Spread onto your baking sheet and cool just enough for them to be comfortable for your child to touch.
- Time to add the jelly beans. We counted them as we put them in , and surprisingly few ended up in his mouth.
- Pop them in the fridge and cool completely.
- Grab your star cookie cutter and cut out.
- Enjoy!
- Gather your materials. You will need your favourite ( another Canadian spelling, not an error) cupcake recipe , some jelly beans and white icing.
- Bake your cupcakes and let them cool completely. Your kids can help but mine had his fair share of jelly bellys while I was making the batter, so I did this activity alone.
- Ice the cupcake completely.
- For the Maple Leaf cupcakes start by making a maple leaf with 6 red jelly beans. You can also use licorice or another red candy.
- Next add 3 red jelly beans lengthwise on either side of the maple leaf! Sing O Canada before eating
- For the Stars and Stripes Start with a horizontal row of 4 red jelly beans , repeat.
- Add 4 blue jelly beans in the upper left.
- Add 2 rows of 2 red jelly beans , sing The Star Spangled Banner before eating
Baking with Toddlers
Baking is a great tool for teaching toddlers about the senses. Kids can touch, smell, taste, see and even hear things while baking and cooking. However lately baking hasn’t been as much fun at our house . A certain 2 year old demands to use the mixer, and not in a safe way. When I say no, the theatrics start and the fun we were having comes to an end. So instead of giving up making cookies all together I came to a compromise, so we can keep learning and having fun.
- Be realistic about your expectations, taste testing is pretty much guaranteed no matter how many times you ask them not to.
- I use pre- mixed dough. I like store bought because I am irrationally terrified of salmonella, and I know my son will taste test , as will I. If your toddler and you can happily do the steps of making your own dough, by all means do. There are great lessons about measurement that come from that step.
- Skip steps your child has had issues with in the past- don’t give them up forever just for now. For us this means no mixer, I’ll try again soon but not yet. It may be touching a hot stove that is a trouble spot for you, in that case focus on the mixing and bake after your child is in bed for nap or the night. Small adjustments can be made to keep having fun.
- Put the premixed dough into a bowl and have your child mix it up, feel it and knead it.
- Add fun things into the pre-made dough.
This adds a step of mixing that can be done by hand, without a huge mess. I have added candies to sugar cookies, chocolate chips to peanut butter, dried fruit to oatmeal and in these pictures my son is adding toffee bits and chopped pecans to chocolate chip dough. - Allow your child to roll the dough into balls with their hands, use the rolling pin or cookie cutters!
- Do not bake with your toddler when you NEED to have 3 dozen cookies for a bake sale or church party. The stress of making enough cookies may be too much if a bowl gets knocked over, or too much dough gets eaten.
- After you bake enjoy your cookies and ask your child to tell you how they did that, you’ll be impressed with how well young kids can recount the steps you followed.
