38
Color Search
Age Range: 30 to 36 months
Materials
White paper or
Colored construction paper
Crayons
Paper bag
Take a crayon and draw a blotch of color on the white paper, or pick out a colored piece of construction paper. Tell your child what color you’ll be searching for, then go exploring around the house for things that are that same color. Put whatever found items that match the color you’re hunting for inside the paper bag. If they won’t fit in the bag, simply point them out. When finished, sit down and pull each item out of the bag one at a time, and talk about the color again. Once your child begins to recognize the colors, fill the paper bag with an assortment of colored items, set the colored pieces of paper on the ground, and have her put the items on top of the paper according to color.
39
Shape Dance
Age Range: 30 to 36 months
Materials
Sidewalk chalk
Take the sidewalk chalk and draw several different shapes on a hard surface. Then ask your child to do some sort of motor movement inside of one of the shapes: stand on one foot, dance, hop, wiggle, or sit. If space permits, draw a small and large size of the same shape so your child also has to think about the size of the shape he chooses.
* Words of Wisdom *
I used to hate throwing away my daughter’s character shampoo bottles when they had such adorable tops. So we started gluing them to the top of a wooden dowel. Now she has a whole set of homemade puppets.
—Kristen, San Antonio, Texas
40
Letter Book
Age Range: 30 to 36 months
Materials
Large sheets of white construction paper
Magazines
Scissors
Glue
This book is fun to make over a long period of time. Decoratively write one letter of the alphabet in the top right- or left-hand corner of the construction paper. Look through the magazines for pictures of people, places, or things that begin with that letter. Cut them out and glue them onto the page. Set the finished page aside until you’ve completed enough letter pages to make a book.
Food-Time Fun
41
Kitchen Helpers
Age Range: 15 months and up
Toddlers love to do exactly what you are doing. If you’re making dinner they are going to be right at your side, so why not give them something to do? Teach them how to wash their hands before working with food. Buy a small stepstool so they can stand next to you at counter level, then give them one or more of the following jobs:
Ripping lettuce
Spinning the salad
Rolling out dough
Wiping off the table
Dumping ingredients into a bowl
Shaking homemade salad dressing
Stirring, mixing, or spreading
Washing vegetables
Sweeping up whatever falls on the floor
Setting napkins out on the table
Putting silverware on the table
42
Tea-Party Dough
Age Range: 15 months and up
Materials
Mixing bowl 1 cup peanut butter
1 cup corn syrup
11⁄2 cups powdered sugar
11⁄2 cups powdered milk
You can eat this dough. Really!
Mix ingredients together in the bowl. Additional powdered milk may be needed to make the dough not so sticky. Knead. Use cookie cutters or design your own shapes. If the tea party idea doesn’t fly, try having a birthday party. Birthday candles are fun to stick in the dough.
* Words of Wisdom *
My daughter loves to cut sliced cheese into shapes with cookie cutters and put it on top of casseroles. Place the cheese when the casserole is about five minutes from being done and return it to the oven for about five minutes until it is just melted.
—JoEllen, Raleigh, North Carolina
43
Creative Mealtimes
Age Range: 15 months and up
Eating at the table every day gets boring, especially during the winter months when rain or snow might keep you indoors more than you’d like. Why not try an indoor picnic? Set a blanket on the floor, make a lunch, and pack a picnic basket. Play games on the blanket. Or create a day at the beach. Turn the heat up in your house so everyone can wear bathing suits or shorts, blow up a beach ball, and play catch. Grill hot dogs and hamburgers on a minigrill set up on the kitchen counter. Eating the same kind of food each day in exactly the same order can get boring, too! Try reversing the order of your meals—eat dinner foods for breakfast and breakfast foods for dinner—or create a meal where every food is the same color. Make a rule that one night a week everybody has to sing conversations instead of simply talking.
44
Pudding Paint
Age Range: 15 months and up
Materials
Instant pudding
Food coloring
This painting can be done on a high-chair tray, on finger-painting paper, on a cookie sheet, or in a clean bathtub. Mix up the pudding according to package instructions. Put the pudding into plastic containers according to how many colors you’d like to have. Add the food coloring. Once the pudding is mixed, set the containers in front of your child. Encourage him to use the pudding as one would use finger paint. If your child is in the bathtub, let him paint his body with the pudding, but make sure to keep him sitting down so he doesn’t slip. Your child will enjoy the texture of the pudding squishing through his fingers as well as the yummy taste.
