Month: February 2018

Homemade Stickers

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Not only will these lick-and-stick homemade stickers really stick, but they taste great too! The secret is a little bit of vegan gel dessert (such as Simply Delish).

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To make the “glue,” first mix 1 tablespoon of any flavored gel powder into 2 tablespoons boiling water.

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Your kids may want to draw their own stickers, but Travis preferred to dictate what I should draw, and I put together a little set for him.

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Cut out your stickers, and paint the back of each with a generous layer of the gel; let dry.

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While I don’t recommend sticking these any place that shouldn’t have food on it, we decided it would be perfect to make a collage on construction paper. To adhere, give the stickers a lick!

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Travis was absolutely delighted with the taste, and had to lick every single one, meaning we had our collage in short order.

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Keep this activity in mind for the next time your little one is under the weather. It’s the perfect calm game to play, with an added sweet treat at the end as a bonus.

Giant Alphabet Mat

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This giant alphabet mat turns letter-learning into big fun. Much bigger than our alphabet parking lot, it’s a great visual and physical way to engage children with learning the alphabet. You can tailor the games on the mat to suit everyone from 2-year-olds to preschoolers!

First, lay an unused shower curtain liner on the floor and make circles for all the letters of the alphabet; I traced a plate to make the circles even. Write in the upper and lower case letters in each circle.

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Your possibilities for play are almost endless, from here! First, try walking along the letters as you sing the alphabet song. You could also ask toddlers to toss bean bags into a designated circle, or ask them to hop to a specific space, if they are just learning their letters.

Travis still mixes up a few tricky lowercase letters, so our best use for the mat was to have him find the right spot for our set of lowercase magnets.

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Because we’re into all things cars over here lately, he decided the best way to play was to load up his jeep and have it deliver each letter – whatever works!

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Another great variation for pre-readers and kids learning to recognize the sound each letter makes is to find a toy in your home that starts with each letter.

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I will confess: Travis wasn’t nearly as interested in this giant playing board as I thought he would be. But we’ll set it aside and try it again another day. Let me know what your kiddos think of the mat!

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White Bean & Quinoa Pizza Burgers

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This complete little meal features hefty quinoa burgers and roasted broccoli on the side. I have a hard time finding vegan burger buns at our local grocery store, but we like to serve these on sandwich rolls (try O’Dough’s sub thins) cut in half so they are closer to the size of the patties.

Ingredients:

For the broccoli:

  • 3 cups broccoli florets
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
  1. Toss the ingredients together on a baking sheet; roast at 425 degrees F for 20 minutes, until browned and crisp at the edges; set aside.

For the burgers:

  • 1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 and 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
  • 1 Ener-G egg
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 4 buns or sandwich rolls
  • 4 slices vegan cheese
  • 1/2 cup marinara sauce
  1. While the broccoli roasts, place the beans in a large bowl and mash until nearly smooth.
  2. Add the quinoa, Ener-G egg, Italian seasoning, and black pepper. Shape the mixture into 4 patties.
  3. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the patties and cook for 10 minutes, turning over halfway through. The burgers are delicate, so use care when flipping!
  4. To serve, place on buns or rolls. Top with your favorite sliced vegan cheese and spoon about 2 tablespoons marinara sauce over each patty. Serve with the broccoli on the side.

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Life Size Board Game

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We loved this giant take on a board game, using our own bodies as the playing pieces! It’s a great way to burn off some physical energy indoors, plus work on counting skills, turn taking, and playing a game by the rules.

To set up your “board” all you need is painter’s tape. I made squares around the carpet in a pattern for us to move forward. If you want to make the game a bit more complex, add another shape (such as diamonds) that mean “move back one space.”

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I threw together a very quick giant dice by taping construction paper on the sides of a tissue box and adding pips with a sharpie. If you have the time, glue on your construction paper for a more elegant look!

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Now it was time to toss the dice. Travis delighted in throwing the giant cube.

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He was quicker than I would have guessed at counting the pips, yelling out the numbers and then taking proud giant steps from square to square.

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We have a winner!

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We also played a version using big toy cars in a car race, driving them the right number of spaces forward with each roll.

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If you create a giant board game, please share any variations or ideas in the comments, we’d love to hear!

President’s Day Fun

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Happy President’s Day to all! We marked the occasion with some edible fun and a little magic trick thrown in for good measure.

First up, the trick. Grown-ups (or big kids), fold a bill of any denomination down the center of the president’s face. Now make two additional folds over the center of each eye (the folds will be close together, which is why grown-up hands worked better here).

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You should now have three accordion pleats. If you tilt the bill upwards, the president will appear to smile.

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Tilt it down, and he frowns!

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We tried this with Abe Lincoln and then Andrew Jackson on the $20.

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Who had a very pronounced frown:

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I would have used George Washington as well, except had no singles in my wallet. It was a great way to introduce the names of these men to Travis.

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We continued the fun with an edible presidential treat.

First, microwave a handful of chocolate chips in a glass bowl at 20 second intervals, until melted – it will take about 1 minute. Using a toothpick, paint smiles and eyes onto round cookies. Vegan vanilla wafers would work, but we like the lemon cookies from Back to Nature.

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For Abe, adhere mini chocolate chips using frosting as the “glue” to be his beard. Cut two pieces of dark chocolate to be his hat, and attach together with additional frosting.

