AUTUMN BUTTER -
Ingredients:
* 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
* 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
* 1/4 cup whipping cream
* 1 cup butter, softened
Directions:
Mix all ingredients until well blended. Spread onto your favorite muffins, quick bread, sweet crackers, or drop a dollop onto morning pancakes.
CINNAMON BUTTER -
Ingredients:
* 2 sticks butter
* 1/2 cup brown sugar
* 1 tsp cinnamon
Directions:
Combine all ingredients and mix well. Serve over sweet bread, muffins, or morning waffles. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator.
Winnie the Pooh's Honey Pot Balls
Ingredients:
1/2 c. Peanut butter
1/2 c. Dry milk
1 T. Honey
2 T. crushed nuts
Directions:
Mix in bowl the first 3 ingredients. Mix well. Divide dough into 6 pieces. Mold each piece into a ball, sprinkle with the crushed nuts.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
First Day of Autumn
Objectives:
Students will see the natural beauty in a fall leaf as they use non-traditional methods of creating leaf patterns.
What You Need:
* Construction paper
* Red, green, yellow and orange paint
* Paint brush for each color
* Safety scissors
What You Do:
1. Cover table with news print.
2. Have supplies ready and in individual trays, with paint brushes for each color.
3. Also have a sink or soapy water bucket and paper towel close at hand for clean up.
4. Have students paint one hand using each color, until the entire hand is covered.
5. Press hand on colored or white previously cut paper.
6. This technique will make some beautiful fall leaf shapes.
7. Once dried, have the students cut out their hand prints.
8. Use them to border a chalk board, or design a large "word" tree and change it through the seasons.
Objectives:
Children will learn about design in nature.
What You Need:
* Paper
* Different types of leaves
* Paint or crayons
What You Do:
1. Put the paper flat on the table and then put the leaf under the paper.
2. After you've done that, use the crayon to shade the print of the leaf on the paper.
3. If you are using paint, you put the leaf in the paint and then print in on the paper.
Students will see the natural beauty in a fall leaf as they use non-traditional methods of creating leaf patterns.
What You Need:
* Construction paper
* Red, green, yellow and orange paint
* Paint brush for each color
* Safety scissors
What You Do:
1. Cover table with news print.
2. Have supplies ready and in individual trays, with paint brushes for each color.
3. Also have a sink or soapy water bucket and paper towel close at hand for clean up.
4. Have students paint one hand using each color, until the entire hand is covered.
5. Press hand on colored or white previously cut paper.
6. This technique will make some beautiful fall leaf shapes.
7. Once dried, have the students cut out their hand prints.
8. Use them to border a chalk board, or design a large "word" tree and change it through the seasons.
Objectives:
Children will learn about design in nature.
What You Need:
* Paper
* Different types of leaves
* Paint or crayons
What You Do:
1. Put the paper flat on the table and then put the leaf under the paper.
2. After you've done that, use the crayon to shade the print of the leaf on the paper.
3. If you are using paint, you put the leaf in the paint and then print in on the paper.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Angel Day
A simple way for younger children to make an angel decoration.
What You Need:
* White poster paper. (or other heavy paper)
* Scissors
* White glue.
* Magic markers.
* Cotton balls.
* Yarn or cording - gold is best.
* Glitter.
What You Do:
1. Cut one large and two smaller triangles from the poster paper.
2. Cut out a head and two hand shapes.
3. Glue the pieces together (see diagram).
4. Using the magic markers and glitter, decorate your angel.
5. Glue or tie some cording or string to the angel so it can hang as a decoration.
Recommended Products:
What You Need:
* White poster paper. (or other heavy paper)
* Scissors
* White glue.
* Magic markers.
* Cotton balls.
* Yarn or cording - gold is best.
* Glitter.
