When people think of spiders they do not always visualize a cozy home setting. This week we will be talking about spiders and starting conversations about our homes. For some of you the thought of a spider is unpleasant or uncomfortable. Your child will pick up on that feeling. If possible you can have someone else be the person that shares spiders (or anything that makes you feel uncomfortable) with your child. My daughter-in-law has worked really hard to teach Zoe and Ansel about spiders and that they need to be careful with them even though she is scared of them herself.
With the spider we will be talking about their webs and how a web is a home for a spider. We will talk about other homes for animals – nests, holes, caves, etc. As we talk about homes for animals we will talk about our homes and where people live. When my sons were younger we had several pets that are not the typical pets. They were allergic to dogs and birds, Curt is allergic to cats and it made me sad to see fish die so we had a tarantula, an iguana, gerbils, a hedgehog and a turtle. Having pets is a way to teach children responsibility and empathy for living creatures. Showing them how to "touch gently" whether it be a plant or an animal teaches them to be careful with living things. If your family doesn't have a pet your child can nurture a plant. A way to teach responsibility is to let them feed the family pet or water a plant. They can care for something and feel quite proud of their ability to take of something that is alive. How can you help your child develop that empathy for living creatures? You can give them an opportunity to care for something. Giving them something to care for will help them develop a variety of skills. Not only do pets provide children with entertainment and affection, but they also teach them about responsibility, compassion, trust, coping with loss, respect, and loyalty, and they help build children's self-esteem, patience, and social skills https://rockandrolldaycare.com/7-things-child-can-learn-pet/. If you don't have the energy to have a pet -- and it is a lot of energy to have a pet whether it is a dog, cat or snail -- taking care of a plant develops several of the same traits as a pet animal. They can also develop compassion for animals in the world by watching them, talking about where they live and caring for them by setting out feeders. On your hikes in the woods you can teach them the importance of caring for all of nature. I loved going on hikes with the boys and having conversations about the trees -- What kind of tree is it? How old is the tree? Who lives in the tree? What can we do to take care of the trees? Learning to respect all living things is an amazing gift you can give your child. As you take your nature walks this week show your child the webs outside. An early morning walk, with the dew on the webs, is a perfect time for finding spider webs. The dew drops will highlight the webs in the gardens and make it easier for the children to see them. It is also a good time to look for nests in the trees now that the leaves have fallen. Ask your child where he/she thinks the birds live during the winter. You can ask them where they think the spiders go when it is cold. We will be talking about homes for animals, and people, during the next few weeks. ~Teacher Janice During pumpkin week we will talk about the color, size, shape, texture and weight of pumpkins. I will have some pumpkins on the screen to show the children. We will explore the pumpkin and see what is inside one.
Learning through sensory experiences is one of the many ways your child develops their awareness of the world around them. Talk to your child about the pumpkins you have at home and the ones you see growing in a garden/at the pumpkin farm. If you go to a farm you have an opportunity to talk to them about where food comes from and how plants grow. If you buy your pumpkin at the store you can find some books about farms and food or research it online. When you cut open your pumpkin you have a great opportunity to teach your child new words. Words that describe the texture of the inside of a pumpkin and words that describe their feelings while they are exploring a cut open pumpkin. Remember that some kids love to get messy and others will just want to watch as you pull a handful of goopy seeds out of the pumpkin. Either way your child is learning and creating new pathways of information in his/her brain. These early learning experiences are stored and used to build their foundation for later learning. We will talk about a variety of ways your child learns but one of them is through sensory play. Touch. (from an article by Danielle Steinberg)
As we start the month of October we will be exploring leaves, trees, pumpkins and spiders. I love being outside in the fall....well actually outside in any season.
