SBBK - Cooking 4

Summer Boredom Buster Kids - COOKING!

Here are previous cooking ideas from years PAST.

THIS IS A REPOST!!

Its original post date was : October 2012!

We like to have a little adventure and let the kids make their own dinner...sometimes.

Last night, I wrote a bunch of ingredients on different pieces of paper and the kids chose what we were having.

They chose: Mushroom, Garlic, Spinach, and Pineapples.

(We had pineapples on the side)

We made quesadillas.

 I sauteed mushrooms, garlic, and spinach and put them all in separate bowls.

The kids then built them.

 The kids were pretty happy with their creations.

 It was a fun family night, and made a perfect meatless monday!

*We do this kind of dinner at least once a month. I usually write what randoms I have in my fridge*

SBBK - Games 4 (Giveaway)

Summer Boredom Buster Kids - Games!

My kids LOVE to play board games! How about yours?

Here are 3 of my favorites:

Clumsy Witch

Inspector Rabbit

Mummy's Treasure

All of these games are from Haba

They are such a great company!

I am giving away TWO $50 egiftcards to Haba and all you have to do is leave a comment on FB telling me what is your favorite game to play with your kids. I will close comments Saturday at 10pm Eastern.

You can also leave a comment HERE on this post because that gives you another chance. Blog Comments will be turned off at the same time!

2 chances to win!

Good Luck my Friends!

Summer 2014

I made some Labels for the Activities we are going to do with the kids this summer. You can download them HERE.  Most of the fonts are from an old Creative Lettering book, written by: Becky Higgins.  I used her fonts because my kids could color them, AND they are so adorable!

After I printed them out, we colored them, cut them, and laminated them.

Right now they are in a box, waiting for MONDAY, and the activities that awaits my kids.

In the past, I have been over scheduled (I know, I know) and it was too much on them and me, and it became unfun/hard. I had a husband in school full time, and work full time, and a preemie on therapy, that it was too hard to do my regimented, timed, activities.

For instance from 9-10 Art Time. Well, if we had sick kids and it didn't happen that day I would feel "behind" in our day. That would stress me out, and then it became a mad dash to squeeze everything in for the day. So this year, with 3 kids going to Full Time School in the Fall, and 2 toddlers...I decided to revamp my summer program with my babes.

Instead of over-schooling them in the summer, I have devised simple-quick, educational activities to keep them engaged through out the summer, while still letting them be kids. Because lets face it, that is just what they are...KIDS!

I am calling this Summer: SBBK
Summer Boredom Busters for Kids

 We talked about what we are going to do over the summer.
I decided that the labels we worked on together, will be hidden each day, so they can figure out what we are doing, and get excited about it! We will do one activity in the morning, and one in the afternoon.

What?

EXAMPLE: I will hide the Geography sign somewhere in the house.
Once they find it, that will let them know what we are working on for that day.

They will get dressed, eat breakfast, and then clean their rooms, clean their teeth and faces, etc. 
before we do activity #1.
This helps me get my stuff together while they are busily getting ready for the day.

Since I hid the label the night before, I can decide on what we are going to do, and pre-prep it for the following day ahead of time. (no scrambling around for me!)

Once the kids are ready, I will have that item ready on the kitchen table, or art table, and wait for everyone to be ready. I will explain the rules, and the how to's there and then let them have at it.

After that activity, we will discuss (if needed), then clean up, and then they have free time or whatever we need to do for that day (ex. grocery shopping, or laundry, most likely laundry)

After lunch and naps/quiet time, we will regroup at the table and do activity #2 (same label)
We will discuss, have afternoon snack and then free time or what ever we need to finish for that day.
(ex. pick up toy room, make dinner, do dishes, most likely dish mountain)

This is how I am planning that our summers will go.
I will post what we do for each topic to give you some ideas, and if you have some of your own, PLEASE SHARE!!!

I hope to hear from ya'll soon!

Edible Mosaics

I just got back from a much needed, and deserved (if I do say so myself) vacation without my kids to New York!  While I was there, we saw several mosaics in the subway stations throughout Manhattan.

It was incredible. I took pictures of each one I saw.

When I got back to my children, I decided to teach them all about Mosaics.

I am not an art expert, but, what a perfect opportunity to showcase something awesome to my children!

We talked about what Mosaics are : a picture or other design constructed from smaller pieces.

I also realized that I have a few of these types of art pieces at my house.

Cool right?

So I grabbed some Graham Crackers, Frosting, Cheerios, Puffs, Marshmallows, Sprinkles, Reeses Pieces, and Mini M&M's and had the kids make their own "edible mosaics"

3 year old and almost 2 year old

yellow shirt 5 year old.

They were so quiet and precise. It was a great activity for all ages, even my 1 year old.

Time to eat!

Blue shirt 6 years old.

Please excuse this display of poor manners. It was my fault. I said "is it good?" and then snapped this as he said yes!

This whole week we will be working on different mosaics.

If you like this type of activity and want more, please leave me a comment and let me know!

If you want something else...tell me!

Also, hi to my new followers from MO! 

Quick Date!

We meet our friends for lunch, or at chick-fil-a.

A lot of my friends who work meet over coffee.

How about taking time out for some hot chocolate and a sweet treat.

Some one on one (or in my case 5 to 2) time!

 I promise the conversations, and the $3.00 will be worth it!

I love these little moments and discussions that we have as a family.

Cooking : Meatless Monday/Mystery Dinner

We like to have a little adventure and let the kids make their own dinner...sometimes.

Last night, I wrote a bunch of ingredients on different pieces of paper and the kids chose what we were having.

They chose: Mushroom, Garlic, Spinach, and Pineapples.

