Check out these cute {FREE} bookmark printables for your little read.er!
read.cook.grow.tips.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Recipe Cards
I love these FREE/printable recipe cards. They are great especially if you need to make a lot (like for a tea party, pizza party, cookie exchange, cooking camp etc.) : )
Click HERE for download instructions.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Let's Grow
I want to preface this post by saying : I'm NOT a
gardener, BUT in the past couple of years I've been a "wannabe"
gardener : ) My mom tried her very hardest to pass on her green thumb to
one of her daughters and...she's still waiting. So if I can do this...YOU
can do this.
We started our "Grow"ing journey just a
couple of weeks ago. It all started with the 1) the desire to desire
grow, 2) a child who desired to grow AND 3) a children's book to explain HOW to
grow (more for me than them!).
Read.
We started our journey by
picking up a kid’s book on gardening. There are a ton out there but we actually found one at
Goodwill that fit our criteria (pictures, step by step process, a map of how it
should look…). We picked up Kids Gardening:a guide to messing around in the dirt.
Grow.
Whatever book you decide to
go with will hopefully give you step by step instructions so it’s not so
intimidating.
1Pick out where
in your yard you want your garden.
(Where does it get the most sun?
Where will it not get run over?
Where is it most convenient to reach from your kitchen?)
2 Start digging. This is so great for kids and parents for so many
reasons. Make it a family
activity! We decided to do a
raised garden (most people in Texas should!) so we first had to assemble it (we
bought a kit from Sam’s Club).
Then you need to cut up the grass below so that roots have a chance to
penetrate the ground.
3Add soil,
compost (more on this later, but you can buy this at most lawn and garden
stores) and mulch!
4Buy your
seeds. We chose what I knew we
would eat: Tomatoes, Lettuce, Sugar Snap Peas and Peppers.
5Plant your seeds…make
sure to read the package! Most
seeds only need to be an inch below your soil.
6 Water, water,
water! ( I tell my kids to recreate rain so that they don’t flood it). WARNING: Kids WILL get wet! : )
Cook.
This is probably pretty
obvious, but COOK what you GROW!
Ours aren’t quite ready yet, so in the mean time buy the grown version
of what you planted and make a salad or side dish so that your kids can see
what their finished product will look like (and what to look for in the mean
time).
If this is all TOO
overwhelming for you then start with herbs! Those can be used in so many recipes and don’t take up too
much time or space.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Play Dough
If you have an aspiring cook in your home (that also likes to play with their food!) why not whip up some play dough with them? This is a great way to practice their measuring and they will LOVE it. This is the best recipe I've found...please share if you have one that you love.
cook.
Play Dough
*2 cups of plain flour
*4 tablespoons of 'cream of tartar'
*2 tablespoons of cooking oil (I've also heard of people using baby oil)
*1 cup of salt
*2 cups of boiling water
*Food Coloring OR unsweetened Kool Aid
Directions
1) Put in a mixing bowl and stir!
2) It looks like it's not going to work at first, but hang in there and place it on a table and knead (rocking back and forth with the heels of your hands). The parent should knead first until you feel it's cool enough for your kids to try out.
3) Have fun with this! You can add glitter, sand and/or spices and flavorings (pumpkin, vanilla and peppermint are best)
grow. (taken from teacherresources.com)
- Make playdough alphabet letters or numbers - children fill thealphabet stencils / number stencils with playdough...
- Use the playdough to make 2d and 3d shapes...
- Make up lots of small playdough balls - how many playdough ballsfill up different small containers...(eg..cups, bowls etc)
- Make lots of playdough sausages - braid 2 or 3 sausages together.
- Provide lots of different textured materials for children to press into the playdough and uncover the patterns (eg. sandpaper, corderouy, rope, lace,
- Find different shaped lids and 'around the house' objects for children to press into the playdough and uncover different shapes..
- Make faces from playdough and make them express different feelings..
- Different playdough colour each week - gather playdough utensils in that colour also.
- Children stand coloured popsticks into the playdough to form patterning by colour - also great for early addition games and activities - stand 5 red popsticks together - stand 3 yellow popsticks together - how many altogether...
read.
I intentionally left this last. Depending on how you want to make your play dough you can hand select your story. For example if you want to read about pumpkins, add pumpkin spice. If you want to read about fairies/princesses you or outer space you can add glitter and so on and so forth. Above all else just have fun!
Friday, May 4, 2012
May the 4th Be With You...
read.
Ok, so the reading part is a bit of a stretch on this one, but bear
with me. If it’s one thing I
learned teaching it’s that reading doesn’t always have to be the classic bound
book. For a lot of kids it
takes more than that to get them excited about reading. If they don’t seem into reading
bound books, try other venues: magazines, comic books, cookbooks, or
instruction manuals. The
point is to just get them to read!
Once they start reading that opens their mind up to so much more. For my particular family we read
our Star Wars cookbook and discussed what looked the coolest and what sounded
the best. I do know that there are
a lot of Star Wars books out there…especially early readers!
cook.
After reading the book, I suggest throwing a Star Wars
party. Invite your
neighbors, friends or just the family! Here are some menu ideas.
MENU:
*Princess Leia rolls
(cinnamon rolls)
*Lightsaber dippers (Carrots and ranch or hummus)
*Yoda Soda (Sprite with lime sherbert)
*Tie Fighter Dogs (Recipe below)
*Death Star popcorn balls (Recipe below)
TIE FIGHTER DOGS RECIPE:
Ingredients:
*6
hotdogs cut in half (to make 12)
*1
pkg 12 breadsticks
Supplies:
*pizza cutter
*baking sheet
Supplies:
*pizza cutter
*baking sheet
1) Open the package of breadsticks and
separate the lengths of dough.