There is so much your child can learn when they are outside. Just walking on the ground is a learning experience. For many children walking on uneven ground is something that they do not experience on a regular basis. They spend a lot of time walking on the level floor at home or on the sidewalk outside but they may not be out in the woods or walking on a trail with roots and rocks. Giving them an opportunity to learn how to balance on uneven ground helps them to build core strength, develop a sense of how their body works and allows them to take safe risks. When you allow your child to determine if it is something they feel safe doing it builds a sense of pride when they are successful. You can set up safe risk with developmentally appropriate activities. For the little ones just crossing over the tree root is a big accomplishment and for the older children climbing on the big rock may feel like they have scaled a mountain. If they try and can't do what they attempted then they have a chance to deal with disappointment and reassess what they are capable of doing. When you are there to help them set up safe risks you are allowing them to build their self confidence, learn how their body works and how they can safely explore the world around them. When they are outside they have an opportunity to discover how they are a part of this world we live in. This week we will be investigating leaves. We will talk about colors, size, shape and texture. When you take your child on a leaf walk ask them questions about the trees. You can ask what color the leaves are and what trees have changed colors. You can listen to the wind and the sound the leaves make when they are walked on. Compare a leaf that has fallen on the ground and one that is still on the tree. You can talk about an evergreen tree versus a deciduous tree. I found out an interesting fact about needles and leaves. It may not seem like it, but needles are leaves. They do the same job that broad leaves do— capture sunlight, “inhale” carbon dioxide, and “exhale” oxygen—providing the tree with food and air for us to breath...Needles have a thick, waxy coating that retains more water than a regular leaf. Learn something new everyday -- it should be a goal for you because it is definitely something your child does every day! Danielle had Ansel and Zoe make a fall picture for the cedar "leaves" they found today. They were at OO Denny Park. They made a beautiful picture collage using the leaves they found from the evergreen trees. I had not thought of collecting the types of leaves they collected as I have always thought of fall leaves that are red, orange and yellow from deciduous trees. We will be examining different leaves this week and I will add cedar tree 'leaves' to the mix. You may want to make a collage out of them on the day we make our leaf collage by using cedar leaves instead of dried deciduous leaves. Fall is so much fun! Be sure to take a small bag or little treasure box to fill up on your nature walks. We will have lots of activities this week that have natural items as part of the project. A fun way to gather items is to go on a Color Walk and try to find something that matches a specific color -- red leaves, brown pine cones, yellow dandelion and a grey rock. Every leaf speaks bliss to me Fluttering from an autumn tree. ~ Emily Bronte Have fun walking in nature and listening to the leaves! ~Janice This is Apple Week and we are officially starting the fall activities....and it definitely is starting to feel like Fall! I am always sad to see the summer season come to an end but I have to admit I love fall. I love the sounds of the leaves crunching under my feet as I walk in the woods or on the sidewalk in the neighborhood. I love the taste of warm apples in apple dumplings and the smell of apple cider and cinnamon simmering on the stove. It is fun to eat a cup of chili on a picnic in the mountains on a sunny day as you sit under the colorful leaves and listen to a river. So many memories of times spent outside in the fall with my family. For my family making applesauce is a family tradition. My mom would make batches of canned applesauce each fall. When Joel and Nick moved out of the house she would make them their own jars of applesauce to have in their apartments. She no longer cans, and I never felt comfortable canning, so we no longer have homemade applesauce sitting in the cupboard. What we do have is my version of homemade applesauce and we will be making it this week! It is so easy to make, yummy to eat and makes the house smell so good. As Joel and Nick got older it was one of their afternoon snacks when they got home from school. It is a comfort food for both of them. This year we may see a change to our family traditions. For some of you most of the traditions may stay the same and for some of us there will be a lot of changes. For me and Curt there will be so many of the fall traditions that we will have to change. I was just chatting about this with a family friend that has been a part of so many of our family activities. We always camped together, carved pumpkins together and spent time taking long, leaf walks at Discovery Park. Even though we cannot be together like we usually have been we are planning some new traditions. Carving pumpkins outside in the back yard while drinking our hot cider is on the calendar -- hopefully on a dry, sunny afternoon! There are many ways you can connect with family and friends this fall you may need to readjust the tradition or make a new one. One tradition you could add to your family activities is making applesauce together. It can be done in-person outside or over a virtual chat with the grandparents. It is easy to do and provides a point of connection that will bring back