What You Do:
1. Cut one large and two smaller triangles from the poster paper.
2. Cut out a head and two hand shapes.
3. Glue the pieces together (see diagram).
4. Using the magic markers and glitter, decorate your angel.
5. Glue or tie some cording or string to the angel so it can hang as a decoration.
Recommended Products:
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Watermelon Day
What You Need:
* Red Construction Paper
* Black or Brown Paint
* Q-tips®
* Green Paint
* Real Watermelon Slice
What You Do:
1. First students draw a large triangle on a piece of red 9X13 construction paper.
2. Using a Q-tip®, they can dip into the brown or black paint and place dots onto the red paper. These dots represent the seeds.
3. Students then take a rind from a slice of watermelon (of course they have to eat the watermelon first!) and dip one side into the green paint.
4. They can then place the painted rind onto one side of the triangle - making a print.
5. Students can then cut out their "watermelon slice".
What a fun addition to your summertime picnic or party. These watermelon cookies are easy and fun and the kids will enjoy helping as well!
Ingredients:
* 3 3/4 cups all purpose flour
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1 cup butter or margarine, softened (not melted!)
* 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
* 2 eggs
* 2 tsp vanilla extract
* 6 drops red food coloring
* 1 cup miniature semi sweet morsels
Directions:
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.
Beat butter or margarine, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and red food coloring in a large bowl with electric mixer until fluffy. Gradually add flour mixture and stir with wooden spoon until thoroughly mixed. Cover dough with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for two hours.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out circles with a cookie cutter or other round object, such as a glass or round plastic container. Place circles on ungreased cookie sheet. With a butter knife, carefully slice circle in half and separate by at least 1/2 inch to allow for expansion during baking. Gently press miniature semi sweet morsels into each semicircle.
Bake for 6-8 minutes, checking after 6 minutes. Cookies will be done when edges are lightly browned. Do not allow cookies to get too brown. Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes. Remove from cookies sheets to aluminum foil on a flat surface and allow to cool completely.
Glaze
* 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
* 2 tbsp water
* 15-20 drops green food coloring
In a small bowl mix together all ingredients to form a glaze. You may add drops of water to thin glaze if it is too thick.
To decorate the cookies, roll the round end of the cookie in the glaze, allow excess to drip off into bowl. Place cookies back on foil until glaze dries. Eat!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
baby/toddler
# empty water bottle, put in some coins, close very tightly, and voilà -- a brand-new rattle. (Just don't leave her alone with it!)
# Create instant bathtime fun: Hand over your turkey baster as a squirt toy; add plastic funnels for scoop-and-pour games.
# Shake, rattle, and roll. Fill a few small plastic bottles half full of water and put the caps on tightly. While you check e-mail, let your child shake 'em up -- she'll love all the splashing.
# Go for color: Give your child a medicine dropper and an ice-cube tray filled with water. Add food coloring. Let him squeeze, squirt, and mix!
# A good high-chair activity while you're cooking: Take an empty tissue box, throw in a few small objects -- a washcloth, a leaf, a toy car -- and let your child reach in and feel them. Then dump them out and put in a few different things.
Toddlers on up
Share
# Start a pickup game: Put crayons or markers in a small pile. Kids can try to remove one at a time without disturbing the others.
# Jazz up coloring: Print out Keith Haring's imaginative artwork
# Boost ABC fun: Print out adorable alphabet coloring pages
Toddlers on up
Share
# Decorate balloons. Rub one until it has a static charge. Supply your child with pieces of tissue or string to put on it, and let him see what else sticks. (Just be sure to watch him.)
# Sew fun! Punch holes in an egg carton with a pen, tape on a string of yarn, and let your child thread it through the openings.
# Stay cool with ice hockey. Tip over a small wastebasket in your driveway, toss some ice cubes on the ground, and use broomsticks to see who can score the most before the ice melts
# Leaf-peep from home. Gather fall leaves from your yard, put a piece of double-sided tape on each, and let your kid stick them on the windows.
# Start a nature scrapbook. Grab a small photo album or notebook where your child can store finds like leaves and feathers.
# Grab cookie cutters and...
- Use them for stencils
- Turn melon into stars
- Cut play dough into cool shapes.
