Snack fit for a Toddler

I know it's been a while since I've posted. Back to school time always seems to be such a busy time. Getting everyone settled into a new routine always proves to more difficult than I expect. For now I am posting a super simple and easy snack idea. I promise to get back to better postings next week. 

OK for some reason blogger won't let me put pictures on here so you'll have to survive with no photos for now. Anyway onto the snacking part.

What you'll need:

crackers (I used whole wheat ritz crackers)

peanut butter (or anyother nut butter)

banana

Yep that's it. Really. Spread a little peanut butter onto your crackers then top with a slice of banana and your have a yummy snack that your kids will fight over. Well mine do anyway because I can only make them so fast and they fight over who gets the next one. LOL 

Enjoy! 

Cereal Necklace

I think at one point in time every child does this activity. I know I did and all 4 of mine have done it more than once. 

Things you'll need:

String (I used ones from a sewing activity that I saved after the card board pieces were worn out. Of course   I washed them in the washing machine before we used them)

plate or bowl

cereal with a hole in the middle

Tape (if you use yarn)

First thing you want to do is take a piece of tape and wrap it around the end of your string if it doesn't have a hard end on it already. The tape makes it easier for little fingers. I used shoe strings so I didn't have to do this step. Then take one piece of cereal and tie it on the string as shown below. This prevents the cereal from coming off the other end of the string and falling to the floor. 

 We chose to use fruit loops for 2 reasons. 1: They are a bit bigger and easier for smaller fingers to handle and 2: We are learning colors and this was a great chance to talk about colors with them. I would occasionally say something like "what color are you putting on?" or "Andrew, Katey is putting on a blue one can you find a blue one to put on?" It wasn't constant but just a few prompts here and there to get them talking a little.  

 Of course they were eating as they were stringing. LOL

Katey kept showing me each piece before she put hers on as you can see in the picture below. I let them tell me all about the cereal and how they were making a pretty necklace. I had to help and encourage the 2 littlest one quite a bit to keep them going because at first they were having a hard time. A little bit of help and a LOT of encouragement goes a long way. 

 Even the older kids had a good time with the project. Sarah separated her's by color. Albert started to make a pattern but quickly gave that up. He did a few small patterns through out the necklace but he doesn't have the concentration needed to keep going with one pattern for to long. 

 So when they are all done with their necklaces simply tie the ends together and you have a beautiful snack! When I tied them together I left a little empty string in the necklace part so that they didn't have cereal on the back of their necks.

Have fun and Enjoy the chatter and smiles!

Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

Honey Mustard Sauce!!

This recipe is super easy and one of my favorite dipping sauces! 

Things you'll need:  pictured below

(I don't actually measure but if you are going to actually measure substitute a measuring spoon for the teaspoon)

 Put equals parts honey, mustard and mayo into you bowl. I usually use 2 tablespoons of each. Then put a dash or so of Worcestershire sauce(or in the words of Emeril what's that here sauce). It ends being about 1/4 teaspoon of the sauce.

Then whisk if you have one of these wonderful little whisks or mix with a fork.

And you have yummy sauce to smother your chicken nuggets! Sometimes for a bit of extra flavor I put mustard powder in it. You can also add a bit of hot sauce. I have also made this with different kinds of mustard. They all turned out well. So you don't have to use regular yellow mustard but that's usually all I have on hand.

Hope you ENJOY!! If you try this or any of my ideas on this blog page let me know how it turns out.

crown craft

First I would like to apologize for the bad quality pictures. I took them with my phone and the sun was shining in the window so they came out blurry. Sitting at the table was as close to being still as I could get them so this is all we have for pictures this time.

Today's post is a fun and super simple craft. 

Things you'll need:

construction paper

scissors

crayons or markers

stickers or other things to put on your crown

tape or stapler

My oldest daughter did this with the kids and here is what she did. She let the kids pick a color of construction paper. Cut Down the middle of the paper long ways cut a zig zag line to create the points. The paper she used was left over stuff so in the pictures you see it isn't as tall as it would normally be. Then you take the 2 sides paper and staple or tape two the pieces together but only one end because it still needs to lay flat so they can decorate. 

Then let them decorate by coloring, sticking, and gluing until they are satisfied it's beautiful.

Then staple or glue it so that it's a circle. 

And you have a beautiful princess......

 and handsome prince! They even made a crown for their 'special friends'. (aka the animals they carry everywhere.)

We did this activity yesterday and they wore them all day yesterday. Then as soon as they woke up today they put them on. So I guess this activity was a success for them. In the future I will try to take better and more pictures of the work in progress.

Snack Carrots

My kids love munching on carrots. However the little ones have a hard time with them. So I have come up with a solution........

Boil your carrots. Duh why didn't I think of this a long time ago. Cook the carrots until they are softer but still a little firm. Then cool, put in a reusable plastic container or ziploc bag. Then your little ones won't have such a hard time eating them. My oldest son doesn't like to eat them so he warms his up first but the others eat theirs cold like they would a raw carrot. Yummy, easy and healthy snack!