Let's Explore - Creative Activities for Preschoolers

Cheerio Marshmallow Treats

I had never tried making Rice Krispie Treats with any cereal other than Rice Krispies, even though the Confetti Squares on Martha Stewart's site had caught my eye many times.  The girls were asking to make some treats the other day, and all we had were Cheerios and marshmallows.  A yummy afternoon treat paired with some hot cocoa!

I just used the recipe on the back of the marshmallow bag, substituting cheerios for rice krispies.  We pressed the mixture into a heart-shaped muffin tin for fun!

Happy Cooking!

Calling All Veggies!

I must admit, we are in a serious vegetable rut around here.  In general, my girls eat pretty well, lots of healthy stuff to balance out the goodies.  However, one of my goals for our whole family is to increase our veggie consumption.  Problem is, my girls aren't so into it...:)

They will happily eat carrots (raw & cooked), broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, and sometimes spinach (if it's "in" something).  They seem to eat anything baked into a muffin - carrot, pumpkin, zucchini.  They might go for dips -- they like ranch!  I would love to expand their horizons -- and mine!

I would *love* to add some more kid-friendly veggie recipes to our repertoire.  Wanna help me?  Leave a comment or link to a blog/site and share your favorite kid-friendly vegetable recipes.  Ways to involve the kids and simple, not-too-time-consuming recipes would be a plus!

As a thank-you, I will combine all the recipes posted by next Monday, October 20, into a lovely little pdf, so we can all download and enjoy a veggie cookbook for our kiddos.

Thanks for sharing....Happy Veggie Eating!

Create: Homemade Beads

At preschool last week, Natalie made some beads from self-hardening play dough. You can buy self-hardening clay, but it is easy to make your own: Mix 1 cup of salt and 1 cup of flour, and add ½ cup of water. You will want to use the dough the same day, and air dry for about 48 hours. Natalie's beads were made by rolling a fat snake, slicing off chunks, and using a straw to make the hole.

Yesterday, when the beads were good & dry, Natalie painted her beads.

Then, we strung them on some colorful yarn -- voila! A homemade bead necklace.

In the Kitchen: Quick & Easy Breakfasts

As my girls get older, they want to be more and more involved in meal preparation. In addition to fixing snacks and helping with dinner, breakfast offers wonderful opportunities for healthy and simple meals prepared by little ones, with virtually no grown-up help. Here's some of the yummy, confidence-boosting meals we have been enjoying for breakfast (or lunch... or snack...):

• Yogurt Parfaits - yogurt, fruit (sliced bananas, berries, apple chunks, etc.), granola or other favorite cereal, raisins, sometimes even a few sprinkles or mini chocolate chips!


• Fruit Salad - I put out a tray of sliced & diced fruit, allowing the girls to assemble their own bowl of fruit salad. They have also had success slicing bananas and strawberries with small butter knives.


• Tortilla Roll-Ups - Ours are usually peanut butter & honey, but cream cheese & jelly would be yummy too.


• Breakfast Faces - On a piece of toast, a tortilla, or even on a plate, arrange various foods to make a face. Again, offering a tray of choices works well, including sliced fruits, various cereals, scrambled eggs or sliced hard-boiled eggs, cheese cubes, veggies cut in matchsticks, etc.


• Smoothies - Kids choose the ingredients, grown-ups run the blender. Start with milk and/or yogurt and add fruit, maybe a little honey or vanilla. Bananas add nice "froth" and frozen fruit helps make a thicker smoothie.


• Cereal with Milk - Can't go wrong with this classic breakfast! Pour milk into a small pitcher so little ones can practice pouring their own milk. Have your child fix you a bowl too!

What do your kids like for breakfast? Please share!

Recipe: Homemade Play Dough

Homemade play dough is the best! The soft, pliable texture is perfect for little hands to roll, pound, cut, press, and squeeze. This cooked dough takes minutes to prepare, and lasts for weeks when stored in an air-tight container.

Basic Play Dough Recipe:

2 cups water
1 cup salt
4 teaspoons cream of tartar
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups flour
to add color: 1-4 teaspoons food coloring or liquid watercolor

In a large pot, begin with the water, coloring, oil, salt, and cream of tartar. Begin gently heating over medium-low to medium heat. When this mixture is warm, add the flour and mix well. Don't worry if it is slightly lumpy. Keep stirring as the mixtures thickens into a dough. You will know it is ready when the dough is pulling away from the sides of the pot and forming a ball. Remove the warm dough from the pan, let it cool a bit, then it's ready for playing! This is my kids' favorite time to play with the dough -- when it is still warm!

Variations: Add Kool-Aid or extracts to the dough for a yummy scent. Add glitter for sparkle, or sand, oatmeal, coffee grounds, etc. for texture.

Besides the traditional tools of rolling pins and cookie cutters, we use a variety of things around the house:

• shells and small rocks


• birthday candles


• toothpicks, straws, and popsicle sticks


• small toy cars and animals


• garlic press and potato masher


• child scissors

We also like to make two primary colors (red, yellow, or blue) and then mix them together to see what happens.

Happy playing!