(We had pineapples on the side)

We made quesadillas.

 I sauteed mushrooms, garlic, and spinach and put them all in separate bowls.

The kids then built them.

 The kids were pretty happy with their creations.

 It was a fun family night, and made a perfect meatless monday!

Kitchen Time : Fall Mix 1 & 2

We try really hard to eat healthy foods in our house.

I am not crazy about it, but we try. :)

I love fall baking, and my children love to make anything - so it worked out that the first cold snap was a baking day!

We made Apple Cinnamon Chex Mix

 And, Halloween Crack.

Taking time out of our busy schedules and spending time in the kitchen with our children teaches them so much. Yes, it requires patience, extra clean up, and loads more time, but it is worth the effort.

Did we do a full organic meal? No. 

Did we teach them advanced techniques? No.

But, we made something together, and this is something they will remember. 

Take some time and make a fun easy treat with your kiddos. :)

Here is something interesting I found on the web.

By Elaine Magee, MPH, RD

Indeed, cooking with kids can be the gift that keeps on giving; it has both short-term and long-term payoffs.

Some of the short-term benefits:

• It encourages kids to try healthy foods.
• Kids feel like they are accomplishing something and contributing to the family.
• Kids are more likely to sit down to a family meal when they helped prepare it.
• Parents get to spend quality time with their kids.
• Kids aren't spending time in front of the TV or computer while they're cooking.
• Kids generally aren't eating junk food when they're cooking a meal at home.

Some long-term benefits:

• Learning to cook is a skill your children can use for the rest of their lives.
• Kids who learn to eat well may be more likely to eat healthfully as adults.
• Positive cooking experiences can help build self-confidence.
• Kids who cook with their parents may even be less likely to abuse drugs.

 Awesome!

Night Time Potty Training - PART 1

I have had several emails and comments about night time toilet training.

So, lets address it!

image from Googleimages

Kids are potty trained during the day waaaaaaay before they are potty trained at night.

It is a lot easier for kids (and parents) to identify their body signals when they are awake. Usually because they are in the middle of something when they get the urge to do the dance or "hold it."

Toddlers sleep very soundly and usually wet the bed for months after they have been day trained because their brain and their (potty) muscle aren't in sync yet.  Statistics show that 60% of toddlers are both day and night trained by the time they are 3 - BUT - even by age 6, 15% are STILL having wet accidents.

What is the question? How do I night time train?

I do it a couple of different ways. When I am teaching classes to parents I tell them to wait till they are day trained before tackling the night training because we want to emphasise the success of the day training.

The biggest issue with night training is that they don't know they are wetting or eliminating as they are doing it, it is only after (sometimes) when they are still wet that we all realize it has happened.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

ONE

Do you have a mattress pad?

Do you have thick training pants?

If not, do that first. Pee stinks!

Also, doing this lets your child know you are serious about night time training.

TWO

Do not let your potty trainee drink a lot of liquids after dinner. If this is a habit, break it right away.

Once they are night time trained, you can slowly ease back into it.

I have a lot of parents who rely on a night time milk or sippy to get their child to bed, that is setting them up to fail. "here, fill your bladder, then go to bed!" uh, no!

THREE

I do several bathroom trips before bed.

One after dinner, one after teeth brushing, one last one after books and then they will go to bed.

That is three tries before they hit the sack!

Now, if this doesn't work I would go ahead and wake them up before YOU (the trainer) go to bed.

It stinks at first, but until they can "hold it" it is just a part of their routine.

I would only wake them up if:

1) they haven't eliminated at ALL in step three

2) they did go in step three, but still manage to wet at night

3) had a "good night drink"

FOUR

Most kids after going thorugh this rigamaroll for a few weeks will go through the night fully trained.

If not, do not make them feel guilty or punished if they wake up wet.

I would enlist them in helping with the clean up.

If you think they are too little to do that, then take a breather from night time training for a few weeks and try again.

Please remember that putting your child in underwear at night won't speed up the process.

They are ready when they are ready. :)

Edible Butterflies

Since I have 3 girls, over the years I have done different butterfly snacks. Here are 2 of them.

Butterfly treat bags in 2010:

They are snack sized ziplocs, filled with robins eggs and jellybeans and M&Ms then twisted and clipped with a clothes pin that my kids decorated with glitter paint.

Then, we had Butterfly cupcakes in 2010:

 These are jumbo marshmallows cut in 1/2 then dipped (sticky side down) in sprinkles. Gummy worm bodies. and voila! done!

All these treats were for a Butterfly Bash for my middle daughter's 1st birthday:

 Who is now 3! Sniff!

Kidspace Museum, Pasadena CA

We took the kids on a 2 week vacation and this was one of our stops.

Kidspace

We had been there once before, when we only had 2 kids and thought now that we have 5 it might be fun to go again! It is a great place and here are some highlights.

Digging Deeper Exhibit is where all these "bug" themed pictures are from.

The new baby is sleeping behind this old baby. :)

This exhibit sparked a lot of questions in my family, so we will be doing bugs for the next few weeks.

I hope you like it! Also, if you have any ideas, please let me know!

Crepe Weaving

I grabbed these grates from the microwave. If you have a toaster oven - you could use that too! 

The paper rolls were from someone's birthday.

I tore them into strips and then had them weave.

Everyone was focused on this activity.

My one year old plopped into my lap and wanted to do it too.

It is times like these that make me realize how important it is to stop and "play" with my children.

They need it, and pretty soon they turn 5 and don't "need" me anymore.

I encourage you to pick an activity and DO it with your children.

They truly love to explore and learn WITH you.

Also - save the crepe paper "scraps" I will be using it in another activity. Recycling! YES!