fun memories each fall. Another fun tradition is a fall walk. As you walk around the neighborhood point out to your child the different trees on your walk. Talk about trees that bear fruit, trees that loose their leaves and trees that stay green all year long. Collect some leaves and compare the colors, look for ‘helicopters’ (as we call the maple seed pods that are all over the ground right now), see if you can find acorns and chestnuts, look for pinecones of different sizes and see if you can find a spider web with dew or raindrops on the web. The spiders are quite active this year. I found 5 different webs in just one bush in the front yard today! On your walks it is also a time to talk about patterns. There are so many places you see patterns. Show your child things that look the same, things that repeat A maple leaf is an excellent example of symmetry that you can show your child. Another is the waves at the beach and patterns they make on the sand. You can show them patterns on their clothing, patterns from shadows on the wall as well as patterns they can make with their bubbles. Our sons loved to do bubbles is in the bath. Try adding some bubble fun to the bath. When they are wet the bubbles will stick to their skin without popping. You can make multiple bubbles and talk about the pattern the bubbles make. There are patterns in nature, patterns in words and patterns in math. Can you think of a favorite pattern to share with your child? If you want to find out more about patterns this is an interesting article to read about the different kinds of patterns. Natural patterns include symmetries, trees, spirals, meanders, waves, foams, tessellations, cracks and stripes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterns_in_nature I am looking forward to making some applesauce and some memories with the children next week! “Cooking is a way to teach kids about reading and math”. Emeril Lagasse ~Teacher Janice Friends and Family Week
We will continue taking about your child and how they are part of our community. This fall we will talk about homes, food, people, emotions and the world around them. At home you can talk about who is in your family, who lives at your house and who lives in other places but are still part of your family. You can talk about places people live — houses, apartment, farms, cities, in the mountains and by the water. When you are out on a walk (and hopefully we will be able to do that again soon!) you can talk about the people in our community and what they do when they are working. It is a great time to talk about the people in your family and what they do for work. Joel told us that when Ansel is pretending to be PaPa 'he talks in a deep voice and says he is going to go work on a project’! Children are aware of our activities and this is a time to add to their vocabulary, and their understanding, of what people are doing to help their community and family. As you talk about what people do for work, and for fun, you can ask them what they like to do with their family. What makes them happy when they are with family. It is a time to talk about emotions as well. When we are sad who helps us feel better? When we are sad what can we do to make ourself feel better? What happens when we are mad? How can we help someone else if they are feeling sad or mad. How can you tell if someone is sad? How can you tell when someone is happy? Be sure to let them know how you are feeling and how you are going to deal with it. You can say — I am feeling happy and want to dance. I am sad and want a hug. I am mad and need a chance to be by myself. I was wrong and need to say I am sorry. Giving children words to use with their emotions, and the actions that can be taken, gives them a strong emotional base to build on as they grow. Emotional Intelligence is the "capacity to be aware of, control, and express ones emotions” according to Daniel Goleman. We will work on his 5 key elements this year: ~ Self-awareness ~ Self -regulation ~ Motivation ~ Empathy ~ Social Skills More than ever we are dependent on our family and friends this year. I have realized how important my family is and how I had taken for granted my interactions with them. This is a great time to build that connection with your child as well as teaching them the importance of strong relationships with other people. Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. Robert Louis Stevenson ~Teacher Janice Welcome to Crown Hill Explorers!
I am excited to see all of you as we start our new school year. It is a different start to our school year but I think it will be a great adventure this year. It is an adventure for all of us as we re-think the world we knew and discover new things about ourselves, our families and our community. I will never take for granted giving someone a hug. I will value human interaction more than I had in the past and I will continue to work on ways to connect with the people in my life. This morning I waited patiently for the gentleman in front of me in the grocery line to go and get something he needed -- masks! He was almost finished when he realized he had not found them and was wanting them. It was a simple gesture but it meant a lot to him to not have to get back in line to purchase the masks. I think it is important to take time to connect with other people right now. What can you do each day to connect with your child? To make a stranger feel better with a kind gesture or action? To give yourself a hug and say to yourself I can do this? As we start this year I will miss the way I have always started the school year but I will treasure the fact that we can still connect with each other, that we can still share a smile or action that makes someone feel better, and we can do this