# Stamp it. Give your child things from around the house -- blocks, a wire strainer, doll's feet -- to make impressions on play dough.
# Celebrate Easter: Lay a basket on its side, line up some plastic eggs, hand your child a broom, and play huevos hockey.
# Do 3-D painting. Save up the foam blocks from your packages for your child to paint. Kids love the odd shapes.
# Make a splash! Show your child how to soak up water from one bowl with a sponge and squeeze it into another -- silly fun in the kitchen or the backyard.
# Create a love map. Draw a big heart on paper, and ask your child what's in her heart. Jot down what she says for a great Father's Day gift.
# Toss a ball in running water -- from the hose, in a shallow stream, in the ocean. Show your child how to use a small net or strainer to catch it, then throw it back and start again!
# Make a perfect valentine stamp. Slice an apple in half, then cut a "V" shape at the bottom of one of the pieces. Have your child paint the flat surface red and stamp it onto cards.
# A quick hide-and-seek game: Stick rows of Post-it notes on a piece of paper, put a sticker under one, and let your child guess where the sticker is. Then hide another!
# Declare your floors "hot lava." Your child can move around the house only by hopping on "islands" (paper taped to the floor).
# Liven up a springtime walk. Give your child a colorful lightweight scarf to hold out of the stroller and fly like a streamer in the wind.
# Make pizza cookies. Give your child lumps of cold pizza dough so she can flatten them with a potato masher. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top, bake, and serve.
# Play mix and match. Give him a few empty plastic bottles or jars and their caps, and let him figure out which go together (just keep an eye on him)
# Have a race: Use chalk to draw a curvy course on your sidewalk for an instant trike path.
# Play laundry basketball. While you sort, hand your kids rolled-up socks and an empty trash can, and promise a kiss for every "point" they make.
# Make "movies." Create a flip book
Preschoolers and up
Share
# Launch far-out fun. Let your child play Shuttle Tac Toe, Space Bounce, and other games at NASA Kids' Club
# Keep car trips fun:
- How high can your kids count before the next traffic light?
- Decide who'll listen for the words "new" and "old" on the radio. Whoever counts ten of her word first wins!
# Test her memory. While you do laundry, log your child on to Playkidsgames.com -- she'll have a blast clicking on lights on the turtle's shell as they come up.
# Get in the St. Paddy's Day spirit: Cover a piece of shamrock-shaped cardboard with double-sided tape. Have your child stick on green paper, leaves, and other stuff.
# Print out a Dr. Seuss game from Seussville.com
# Kick off a buggy summer! Your child can design a cool virtual insect with wings and antennae at Build-a-Bug
# Engage in fowl play. Turn an orange into a turkey: Use toothpicks to attach a cherry tomato head, raisin eyes, a baby-carrot beak, and lettuce feathers.
# Create instant bathtime fun: Hand over your turkey baster as a squirt toy; add plastic funnels for scoop-and-pour games.
# Shake, rattle, and roll. Fill a few small plastic bottles half full of water and put the caps on tightly. While you check e-mail, let your child shake 'em up -- she'll love all the splashing.
# Go for color: Give your child a medicine dropper and an ice-cube tray filled with water. Add food coloring. Let him squeeze, squirt, and mix!
# A good high-chair activity while you're cooking: Take an empty tissue box, throw in a few small objects -- a washcloth, a leaf, a toy car -- and let your child reach in and feel them. Then dump them out and put in a few different things.
Toddlers on up
Share
# Start a pickup game: Put crayons or markers in a small pile. Kids can try to remove one at a time without disturbing the others.
# Jazz up coloring: Print out Keith Haring's imaginative artwork
# Boost ABC fun: Print out adorable alphabet coloring pages
Toddlers on up
Share
# Decorate balloons. Rub one until it has a static charge. Supply your child with pieces of tissue or string to put on it, and let him see what else sticks. (Just be sure to watch him.)