2) Cut the lengths in half and set aside.
You should have 24 lengths of dough when you are finished.
3) WARNING THIS GETS CONFUSING!! Take 1 length of dough and wrap it
around the base of the sausage half. Cross the ends and let them fall on the
baking sheet in the form of the letter V.
4) Using another length of dough, wrap the
same sausage in the opposite direction. Cross the ends and let them fall in the
form of an upside-down V. Repeat with remaining dough and sausage halves.
5) Bake according to breadstick package
directions, or until dough puffs up and turns golden brown.
DEATH STAR POPCORN BALL RECIPE
**If you have the STAR WARS Cookbook please
note this is not the recipe they use.
I tried it and had a really hard time following it. I would really like that 2 hours of my
life back!!**
Ingredients:
*1/2
cup oil
*1 C unpopped popcorn
salt
*1/2 C butter (1 stick)
*2 C brown sugar
*1/2 C corn syrup
*1 15 oz sweetened condensed milk
*cooking spray
Supplies:
*Pot (the one with 2 handles)
*Large Saucepan (the one with 1 handle)
*liquid measuring cup
*1 cup measuring cup
*can opener
*wooden spoon
*parchment paper
1) Heat
oil in a large pot along with 1 popcorn kernel; covered.
2)
Once that kernel pops add the rest of the kernels until there is no
popping for 3 seconds.
3)
Add salt.
4)
In
a medium sized saucepan melt the butter. Add the brown sugar, corn syrup, and
sweetened condensed milk Stir it all around until well blended.
5)
Heat the mixture to boiling.
Boil for 3 minutes while stirring.
6)
Remove from the heat and pour
caramel over the top of the popcorn. Stir it up with a large wooden spoon until
all of the popcorn is covered.
7)
Let mixture cool slightly and
then spray hands with cooking spray. Form popcorn into baseball size balls and place on
parchment paper.
PRESENTATION:
See GROW.
grow.
Do a basic Google image search for: Yoda (Coloring Printable),
Light Saber (Coloring Printable), Tie Fighters (Coloring Printable), Death Star
(Coloring Printable). Have
your child color in the above pictures and write the menu title underneath the
pictures. Glue pictures on
heavy (halved) card stock so your guests know those aren't just any popcorn balls
; )
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Conversation Jar
One of the most basic and fundamental table manners you can teach your child is : Conversation. Conversation allows your child to interact with all kinds of people in all kinds of situations they will encounter. At home, it allows you to find out more about your child and have more intentional conversation.
Conversation Jar:
1) Use any jar or container and make it as fancy or simple as you'd like
2) Print out a list of questions...here are some that I plan on using:
3) Cut up questions and start conversing : )
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Curious George Makes Pancakes
read.
“Curious
George Makes Pancakes” by Margaret and H.A. Reys, is of course about a small
little monkey that lets his curiosity get the best of him. Curious
George, an inquisitive monkey, causes quite a stir when he tries his
"hand" at making pancakes at a fundraiser for the children's
hospital. Most kids (and adults)
love reading about George because they can relate to both his curious and mischievous
side : ) One thing that I really liked about this story, and that holds true
for most Curious George stories, is that George generally just wants to help
when he gets into mischief.
cook.
After
reading the book, I suggest…pancakes. Pancakes are a weekly staple in our
house. They can be as easy or
difficult as you want to make them.
You can “hide” plenty of good nutrients (flax, protein powder, whole
wheat flour, fruits) and they are very inexpensive to make. Of course they are also great
because kids can help!
MENU:
*Banana
Pancakes
Pancake
RECIPE:
Ingredients:
*1
over ripe banana (the kind you probably shouldn’t eat anymore)
*1
cup whole wheat blend pancake mix
*1-
1 ¼ cup low fat milk
*1
egg
*Cooking
Spray
1)
Preheat a Pancake Griddle to 350 degrees (or heat a skillet once you’re ready).
2) In a small bowl mash the banana with
a Masher or a fork.
3) Measure whole wheat
flour and milk and add to a large bowl. Add the mashed banana.
4) Crack an egg in a
SEPARATE small bowl. (that way if
they get shells in the bowl you can help them fish them out) Once you have a shell free egg add it
to the large bowl with the flour, milk and banana.
5) With a wire whisk,
large fork or rotary beater have your child combine all the ingredients just
until moistened. The batter
should look lumpy. Over mixing may
toughen the pancakes.
6)
Spray the griddle or skillet with cooking spray.
7) Check to see if the
griddle is ready by getting your hand wet and then flicking water onto the
griddle. If it “dances” it’s ready
: )
8)Using
a 1/3 measuring cup scoop batter and pour onto griddle. Cook until bubbles cover the
surface of the pancakes and the bottoms are golden brown.
9)
Turn the pancakes over with a wide spatula. Place on platter when done.
PRESENTATION:
You
of course need to be playing the Jack Johnson song “Banana Pancakes” either
while cooking or eating J
I always think pancakes look best stacked up as tall as you can get them
with butter on top!
grow.
After
you and your kids enjoy the book and recipe together, extend the fun by picking
one of the activities from the CURIOUS GEORGE page on PBS.
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