together! We will be a stronger community as we move through this adventure together. During our first week we will be learning about ME!. We will have a story called I LIKE ME and we will sing songs that talk about ‘me’ and ‘my body’. This whole year we will talk about our 5 Senses. As we help children see the world around them we can also help them ‘see’ with their hands, their nose, their ears and their mouth. I will encourage you to take the children out in nature and to explore their world using their 5 Senses. I will also encourage you to read to them. There are so many books that will help your child to ‘see’ the world through literature. Take the time to explore both the physical world around you and to explore the world of books. Use the words associated with our senses when you are outside exploring and inside your home when you are talking with your child. You can ask your child to ‘listen’ as they crunch the leaves on a walk, ‘look’ at the colors of the leaves in the trees, ‘taste’ the apple they have for a snack, ‘smell’ the food as it cooks for dinner and ‘feel’ the slippery soap during their bath. This year we will spend a lot of time encouraging the children to engage in the world around them by using their 5 Senses and developing an awareness of how their body works by interacting with their world – inside and outside. “This is the Way” Circle Time - page 51 This is the way we wash our hands, wash our hands, wash our hands. This is the way we wash our hands So early in the morning. We will add this song to our list of songs this week. Washing hands has always been important for the children but it is even more important this fall. It is a fun song to sing while they wash their hands and brush their teeth. You can add verses to the song to help your child with an activity they may not want to do. Singing is a great way to ease a power struggle when asking your child to do something they may not be all that excited to do -- put on your shoes, get in your car seat, pick up your toys. You can add verses that are things they are struggling with or things that are just fun. Singing uses different brain pathways and can help a child to manage a difficult situation as well as just adding fun and enjoyment to their day. I look forward to getting to know you and your child this year! ~Teacher Janice
It is hard to believe tomorrow is September! I love the beginning of Fall but I am always sad to see Summer end. At the moment it seems we are being given a gift of both seasons! Crisp, foggy mornings turning to warm, sunny afternoons with clear evenings. With the yesterday’s surprise rain we will have a wonderful view of the stars and the amazing moon tonight This will be a great week to venture out on a destination hike. With the change in the weather there is so much to see and experience while on a hike. It is a perfect time to explore the textures of nature on your hike. You can pick up a green leaf and feel the difference between it and a brown leaf that has fallen from the tree. Find a tree that has smooth bark and one that has rough bark. Already did that on a previous walk? Well, guess what?! They will find this a new and fun game on this walk as well. Please, remember repetition is how they learn. Take a piece of paper and a fat crayon to make bark prints, rub the crayon on the paper as it rests on the tree bark and talk about how one is different from the other. If you are at the beach you can do the texture print using a piece driftwood and a seashell. Send them on a scavenger hunt to find things that are the same or different. What can they find that is smooth and slimy, smooth and cold, smooth and soft? What can they find that is rough and hard? How is a barnacle different from the rock it is attached to? So many different textures at the beach…so much fun to exploring. As the sand slides through their hand talk about how it feels. Is it cold? Is it smooth or gritty? When they touch the tree bark you can ask, 'What does the bark on that tree look like?' While you have a conversation about texture you can add new words to their vocabulary. Be sure to use words they are familiar with to help build their vocabulary. They might already know “wet” but “moist” may be a new word for them. Giving them examples of gradation is a way to build their vocabulary. Wet – soaked, moist, damp. Rough – bumpy, ridges, smooth. Soft – pliable, delicate, hard. Find words that are intriguing to them and add them to their vocabulary. Play with words and make a game using them. Zoe just realized that coat and boat rhyme. She loved saying the two words over and over again as she made this discovery. Children like playing with words just like they like playing with their toys. Silly words, words that sound the same, words that can be said in a different tone. Playing is how they learn. There are so many discoveries you can make outside in nature. They can use all of their senses: they can see their world all around them, there is always something making a noise to hear, they can learn to touch living things gently, there are things they can eat (be sure to teach them the importance of checking before putting something in their mouth) and things they can smell. The outdoor world is a place of adventure. It is a place they can sit still and watch or run and be free to move their bodies. Enjoy taking a walk or hike outside this week. Nature’s wonders are waiting for you. Go outside and find them! Here are three places to go and explore – Danielle, Ansel and Zoe tested ;-) https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/redmond-watershed-preserve https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/soaring-eagle-park https://parks.state.wa.us/496/Dash-Point ~Teacher Janice ,Happy Monday!