# Sew fun! Punch holes in an egg carton with a pen, tape on a string of yarn, and let your child thread it through the openings.
# Stay cool with ice hockey. Tip over a small wastebasket in your driveway, toss some ice cubes on the ground, and use broomsticks to see who can score the most before the ice melts
# Leaf-peep from home. Gather fall leaves from your yard, put a piece of double-sided tape on each, and let your kid stick them on the windows.
# Start a nature scrapbook. Grab a small photo album or notebook where your child can store finds like leaves and feathers.
# Grab cookie cutters and...
- Use them for stencils
- Turn melon into stars
- Cut play dough into cool shapes.
# Stamp it. Give your child things from around the house -- blocks, a wire strainer, doll's feet -- to make impressions on play dough.
# Celebrate Easter: Lay a basket on its side, line up some plastic eggs, hand your child a broom, and play huevos hockey.
# Do 3-D painting. Save up the foam blocks from your packages for your child to paint. Kids love the odd shapes.
# Make a splash! Show your child how to soak up water from one bowl with a sponge and squeeze it into another -- silly fun in the kitchen or the backyard.
# Create a love map. Draw a big heart on paper, and ask your child what's in her heart. Jot down what she says for a great Father's Day gift.
# Toss a ball in running water -- from the hose, in a shallow stream, in the ocean. Show your child how to use a small net or strainer to catch it, then throw it back and start again!
# Make a perfect valentine stamp. Slice an apple in half, then cut a "V" shape at the bottom of one of the pieces. Have your child paint the flat surface red and stamp it onto cards.
# A quick hide-and-seek game: Stick rows of Post-it notes on a piece of paper, put a sticker under one, and let your child guess where the sticker is. Then hide another!
# Declare your floors "hot lava." Your child can move around the house only by hopping on "islands" (paper taped to the floor).
# Liven up a springtime walk. Give your child a colorful lightweight scarf to hold out of the stroller and fly like a streamer in the wind.
# Make pizza cookies. Give your child lumps of cold pizza dough so she can flatten them with a potato masher. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top, bake, and serve.
# Play mix and match. Give him a few empty plastic bottles or jars and their caps, and let him figure out which go together (just keep an eye on him)
# Have a race: Use chalk to draw a curvy course on your sidewalk for an instant trike path.
# Play laundry basketball. While you sort, hand your kids rolled-up socks and an empty trash can, and promise a kiss for every "point" they make.
# Make "movies." Create a flip book
Preschoolers and up
Share
# Launch far-out fun. Let your child play Shuttle Tac Toe, Space Bounce, and other games at NASA Kids' Club
# Keep car trips fun:
- How high can your kids count before the next traffic light?
- Decide who'll listen for the words "new" and "old" on the radio. Whoever counts ten of her word first wins!
# Test her memory. While you do laundry, log your child on to Playkidsgames.com -- she'll have a blast clicking on lights on the turtle's shell as they come up.
# Get in the St. Paddy's Day spirit: Cover a piece of shamrock-shaped cardboard with double-sided tape. Have your child stick on green paper, leaves, and other stuff.
# Print out a Dr. Seuss game from Seussville.com
# Kick off a buggy summer! Your child can design a cool virtual insect with wings and antennae at Build-a-Bug
# Engage in fowl play. Turn an orange into a turkey: Use toothpicks to attach a cherry tomato head, raisin eyes, a baby-carrot beak, and lettuce feathers.
Rainy Day Monet
Create a "tie-dye" craft. Do the first part indoors: Grab some coffee filters and have the kids color them with markers (not washable ones), and lay them on a cookie sheet. Then put them outside in the rain and watch the colors run. Bring them inside, and after they dry, the kids can make flowers: Pinch each filter in the middle and twist, then wrap a green pipe cleaner around to make a stem.
Take your kids on a "rescue the worms" walk. (You don't have to touch 'em!) Stroll around the neighborhood and let your kids pick them up off the sidewalk and toss them back into the grass. When you're home, go to Yucky.discovery.com and search for cool info on earthworms.
