It's smoothie time!

Cooking with kids is a great time to introduce them to math and science concepts! When following a recipe your wee ones will also learn sequencing and ordering and the end project is extra spiffy, don't ya think? For kidlets that aren't reading yet, you can write out "recipe cards" onto large sized index cards or regular old paper. You may want to laminate the cards for repeat usage. Using numbers, symbols and pictures will help get your wee ones started. They aren't reading exactly but they are prereading which is a good start. Keep the recipes simple and initiate a cooking day, your wee ones will surely come back for more! As their literacy skills strengthen, start switching out symbols for words. If they have prepared the recipe enough times they will have remembered the steps. Seeing and "reading" the words will boost their autonomy which builds self-esteem and they will be reading for real before you know it.

In honor of Strawberry Day I give thee a photo recipe for smoothie making with your kidlets. I however did not make a picture filled recipe card but the pictures I took are quite happy, have fun!

What you need:
*1 cup orange juice (or soy milk or other juice)
*1 banana (for thickening)
*2 spoonfuls of plain yogurt
*assorted frozen fruit like strawberries and blueberries (about 1 1/2 cups)
*frozen chopped spinach and/or carrots (optional)

You can use any combo of the above you like. If you don't want to use bananas, use more yogurt and using the frozen fruit chills your smoothie so you don't need to add ice. You can use flavored yogurt but you already have enough sugar from the juice.

sturdy plastic knives are perfect for cutting and chopping fruit like melon, bananas and apples. Kidlets won't cut themselves and the process assists with fine motor skills and problem solving.

Set out your juice in a small plastic carafe along with a 1-2 cup liquid measuring cup (I am sorry I am so poor at converting to liters). Have your kidlet measure out the juice themselves, teach them how to read the cup so that they can do this with finesse! They will be so proud! Next, have them poor the measured juice into the blender top.

Now it is time to add your fruit. Top it with a dollop or two of yogurt, place lid on blender and allow your wee one to blend away unless of course the noise freaks them out!

Now, you can pour the smoothie back into the carafe and let your kidlets pour the drink themselves or you can do it for them. This recipe should make about three small juice cup sized servings. Garnish with a paper parasol, strawberry, sprig o' something green and a dash of nutmeg, cinnamon, black pepper or colored sugar and you're ready for a tastey break. Have fun and expirement!

If you do make any of the posted scrumdilly-do creations, we would love to see them in the scrumdilly-did! flickr pool! Have an idea you wanna share? Email me and you could be featured on scrumdilly-do!