It is hard to believe we are heading into the last full week of August. This morning on my walk it felt a lot like fall. The air was cool, with the scent of saltwater, and there was the sound of leaves crunching under my feet. Yes, the leaves are starting to fall already. Our maple trees are turning colors and telling me summer is slowly winding down. With the change of seasons I will encourage you to get outside and find a special hike, trail or a spot with a tree to observe this fall. Make this a place where you can stop and enjoy watching your special tree as it changes colors this fall, what wildlife is visiting your tree and how the weather is impacting your tree. Or maybe your tree does not change colors and stays green all year long. It is a wonderful time to talk about the different kinds of trees and why some change colors and why some stay the same. One of the places our family enjoyed going for an evening walk was Discovery Park. We had a special hike we took and we knew that trail well. We would watch for little animals as they busied themselves getting ready for winter, listen for the owls, feel the breeze as we popped out of the woods and onto the grassy spot near the blackberry bushes. So many memories are woven around our family time at Discovery Park. It is a wonder in the city. The maple leaves are colossal and the blackberries delicious. The scents change with the seasons and there is always something to observe. It is exciting to see what is happening along the trail that we would always walk on. Curt and I still walk the same trail. There is always something changing or different and there is always something that is the same. It is comforting to know that some things don't change even when life is changing and very different. There are some things in nature that remain the same -- the trees will lose their leaves in the fall, the air will smell of the saltwater, some the birds will fly south and the squirrels will burrow into their winter nests. Even the change is the same. We can anticipate the changes and be a part of the rhythm of nature. For children their world is full of 'always different'. They are learning all about the world they live in and to them it can be full of new and different even when it seems the same to you. They learn through repetition and repetition can be very comforting for them. Part of the rhythm of childhood is repetition. Repetition gives them the comfort of knowing what will happen next. Repetition also allows them to acquire skills. For a child to master a skill they need to have the opportunity to explore, and engage, with that activity many, many times. That is why they like to read the same book, sing the same song, go on the same walk, play with the same toys. By exploring the way the playdough responds when they roll it with a rolling pin, roll it between their fingers and squish it with a block they are discovering how the playdough changes and how it stays the same with manipulation. They are imprinting this information in their brain to be used at a later date. They need lots of experiences to build their library of skills and knowledge. Being outside in nature engages all of their 5 senses and helps them to develop their awareness of their world and how they are a part of this world. They can see the colors of the leaves, hear the sounds of the waves, touch the textures of the bark, taste the blackberries and feel the wind on their face. The more opportunities they have to be outside the wider their knowledge base becomes. They will learn the difference between the feel of the bark of a magnolia tree and the bark of a cedar tree. They can tell the difference of the sound of a crow and of an owl. They will feel the difference of wind on their face and rain on their face. It is important to allow them to have a variety of experiences so they can understand how things are different and how things are the same. Be sure to allow them to engage in the safety net of what they know along with experiencing the excitement of things that are new. Here are a few local parks and trails for you and your family to get to know. We will be collecting items from nature for several of our activities this year and on your nature walks you can find items to share with the other children during small group time. You can also create a specific walk around your neighborhood or even around your yard. Watch a garden as it goes from summer bounty to fall foliage. Find a tree to observe as it changes with the season this year. Adopt a special tree to be 'your tree' and keep a journal of what is happening with 'your tree'. You can note the leaves as they change colors, the nest you can see when the leaves fall, the snow as it sits on the branches, the new buds in the spring and the new nests being built in 'your tree'. Watch to see who lives in 'your tree'. Spiders, birds, squirrels? Get to know nature in your yard, your neighborhood and on your walks in the woods. All of these walks/hikes have been places Danielle has taken Ansel and Zoe this summer. I will send out more from her list (and it's a long list) of fun places to explore, and spend time in nature, with your family in my weekly notes to you. Local parks / hikes 1) Discovery Park. https://www.seattle.gov/parks/find/parks/discovery-park 2) Carkeek Park. https://www.seattle.gov/parks/find/parks/carkeek-park 3) Llandover Woods https://www.seattle.gov/parks/find/parks/llandover-woods-greenspace 4) Krukeberg Botanic Garden https://www.kruckeberg.org 5) Richmond Beach https://www.shorelinewa.gov 6) Forest Park https://everettwa.gov/Facilities/Facility/Details/Forest-Park-23 7) Schmitz Preserve https://www.seattle.gov/parks/find/parks/schmitz-preserve-park Enjoy the world around you!] ~Teacher Janice Song Time Tuesday and Wednesday this week at 10:00 SUMMER SESSION WEEK SIX
