cocoa center in the classroom

It's been so so hot lately that I cannot even muster any cocoa fondness save for the fact that the children love when we have a cocoa center. Plus, it's gotta be cocoa weather somewhere, right? Our last cocoa center was in March on a rainy day. The set up is a plate with a ceramic mug, an open packet of instant cocoa, a spoon, and a small container of marshmallows. There is also a pitcher of warm water on the table. We do not have any allergies in our classroom so are able to use good old fashioned instant cocoa. We talk about the difference between cocoa recipes and the children love to share how they make it at home. We warm up our water in the microwave and transfer it to a plastic pitcher sized right for smaller hands. Before we begin the children name the items they are going to use and then together we talk about the steps or sequence of cocoa making.  They love adding their water and stirring it all up and often time will continue adding water until they no longer really have cocoa but it's all good and they own it!

Things learned at the cocoa station: vocabulary, patience, motor and math skills.

cocoa kitchen cloud dough

I added a few packs of sugar-free cocoa mix to our cloud dough. I figured the sugar-free cocoa would be a smidge less sticky when and if it got wet. It was a hit with the kiddos! They said the dough smelled soooooo good!

Here's what it looked like in our tray. I added a pack of sequined styrofoam balls for marshmallows that also made their way to our play dough. measuring spoons, wooden spoons, scoops, cake molds, and a funnel also made an appearance.

 

 

 The cups came from IKEA and were a lovely gift from my co-conspirator. They are so happy and colorful and twee. We also drink water of out of them occasionally. Water alwasy tastes better when drunk from twee cups.

 

This marshmallow came out of our 1/4 measuring cup and was quickly more popular than the styrofoam balls. Of course it was!

Thinking of Green

I've been thinking of green a lot lately. Not being green (well, that too) but green food. St. Patrick's Day is coming up and if yer anything like we are, you like to take advantage of any day that can be a celebration. So for now, my head is swimming with rainbow crafts and green recipes. What do you think? Do you have any favorite green recipes you make? Fun desserts, savory sandwiches, veggie dips? I have a lot of ideas in my head for flavors that may appear more sophisticated but they're not. I know oodles of kidlets that like to chow down on pesto and greens and such so I may pop a few of them up here on the 'do but if you have anything you'd like to share, send us an email at scrumdillydo, gmail and we'll pop it up here for all our scrumdilly-doers to try. Or, you can post a pic in the flickr group (please do, it's a little lonely in there). Yay for green!

what's with the cream of tartar?

Cream of Tartar, originally uploaded by Cinara's Place.

I just wanted to do a wee bit of clarification for you folks out there who want to whip up a batch of play dough but don't have any cream of tartar.

Guess what? You don't need it! Adding cream of tartar to your play dough assists it a wee bit in adding volume and elasticity, and it acts as a preservative so that you can keep it around for a week or so as long as you store it in a sealed container in a cool, dry place (there is all kinds of science involved but I want to make dough NOW). Other than that, yer play dough is just find without it (though it might be a smidge grainy). So, go ahead, make some dough and have at it!**

**if your dough is on the sticky-side, add a little more flour, one tablespoon at a time and knead it in until you get a consistency you like. Doughs that are cooked on the stovetop tend to be top notch but a hot water dough or a simple flour and salt dough are easy to make. To skip the worry over cream of tartar all together, whip up a batch of cornstarch clay, the texture is fantastic!

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!

Make your own berry scented play dough!

Homemade playdough is ridiculously easy to make and if you have cream of tartar on hand it will keep for up to six weeks!

What you need:

*1 cup flour

*1/2 cup salt

*2 T v. oil

*2 t cream of tartar

*1 cup water

*1 pack of powdered drink mix like kool-aid or wyler's

*medium sized stock pan

*wooden spoon

scrumdilly-do it:

Add all ingredients to your pan and mix over medium heat.

Remove from heat once mixture forms a ball in the center of the pan. If you like, add a bit o' glitter and stir. Dump your blob of dough onto a cutting board or cookie sheet to cool.

Once cool, hand it over to yer kidlets and let them play! Keep dough in a sealed container or zip bag for up to six weeks. No need to refrigerate.

If you don't have any cream of tartar, keep sealed in the refrigerator for a week. Salt dough recipe from Maryanne Kohl's nifty book titled Mudworks, I highly recommend it! It's available in Spanish also!

Oatmeal Month?

Funny how January can be so many different "months". In honor of Oatmeal Month I present to you some nifty oatmeal fun. For starters, why not read about why oatmeal is good for you? Then, tomorrow, whip up a batch of the best oatmeal ever and let yer kidlets add their own fruity fun to make it their own.

Perfect Oatmeal
*bring 1 3/4 cupcs slightly salted water to a boil
*add 1 cup uncooked oats
*turn heat down to low and simmer about 5 minutes
*add a couple o' dashes of cinnamon and stir, let simmer until water has evaporated

serve up into bowls and add yer toppers. My favorite is a squirt of honey, a dash of half n half, handful of blackberries, 1 tablespoon of granola & a dash of black pepper. Kidlets may like fresh fruit like bananas or strawberries. Dried fruit like raisins or apricots. Brown sugar and cooked apples, a drizzle of chocolate sauce and some mini marshmallows or a 1/4 cup of fruit cereal added for color are a few other ideas. Let yer kidlets create, they may come up with a favorite of yours!

Of course I have put together a kaboodle page for you. Check out some more oatmeal fun below:

Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
Awesome Oatmeal Cookies
Homemade Oatmeal Bath Soak
Kid Friendly Oatmeal Clay