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For George, cut mini Dandies marshmallows in half, and adhere around the top of his head with frosting, to be his wig. Add a collar at the neck, with a mini chocolate chip for a button.

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Our presidents were gobbled up in no time!

Green Time: Play in the Snow

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We’ve been so eager for a snowfall so we could get to our second installment of outdoor play suggestions from Ranger Rick Jr. Last night we got our wish – only about three inches, but because I doubt we’ll have much more snow this winter, we took advantage of it!

The first thing we had to do was test out the sled we bought but haven’t had a chance to use. There’s a tiny hill just off our apartment, and Travis enjoyed a few mini runs down it.

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Whoops, but as you can tell, he was not a fan lying down to try out a snow angel next.

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Making a small snowman was a bigger hit…

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…as was building a snow fort. Based on the magazine’s image, we used a bucket to build the fort, which worked so well! Although we didn’t have enough snow to build our walls up high, this is definitely how we’ll fashion future forts.

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Meanwhile, I loved that these suggestions got us out into crisp morning sunshine to make first tracks in the snow – especially since it had all melted by afternoon!

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Destination: Meow Cat Parlor

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Here’s the latest in my series of day trips for children if you’re in the New York City area. Meow Parlor was the first cat cafe in New York, modeled after similar spaces in Japan. The idea is to go in and spend time with cats, who are all available for adoption.

If you’d like to visit Meow Parlor with kids, plan in advance! There are only special time slots available to children ages 8 and under, including select weekdays at 4 p.m. and every other Sunday at 11 a.m. You have to book online in advance.

With our reservation underway, we headed off to the city.

We arrived a little early, which gave us the opportunity to check out the sister store next door, the food component of the Parlor. Travis was ecstatic to try his first vegan croissant!

croissant

Then we headed next door to play with the cats. There are only 10 to 15 cats on site at a time, making it feel manageable and intimate for both humans and felines.

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The cats have ample room to roam around, get up high, and sneak behind custom-designed cabinets with multiple entrances and exits, so none ever seemed bothered by even very loud or assertive children in our group.

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Travis was over the moon. The hour passed surprisingly quickly, between petting cats, dangling toys for those who wanted to play, and simply marveling at their antics.

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For kids who want additional stimulation, the Parlor provides crayons and markers, books about cats, and pictures of successful adoptees.

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We couldn’t take a cat home today, but we loved the experience! We capped off our city afternoon with brunch at the mainly-vegan Dirt Candy before heading home.

Trip Date: February 2018

Ages: 0 to 8 (designated times only), 9+ (any time)

Useful Links:

Giant Medals

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The Olympics are well underway, and we’ve already had fun making our own bobsleds and dining on medal cookies. These medals aren’t for eating, but they make for fantastic pretend play if your little athletes want to climb up onto the podium!

First, find a circular object to trace for the outline of your medals – go for big here, the idea is a giant medal!

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Next, we piped designs onto our medals with puffy paint. Older kids can get very detailed with this – writing out 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, or the year, or making laurel leaf designs. Travis just adores squirting puffy paint, so I knew his would take forever to dry, and put together a few medals with a lighter hand on the puffy paint.

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Set aside to dry.

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Next our medals needed a metallic coat of paint. We only had silver and gold, but you can add a bronze or coppery-colored one if you have it!

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Again, Travis was heavy-handed on the paint, but I loved watching his enjoyment of the project, and set aside a few more useable medals. We left them to dry overnight.

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In the morning, we punched a hole into the top of each medal and threaded red ribbon through.

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And the medal goes to…!

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Felt Play Mat

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Felt play mats are a great way to occupy the kids while you’re getting work done around the house or cooking dinner. Set out a large sheet of felt for each child, along with customizable mix-and-match pieces, and let the entertainment begin!

My original plan for this game was to set Travis up with a Medieval castle scene, but he wasn’t that interested. Instead, we recreated objects from his current favorite show, Fireman Sam.

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I let Travis decide which pieces he wanted, and cut them from corresponding felt colors – red firetrucks, yellow houses, green trees (“and we need brown trunks!” Travis made sure to add), blue water etc.

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Kids who are 5 and up should be able to cut out their own felt pieces, but Travis was excited just watching me to so!

Forgive my lack of artistic skills, but here was our mountain rescue center with a radio and “flares.”

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Once we had enough pieces, the play began! We had a little orange “fire” that could be moved around the scene, and his firetruck rushed in to the rescue.

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We decided we did need a few people, so added Playmobil figures.

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As he played, I added further shapes like a castle, a pond with fish, and a few more nature elements.

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Now he could mix and match games and create imaginative tales to his heart’s content!

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Forced Perspective Photos

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For kids who love playing with cameras and learning about photography, this nifty trick is a great way to sneak in learning with the fun. Stage photos with one object near the lens and one person far away for a lesson on perspective!

The idea is to show your child how something close to the lens looks giant, and something further away looks smaller. You can have lots of fun with this, holding up your child’s toys near the lens, and staging various scenes, as with Travis blowing up a giant balloon, above.

And here he is hoisting a whole helicopter!

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Here’s one that didn’t work quite so well, trying to push a police car out of the way:

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He got such a kick out of seeing the photos as we scrolled through after, and wanted a chance to try as well.

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I can’t say that his snaps with the Instax instant camera came out perfectly, but he sure had fun trying!

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What silly scenes will you capture to show perspective? Please share ideas in the comments!

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