Do a rainy-day Monet. Head outside with some sidewalk chalk. When it's wet, it works almost like paint!
Have a splash. Take a bunch of bath toys outdoors -- boats, buckets, cups -- and play in a puddle, or find a "stream" at the edge of the street (if you live on a safe one) and race a boat against a lightweight ball.
Make a rain catcher. If you just want to stay inside, have your child decorate a two-liter soda bottle, and measure and mark half-inches with a Sharpie. Then you cut off the top and put it outside a window where you can see it from inside. Set some fun goals: "When it gets to half an inch, we'll play a board game. When it gets to an inch, we'll make cookies..." etc.!
Take your kids on a "rescue the worms" walk. (You don't have to touch 'em!) Stroll around the neighborhood and let your kids pick them up off the sidewalk and toss them back into the grass. When you're home, go to Yucky.discovery.com and search for cool info on earthworms.
Do a rainy-day Monet. Head outside with some sidewalk chalk. When it's wet, it works almost like paint!
Have a splash. Take a bunch of bath toys outdoors -- boats, buckets, cups -- and play in a puddle, or find a "stream" at the edge of the street (if you live on a safe one) and race a boat against a lightweight ball.
Make a rain catcher. If you just want to stay inside, have your child decorate a two-liter soda bottle, and measure and mark half-inches with a Sharpie. Then you cut off the top and put it outside a window where you can see it from inside. Set some fun goals: "When it gets to half an inch, we'll play a board game. When it gets to an inch, we'll make cookies..." etc.!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Ice Cream Day
Who says it has to be summertime to enjoy ice cream? Not your kids, that's for sure! Everyone loves ice cream, and what better way to beat the cold weather blues than with some cold treats?
Gather your kids around, get out the ingredients and have some fun. Don't forget to pull out all your favorite toppings. You can use anything from sprinkles to crushed candy bars to cookies.
Fresh fruit is an excellent topper for a fresh bowl of homemade vanilla ice cream. Try bananas or strawberries sliced and thrown on top. Or add them to the blender with a splash of milk for a fabulous shake.
Anything is possible. Have fun with it! Let the kids help pick the toppings and make it a fun day for everyone!
Ingredients:
* 1 cup sugar
* 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 1/2 cups milk
* 3 eggs
* 2 cups heavy or whipping cream
* 5 teaspooons vanilla extract
Directions:
In heavy, 3-quart saucepan with spoon, combine sugar, flour, and salt. In medium bowl with hand beater or wire wisk, beat eggs and milk and eggs together until well blended; stir into sugar mixture until smooth. Cook for about 15 minutes over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and coats the spoon, being sure that the custard does not boil or it will curdle; allow to cool (at room temperature).
Stir in 2 cups heavy or whipping cream and 5 teaspoons vanilla extract.
Freeze until desired consistency is reached.
Gather your kids around, get out the ingredients and have some fun. Don't forget to pull out all your favorite toppings. You can use anything from sprinkles to crushed candy bars to cookies.
Fresh fruit is an excellent topper for a fresh bowl of homemade vanilla ice cream. Try bananas or strawberries sliced and thrown on top. Or add them to the blender with a splash of milk for a fabulous shake.
Anything is possible. Have fun with it! Let the kids help pick the toppings and make it a fun day for everyone!
Ingredients:
* 1 cup sugar
* 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 1/2 cups milk
* 3 eggs
* 2 cups heavy or whipping cream
* 5 teaspooons vanilla extract
Directions:
In heavy, 3-quart saucepan with spoon, combine sugar, flour, and salt. In medium bowl with hand beater or wire wisk, beat eggs and milk and eggs together until well blended; stir into sugar mixture until smooth. Cook for about 15 minutes over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and coats the spoon, being sure that the custard does not boil or it will curdle; allow to cool (at room temperature).
Stir in 2 cups heavy or whipping cream and 5 teaspoons vanilla extract.
Freeze until desired consistency is reached.
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