Self-Help/Adaptive Development

Grilled Cheese Pumpkin

October 15, 2010 by Jenae — 3 Comments

Transform a family favorite into a festive fall sandwich with only 2 extra steps!

1. Melt the butter and add a drop of red and 2 drops of yellow food coloring.

2. Let your little one paint the butter onto the bread.

3. Put a slice of cheese between the two piece of bread and put on the skillet. Grill until lightly browned on both sides.

4. Use a pumpkin cookie cutter to cut out the sandwich.

5. And serve! I won’t lie…Big Brother took one bite of this and said, “I don’t like it, it tastes funny.” I think we might have slathered a little bit too much butter on the bread.

Look who’s feeling better! Little Brother has been REALLY sick for the past couple days but seems to have turned a corner today. It’s so good to have my sweet, happy baby back!

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Filed Under: 1-2 Years, 2-3 years, 3-5 years, Leaves and Pumpkins, Self-Help/Adaptive Development, Snacks

Red Hot Applesauce

September 27, 2010 by Jenae — 4 Comments

As a child, I used to look forward to getting Red Hot Applesauce for Christmas every year from a dear family friend of ours. It is a delicious treat and quite possibly the best applesauce I’ve ever had (thanks to the Red Hot candies in it).

I came up with my own recipe for making it. It’s super easy and very yummy!

Here’s what you’ll need: 6-7 apples, 1/2 cup Red Hot candies, and 1/4 cup apple juice or water, potato peeler, apple corer, knife, and 3 quart pot.

1. Peel, core, and cut the apples. Obviously, this part should be done by an adult only.

2. Put in a pot with 1/4 cup apple juice or water. Then add the Red Hots.

3. Stir and cook covered on low heat for 1 hour.

(Be sure and save the seeds…we’ll be using them later on)

4. Blend for a few seconds to get desired texture.

5. Enjoy! Don’t mind the bed head…he just woke up from his nap. :)

You can put them in small baby food jars and add a green pipe cleaner for the apple leaf. This makes for a really fun snack!

Literature Link

Applesauce by Shirley Kurtz

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Filed Under: 3-5 years, Apples, Self-Help/Adaptive Development

"D" for Dinosaur Cookies

September 14, 2010 by Jenae — Leave a Comment

We were going to make these “D” cookies last Friday when “Daddy” came home from his business trip. But since Big Brother had a stomach bug the day before, I didn’t think that would be a good idea. Big Brother started feeling better yesterday (after getting a 2nd round of it Saturday night), so I thought we would make these cookies. :)

Here’s what you’ll need: sugar cookie dough (either homemade or store-bought), “D” cookie cutters, and Dinosaur sprinkles!

1. Mix up the dough (or remove it from the package) and then roll it out on the counter.

2. Use the cookie cutters to punch out the D’s from the dough. Our cookie cutters were way smaller than I remembered, so we ended up making mini cookies.

3. Lay them on the cookie sheet and bake as directed.

4. Frost.

5. Cover with Dinosaur Sprinkles. We got our sprinkles in the cake-decorating section at Target. It is a Wilton sprinkle assortment.

They’re finished and ready to share!

Literature Link

How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You?

How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?

How Do Dinosaurs Clean Their Rooms?

How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?

How Do Dinosaurs Go To School?

The “How Do Dinosaurs” series of books by Jane Yolen (illustrated by Mark Teague) are absolutely adorable! These dinosaurs are personified, making these books even more entertaining and endearing to young children. Check out at least a couple books from this series–they’re sure to be favorites. :)

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Filed Under: Dinosaurs, Self-Help/Adaptive Development

Jello Ocean

August 11, 2010 by Jenae — 5 Comments

Here is a fun snack to make with your little one. The Jello takes about 4 hours to fully set, so you’ll want to leave enough time to make them before you plan on eating!

Here’s what you’ll need: Berry Blue Jello, 2 cups boiling water, 2 cups cold water, clear plastic cups and Gummy fish (we used Finding Nemo Fruit snacks).

UPDATE: I would recommend using “Swedish Fish” or another type of gummy fish rather than the fruit snacks…they disintegrated into the jello after a while and got to be pretty mushy. Big Brother didn’t seem to mind one bit, though!

1. Pour the Jello into the bottom of a large bowl. Boil 2 cups of water. Once the water is boiling, carefully pour and stir it into the bowl until fully dissolved (about 2 minutes).

2. Add 2 cups of cold water and stir.

3. Pour the Jello mixture into individual clear plastic cups so that it is half to 3/4 full.

4. Refrigerate for 40-45 minutes.

5. After 40-45 minutes, remove the cups and place the fruit snacks into the liquid (with clean hands, of course). It should already be firm enough that they won’t immediately sink to the bottom. Swish it gently to remove the evidence of little fingers being inside. :)

6. Put the cups back into refrigerator for another 3 hours or so. After that, they’re ready to enjoy!

1 Box of Jello should make around 9 cups, depending on the size of your cups.

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Filed Under: Ocean and Beaches Thematic Unit, Self-Help/Adaptive Development, Snacks

Banana Airplane Snack

July 19, 2010 by Jenae — 1 Comment

I’m all about using what I have on hand! We used the rice krispie treats and the Keebler cookies I got for 50 cents each at Walgreens a couple weeks ago to make this fun airplane.

Here’s what you’ll need: a banana, pretzel sticks, a cookie, and a rice krispie treat (or you can use something else..whatever you have in your pantry).

1. Have your little one help you peel the banana.