45
Rice Fun
Age Range: 18 to 21 months
Make the largest batch of rice that will fit in your saucepan. Let it cool. Put a plastic tablecloth on the floor. Dump the rice out on the tablecloth, making a hill. Use spoons, cups, rolling pins, or other kitchen utensils to mold and play with the rice. Spoon the rice into cupcake tins, use cookie cutters to make rice cakes, squish the rice into balls and roll them up and down the tablecloth. When finished, throw the rice away and wash the tablecloth.
* Words of Wisdom *
My kids used to complain about stale sandwiches at lunch until I started making their sandwiches on frozen pieces of bread. They defrost by lunchtime and are not soggy.
—Charlie, Tifton, Georgia
46
Sorting Pasta
Age Range: 21 to 24 months
Materials
Pasta in a variety of shapes and colors
Large bowl or plastic container
Put a mixed variety of dry pasta together in the plastic container. Show your child how to sort the pasta into like piles. Place all the straight pasta in one pile and the curly in another. Or, if the pasta comes in different colors, you might sort it by color. Put all the pasta that is exactly the same in one pile. Use words to describe the different piles you are making: curly, straight, ridged, corkscrew, wide, thin, short, or long.
* Words of Wisdom *
If you have toddlers who don’t like to get their fingers sticky eating an apple, try using plastic corn holders.
—Janet, Sacramento, California
47
Homemade Butter
Age Range: 24 months and up
Materials
Whipping cream
Empty baby food jar or small clear plastic container
Crackers
Pour four tablespoons of cream into the baby food jar or plastic container. Screw on the lid and shake vigorously. After a few minutes a lump of solid butter will form inside the jar. Remove the butterball and let your child spread it on crackers.
* Words of Wisdom *
To prevent messes at the table, my husband bought a Rubbermaid dish drainer. We put my daughter’s plate, bowl, cup—whatever—on there, and messes stay confined to the drainer instead of all over the table. Then you just pick the whole thing up when it comes time to wash eve
rything.
—Jane, Novato, California
48
Homemade Ice Cream
Age Range: 24 months and up
Materials
5 cups crushed ice
3 tablespoons salt
1⁄2 cup whole milk
1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 gallon-sized sealable plastic bag
1 quart-sized sealable plastic bag
1 tablespoon sugar
Put the ice into the large plastic bag and sprinkle with the salt. Pour the milk, sugar, and vanilla into the small plastic bag. Seal it well, removing as much air as possible. Place the small bag into the large ice-filled bag, making sure it is completely surrounded by ice. Seal the large bag and shake vigorously, or go outside and play catch with the bag, making sure to throw it only a few feet. After about five minutes, take the small bag from the ice, open the bag to add any additional ingredients, then knead the bag to mix it together. Spoon into a bowl and eat!
Flavor Ideas: Chocolate (add one tablespoon chocolate syrup); Chocolate chip (add chopped chocolate chips); Strawberry (add two tablespoons mashed fresh strawberries or one tablespoon strawberry jam); Cookies and Cream (add crushed cookies)
49
Playing the Food Manners Game
Age Range: 24 months and up
Toddlers learn manners entirely by example, so be a good role model. Use your dramatic skills to attract your child’s attention when you do things like put your napkin on your lap, wipe your mouth, or wait to speak until you’ve chewed your food. Work on one manner at a time for many weeks until your toddler performs the desired behavior without being reminded. Make a game out of it. Let your child be the mommy or daddy and correct your manners. Let him guess what you are doing wrong. Or, throw a pretend birthday or tea party so you can practice saying “please,” using your spoon to stir your tea, or asking for food to be passed. Remind your child before the meal begins what manner you are working on that day.
Expectations: Twenty-four months and up: children can stop dropping food deliberately on the floor. Thirty-six months and up: children can say “please,” “thank you,” and “excuse me.” They should not talk with food in their mouths and can use napkins, spoons, and forks correctly. They should be able to sit at the table without distracting or disturbing others for up to fifteen minutes.
50
Egg in a Bun
Materials
4 hamburger buns
Soft butter or margarine
4 eggs
Salt and pepper
4 slices of cheese
Round cookie cutter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Place all of the ingredients on a table. Using the cookie cutter, cut a round hole in the top half of the buns, and remove the cut bun circles with a fork. Butter the insides of the buns and place them on a baking sheet. Break an egg into each hole and lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for twenty minutes, then place the cheese slice over the bun. Bake five more minutes or until the cheese is melted. Serve warm.
* Words of Wisdom *
If an egg ever cracks on the floor, use a basting syringe to suck it up; it’s much easier than using a cloth.