Printmaking Wow! The time has gone by so quickly. This is our last week of class. We will be making prints in class this week. Printmaking and rubbings are fun for the children to do and you can do most of them with minimal materials. The weather has definitely felt like summer so I am including a few water ideas as well. Bubble Prints An easy and fun art activity is to make prints out of bubbles. Add some color to a mixture of bubbles and dish soap. You can add glycerin if you have some. To make bubble prints you can either blow the bubbles on to the paper or make bubbles and lay the paper on top of the bubbles. Bubble Print by Blowing: Outside: ~Tape a piece of paper to chair/table/fence. Let you child blow bubbles onto the paper. Use several colors if you choose. Inside: ~Cover the table or floor and let your child blow the bubble mixture onto paper that is on a flat surface. ~Blow the bubbles onto a paper towel. After they have dried you can cut the paper towel in to squares and use it for napkins at the next meal. Making Bubble Prints with a Straw: In a bowl pour the colored bubble mixture. With a straw blow into the bubble mixture until you have a lot of frothy bubbles coming up above the top of the bowl. Gently lay a piece of paper onto the top of the bubbles to make a bubble print. Nature Print: Find some leaves, ferns and flowers that are fairly flat. Lay the leaf/fern/flower on a paper bag or surface that can be cleaned. Paint the leaf/fern/flower. Carefully lift it off the paper bag and set it on a clean surface. Press a piece of paper onto the painted surface. Lift off the paper and you will have a print from the leaf/fern/flower Crayon Nature Rubbing: Set a leaf/fern/flower on a flat surface. Lay a piece of paper over the leaf/fern/flower. Tear the paper off of a fat crayon. Gently rub the long side of the crayon over the surface of the plant. Add more than one color and a variety of plants to make several rubbings on one piece of paper. Crayon Texture Rubbings: You can make rubbings from any surface that has a pronounced surface. Lace, baskets, bark on a tree, the sidewalk, etc. Lay the piece of paper onto the textured surface and press a pealed crayon on the surface. Rub back and forth the get the rubbing. Spray Bottle RAIN Painting: Fill several spray bottles with water and add different colors to the water (liquid water color or food coloring) Tape a large piece of paper to the fence, or between two chairs on the grass. Or you can lay plastic, paper, or towels you don’t care get stained, under the paper. Let the children spray the water onto the paper. The spray will look like clouds and then the clouds will rain on the paper. Add more color and watch it rain again and again. Water Painting: Don’t want to get messy with paint? Just fill the spray bottle with water and spray the water on the deck, sidewalk, house to make designs that will be there and then disappear. You can also paint with paint brushes. The children will paint and paint with water. The birds and other wildlife need water during the summer. Set out water for the birds and butterflies in shallow containers. The birds like a shallow container of just water and the butterflies prefer there to be rocks to sit on while they drink. Have Fun! Please, keep in touch and send pictures when you have time. I will miss all of you! ~Teacher Janice SUMMER SESSION WEEK FIVE
COOKING WITH CHILDREN This week we will have some food related activities and songs. Children love to feel like they are contributing to the family activities. They love chores – take advantage of this desire to help while they still feel like it is fun! It has been shown that children that help with a meal are more likely to eat the meal than if it is just set in front of them. Picking the veggies from the garden to make a salad and then helping to put the salad together will encourage them to eat this salad at dinner. Children are capable of many simple tasks in the kitchen. They can tear up the lettuce, cut up bananas with a dull knife, butter the bread/toast, set the table and put on napkins. Children can look at pictures in the cookbook and help choose the menu for the meal. They can help with the preparation of that meal. They will learn basic math skills measuring and pouring the ingredients into a bowl, new vocabulary words when ‘beating’ the eggs and safety skills when learning about what is hot and what is sharp. These are skills that will help them be safe in the kitchen. Being part of the family meal preparations will help them develop good nutrition habits as they grow up. A great multi-skilled activity is making Kabobs. It teaches patterns, numbers, colors, while developing fine motor skills and good nutrition choices. Set out cubes or small pieces of fruit/tender vegetables for your child to press onto a skewer. If you are going to grill the veggies / fruit on a BBQ soak the wooden skewer before threading the fruit / veggies onto the skewer. Play a game of: ~ Colors -- add a red food, add an orange food, add a white food. ~ Numbers -- have them match a number with the amount added to the skewer. ~ Shapes -- round blueberries/peas, cubed watermelon, circle bananas, triangle cantaloupe. ~ Patterns – draw the pattern on a piece of paper or have them match one skewer pattern with the second skewer. Fruit Smoothies In a blender: Add any kind of soft fruit – banana, blueberries, strawberries Add yogurt Add juice or milk (optional) Add ice cubes (optional) Turn on the blender and blend till the fruit is ‘smooth’ and drinkable. Pour into cups. Pour some smoothie into cups, cover with a piece of aluminum foil with a hole in the center, add a popsicle stick, freeze for tomorrow’s snack. Without the milk/juice this will freeze in a few hours. Fruit Playdough In a Ziploc baggie add ripe fruit and let your child smash it inside the baggie. Once it is 'smooshed up' you can add it to the smoothie mix: pre-smoothied! With the banana peel from the banana you used to make the smoothies you can make a Banana Boat. ~ Place the unpeeled banana on a cutting board so it sits up like a boat in the water. ~ Cut along the ridge of the banana an inch from both ends. Then cut back up leaving the center exposed when you remove that section of the peel. ~ Scoop out the banana. ~ Fill your banana boat with cargo or little ‘people’ made out of fruit ~ Add a little paper sail on a skewer to make it a sailboat ~ Serve it on a blue plate with fishy crackers in the water around the boat. TOAST Children love pushing down the bread in a toaster. Let them be in charge of the toast for breakfast. If you would rather them not have jam on their toast unsweetened applesauce is easy to spread and tastes yummy. We will be having a chance to paint toast this week during class. PAINTED TOAST ¼ cup of milk in small containers – one container for each color Food coloring White bread works best but any bread is fine Q-tips or clean paint brush You can blend the colors and talk about primary colors and what colors added together makes another color. Paint the colors on the white bread using Q-tips or clean paint brushes. Once the designs have been painted you can toast the bread in the toaster or on a cookie sheet in the oven for 6 min @ 350 There are so many foods your child can help you make. They can make the dinner salad, wash the potatoes for the baked potatoes – they may be the cleanest potatoes you have ever baked, make toast for breakfast, stir the eggs for the scrambled eggs and measure the ingredients for bread, cookies or pretzels. While working together in the kitchen with your child you can talk about smells, textures, measurements, utensils, tools, shapes and how the food changes when mixed, cut, baked, cooked. You can teach them about what foods are nutritious and how those foods help their body to grow and stay healthy. Banana Bread 1 ripe banana ¼ cup butter 1 egg ¼ cup vanilla yogurt ¾ cup flour ¼ cup sugar ½ tsp baking powder ½ tsp baking soda ½ tsp vanilla ¼ tsp cinnamon ~ With the peel still on let your child squish the banana until soft. Remove the peel and smash the banana in a bowl ~ Add butter and let your child mix or turn on the mixer. ~ Add yogurt and mix ~ In a separate bowl let your child break the egg. It’s easier to get the broken shell out of a new bowl ;-) ~ Continue mixing and add the flour, sugar, baking powder and soda. ~ Smell the vanilla and add ~ Shake the cinnamon in on top and smell it Pour the batter into a loaf pan that your child has greased. Bake at 325 degrees for 75 minutes. Pretzels are a lot of fun to eat and to make! Now that we can buy yeast again here is a fun recipe that the children can use to make all sorts of shapes – snakes, alphabet letters and whatever shape they choose. PRETZEL DOUGH 1 package dry yeast ¾ cup warm water 1 TBS sugar Pinch of kosher salt 1 cup wheat flour 1 cup white flour 1 egg Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Mix the yeast and warm water. Let set for 5 minutes Add the flours together Add the sugar and salt Mix together with the water/yeast to form a ball. On a floured surface knead the dough then roll it with a rolling pin for 5 minutes. Children love using a rolling pin and if you have a smaller one it is perfect for this recipe. Roll dough into coils to form the pretzel shape or have your child make their own shapes. Brush with a beaten egg Sprinkle with kosher salt (optional) Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. As well as teaching your child safety with sharp tools and hot foods / appliances you need to be aware of food safety. Never eat raw eggs or dough/batter that has a raw egg in it. Be aware that your child will want to taste the foods they are working with. I usually pull out some of the batter or dough before I add an egg and then add the rest of the ingredients so they can eat that dough before it is cooked. Cooking with children is so much fun. You will create memories that will stay with them as they grow up. The smells from the kitchen will bring back the memories of their childhood – and yours. Every time they smell bread dough rising, banana bread baking or the scent of fresh strawberries in a bowl they will be transported back to time spent in the kitchen with their family. Enjoy your time together in the kitchen! Have fun cooking with your child! ~Teacher Janice |
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