One last berry hurrah!

 Let's make some tarts! Making jam tarts is fun and super easy especially if you use premade pie crust. It can be homemade or store bought. Just know that the store bought stuff can be salty and full of all that extra stuff but if it is a once in a long while thing then go for it and don't worry!

What you need:
*jam
*pie crust
*cookie cutters
*spoon for jam
*plastic knives for cutting doough (a pizza wheel will work also!)
*tiny bowl of milk, soy milk or an egg
*colored sugar, sugar or powdered sugar for decorating (I used black pepper!)
*cookie sheet
*parchment paper to work and bake on

scrumdilly-do it!

 

Roll or unfold the dough so that your kidlets can go to town on it. Have your wee ones use cookie cutters to cut out their tart shapes. You can also use the knives or pizza wheel to cut out rectangular pieces that can be folded in half.

After all the shapes are cut out, space them onto the parchment paper and place onto the cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

 Using the smallest spoon ya got, a baby spoon would be great, have your kidlets drop a spoonful of jam onto the center of half the cutouts.

 

 Next up, gently place a cutout on top of each jam dotted shape. Push down a wee bit onto the edges to seal. The jam will bubble up and seep out when baking which is why you want to use as little as possible. It's totally okay to use more and have it seep, no worries! You don't have to add a top to every shape either but the tops give your wee ones an opportunity to decorate!

 

Have your kidlet(s) "paint" each covered tart with a little bit of milk. This will help the sugar stick to the dough. Then let them go to town with their colored sugar and/or sprinkles. Once done, pop into the oven for 10 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned.


Cool and serve with pink milk or some caffeine free tea! Yay!


Have a berry delicious day!

Collage time, berry style!

This is a great activity for anytime. You can do the leg work yourself or hand your kidlet a pair of scissors and a stack of magazines and let them go to town. I used to do this when I was 5. Yay! Allowing your kidlets to scavenger their berry pages helps with color recognition and of course building that good ol' self-esteem. Besides, maybe your kidlet doesn't want to make a strawberry, maybe they want to make a blueberry or perhaps a nanoberry. The hunt though can be a lot of fun and can also give you a few extra minutes to throw in that load of laundry, write a quick blog entry or grab your golf clubs from the garage. You can also do the scavenger hunt with letters, animals and shapes. Just make sure your kidlet is scissor ready and/or the scissors they are using are child safe. If you are able to go through and dismantle a magazine your self you can cram all the bits into a storage container or resealable bag and have your wee ones color sort into cute bowls or onto squares of colored paper. Having a couple of bags or containers on hand can be a lifesaver for when you need those extra minutes especially when you name them something spiffy like "Bea's Magic Rainbow" or "Simon's Secret Color Stash" You get my drift, and always, have fun!

What you need:

*magazines or paper scraps from mags in berry colors

*additional collage scraps in berry colors (optional)

*scissors

*glue stick

*yarn or string

*cardstock

*red or pink construction paper (optional)

*cayons, markers and/or paint (optional)

*hole punch

scrumdilly-do it!

Set out your supplies. If your kidlets are younger, have your scarps ready for them. I went throguh 2 magazines and tore out pages with red and pink colors and then cut them into strips and squares. I also did a page of green for the top of the berry.

Draw a strawberry shape onto the cardstock and cut out. Glue red construction paper to the top and trim if you want to use a colored base.

Let your wee ones go hog wild with the glue stick, covering the entire surface with adhesive. Now they can add all the scraps they want. You can also give them ribbon, tissue, beads, glitter, feathers, etc.

Once they are done, have them do another piece with the green scraps, attach the top, punch holes, thread with string and voila! A giant strawberry to hang or wear! (Because it's fun!)

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!

Have a very berry day!

In celebration of Strawberry Day and the upcoming season for those of us in sunnier climates I give you a few ideas regarding this wee bit of red sweetness!

Today's suggestion is...read a book! There aren't too many books specifically about strawberries but there a re a few about fruit. Don't forget this favorite:

The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the BIG Hungry Bear
Written & Illustrated by Don & Audrey Wood
Published by Child's Play International 1984

What is Little Mouse to do? He has scored a most awesome red, ripe straberry but the BIG Hungry Bear wants it also! The Little Mouse moves the strawberry from hiding place to hiding place until he can't stand it! How does the story end?

More Books:
Strawberries are Red My Very First Book of Numbers
Eating the Alphabet
Jamberry!
The Very Hungry Catepillar
Strawberry Girl

Check back tomorrow for some strawbery playdough fun!