—Alice, Newport Beach, California
51
Baked-Bread Sandwiches
Materials
Frozen loaf of white or wheat bread
1⁄3 lb. hard salami, thinly sliced (the kind that has to rise)
1⁄3 lb. Swiss cheese, thinly sliced
Garlic salt
Yields 8 to 12 servings
1⁄3 lb. provolone cheese, thinly sliced
Flour
1⁄3 lb. ham, thinly sliced
2 egg yolks, beaten
Thaw the bread and let it rise, covered, in a warm spot for one hour. Punch down and knead with a small amount of flour. On a floured surface, roll the dough out into a twelve-by-sixteen inch rectangle. Sprinkle with garlic salt. Tear the meat into bite-sized pieces and layer it over the bread. Tear the cheeses into bite-sized pieces and layer them over the meat. Layering and rolling are good jobs for little hands. Start at the long end and roll up tightly in jelly-roll fashion. Pinch the ends together tightly and curve the roll to form a crescent. Brush with the beaten egg yolk. Place it on cookie sheet and let it rest twenty minutes. Bake at 375°F (190°C) for twenty-five to thirty minutes or until golden brown. Let it rest for a few minutes before thinly slicing. If you are taking this on a picnic, wait until you get there to slice it!
* Words of Wisdom *
A ball of extra dough, some flour, and a plastic knife go a long way!
—Anna, Chicago, Illinois
52
Honey Lover’s Chicken
Materials
4 whole boneless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons flour
1⁄2 cup corn-flake crumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 cup melted butter or margarine
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1⁄2 cup yellow cornmeal
1⁄4 teaspoon paprika
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Remove the skin from the chicken breast. Cut each boneless breast in half lengthwise. Blend the flour and the mustard into the melted butter until smooth. Dip the chicken pieces in the butter mixture and coat well with crumbs and seasonings. Place on a shallow, foil-lined pan and drip the remaining butter mixture on top. Bake for thirty minutes or until tender. Dip it into honey or any other dip your child likes, and eat. This can also be refrigerated and taken for lunch.
* Words of Wisdom *
Don’t make special meals. Tell the child to take one bite to “try” the food, then if he doesn’t like it, he doesn’t have to eat it (the child won’t starve!). Eventually, he’ll learn to like foods he didn’t like at first.
—Laura, Golden Valley, Minnesota
53
Yummy Parfaits
Materials
4 cups fresh fruit
1 cup whipped topping
2 small boxes instant pudding
Garnishes: raisins, coconut, nuts, carob chips, etc.
Yields 6 to 8 servings
Get out clear glasses of any kind (dessert, wine, or water). Make the pudding according to box directions. Prepare the fruit by washing and cutting it into small pieces. Put the garnishes in separate containers or readily available piles. Begin layering the pudding, fruit, and garnishes in any way you like. Be creative! Top with whipped topping.
* Words of Wisdom *
My son will only eat pears if I make them look like a mouse; place half a pear cut-side down on the plate, then add raisin eyes and nose, slivered almonds or carrot peels for the ears, and a string-cheese tail.
—Patrice, Henderson, Texas
54
Ice-Cream-Cone Cakes
Materials
Flat bottomed ice-cream cones
Cake mix
Frosting mix
Cake decorations
Muffin pan
Yields 12 to 15
Prepare the cake mix according to directions. Spoon the batter into the cones until they are 2⁄3 full. Place the cones in the muffin pan and bake at 350°F (180°C) for twelve to fifteen minutes. When cool, frost and decorate.
* Words of Wisdom *
There are all kinds of ways to make exciting ice cubes for parties. Fill ice cube trays with one or two berries, cover with warm water, and freeze overnight. Or add food coloring or freeze fruit juice for ice cubes of a solid color.
—Nancy, Shorewood, Minnesota
55
Butterfly Sandwiches
Cutting food into fun shapes is a good way to get children interested in eating. The butterfly sandwich is one that has been cut diagonally, then halves are reversed to look like a butterfly. Serve this sandwich openfaced, spread with peanut butter, cream cheese, or butter, then decorate the butterfly with colorful fruit, vegetables, raisins, banana slices, grated cheese, meat slices, or anything your child likes to eat. Let her do
the decorating. Add two thin slices of celery for the antennae.
* Words of Wisdom *
Last summer I discovered a perfect Popsicle drip catcher. I took a few plastic drink-container lids from a fast-food restaurant and stuck the Popsicle stick through them.
—Beth, Minneapolis, Minnesota
56
Designer Pancakes
Materials
11⁄2 cups milk
2 eggs
11⁄2 cups flour
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
Sheila Ellison Page 4
