Month: April 2021

Musical Teepee

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Sound is often a neglected part of “sensory” outdoor play, since we focus so much on touch or sight. This was a great way to get Veronika’s ears buzzing on a spring morning.

First, we gathered a few large sticks (which were easy to find after recent wind storms!), and then positioned them until they formed a little teepee. The sticks propped each other up so securely that I didn’t have to do much more, but added a little string for extra insurance.

The first item I wanted to add was a small wind chime. I dangled this from one of the sticks so it hung just below the teepee. Veronika was immediately intrigued!

I also added a musical triangle, a metal colander, and a metal cookie cutter, then handed Veronika a mallet. Time to play!

She loved exploring all the different sounds, from the tinkle of the wind chines to the ping of the triangle, to almost a snare drum sound from the colander on top!

I plan to leave this up for at least a few days so she can interact with it differently every time we pop outdoors.

Foot Tracing “Pedicures”

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Veronika is far too young to get her first pedicure at a salon, of course, but this little tracing game also involves a bit of make-believe for adorable “mommy & me” pedicures at home!

To start, I stood on a piece of paper and showed Veronika how I could trace around my foot with a pen. She wanted to help out with the tracing, meaning the print wasn’t exact, but that didn’t matter.

Next it was her turn! She stood so still on a sheet of white paper as I traced around her feet, and giggled when we got to her ticklish toes. “We made paw prints!” she said with delight.

You can take a moment to talk about relative sizes (big versus small), and then it’s time to decorate!

Toddlers can fill in the tracings with crayons and markers, but for something extra fun, I trotted out a vial of real nail polish. I showed her how to dab this into each toe like she was painting a little nail on each.

The soles of our feet were painted, too!

I hope your little one enjoys this day at the “spa” as much as Veronika did!

Avocado Yogurt Dip

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You can serve this recipe as a dip for tortilla chip or drizzled over baby spinach like dressing, but it’s so yummy that your kids might just want to eat it by the spoonful!

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 avocado
  • 1/4 cup plain non-dairy yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon agave nectar
  • 2 tablespoons orange juice
  1. Mash the avocado in a bowl with a fork until smooth.
  2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until combined. Serve!

Eraser Stamped Sheep

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We recently re-read a favorite picture book, The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds, which had us thinking about other ways to make art from just dots. This sweet craft is easy enough for toddlers to follow along, and felt just right for springtime and baby lamb season!

To start, I set out a plate of white paint, along with a few sheets of construction paper and pencils. I handed Veronika one of the pencils and showed her how to dip just the eraser end in the paint, then dot on the paper.

White dots!

Veronika had fun simply experimenting at first, but then I showed her that if she clustered a few of those white dots together, it began to look like a woolly sheep. She loved seeing the little animals take form.

Of course she couldn’t control her dots exactly, which I wouldn’t have expected from a two year old. Anywhere that gaps needed filling, I added a few extra dots to make the sheep. That meant sometimes we had big mommy sheep, and sometimes baby lambs.

Once the glue dries, just add an eye and four legs for each sheep with black marker.

We loved the ways these looked once we cut them out in individual circles, resulting in a whole little flock.

Toddler Mural

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Veronika loves to scribble and draw, and always narrates to me what her scribbles and lines mean, everything from “balloons” to “rainbows” to “dogs”. I keep a small notebook in my purse to pull out at restaurants or waiting rooms and she instantly begins her doodles. Today we made a giant version of that for her to use at home!

I taped a large sheet of craft paper to an empty space on the wall at a height she could easily reach. Already she was intrigued.

You can simply set out crayons next to the paper, but for extra enticement, I attached some above the mural.

Simply hammer a few nails into the wall, then tie a string from each and secure the other end around a jumbo crayon. “They’re dangling!” Veronika said with excitement. Not only did she immediately grab one of these dangling crayons to draw, she told me she was drawing the dangling crayon.

Needless to say, she paused to scribble on the paper every time she walked by it all day, even if just for a quick line. Other times she stopped and stayed busy for a while. “Up and down, up and down!” I caught her saying for this particular bit of abstract art:

When the paper fills up, simply swap it out for a new piece!

Carrot Loaf Cake

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This brunch cake, slightly adapted from an eat-your-veggies recipe in Parents magazine, is beautiful for an Easter gathering or any other springtime event.

Ingredients:

  • 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 2 Ener-G eggs
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 1/3 cup applesauce
  • 1 and 1/2 cups shredded carrots

For the glaze:

  • 3 ounces non-dairy cream cheese
  • 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup plain non-dairy creamer
  • Chopped pistachios
  1. To prepare the cake, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, and nutmeg in a bowl. Set aside.
  2. Make the Ener-G eggs in the bottom of a large bowl. Whisk in the brown sugar, oil, and applesauce. Add the flour mixture to the applesauce mixture, then fold in the shredded carrots.
  3. Spoon the mixture into an 8×4-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees F for 50 minutes. Cool completely.
  4. To prepare the topping, stir together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Begin adding the creamer a little at a time until you reach desired consistency. For a frosting, add only a few tablespoons. If you want more of a drizzled glaze, add the full 1/2 cup.
  5. Sprinkle the top of the cake with chopped pistachios as the finishing touch.

Spring Vegetable Pie with Dill Biscuits

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I spotted this recipe in Parents magazine and immediately knew it would make the perfect centerpiece of a vegan Easter brunch, with a few tweaks. The family declared it worthy of a restaurant.

Ingredients:

For the vegetables:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 thinly sliced leeks
  • 2 cups shredded carrots
  • 1 chopped celery stalk
  • 1 chopped fennel bulb
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 (14-ounce) drained can quartered artichoke hearts
  • 1 cup chopped asparagus
  • 1 (16-ounce) package frozen peas
  • 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
  • 3 tablespoons Earth Balance butter
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 3 cups vegetable broth

For the biscuits:

  • 1 and 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons Earth Balance butter
  • 1 tablespoon dried dill
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • Scant 3/4 cup plain soy milk
  • 1 Ener-G egg
  1. To prepare the filling, heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks, carrots, and celery; saute for 10 minutes.
  2. Add the fennel and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cook for 3 minutes. Add the artichoke hearts, asparagus, peas, parsley, and tarragon; cook for a final 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
  3. Meanwhile, melt 3 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook for 3 minutes, whisking constantly. Gradually add the broth, then continue to cook for about 5 minutes, whisking frequently, until the mixture thickens. Pour over the vegetables in the skillet.
  4. To prepare the biscuits, combine the flour, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Cut 6 tablespoons butter into small pieces and cut into the flour mixture with a pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs. Gently stir in the dill.
  5. Pour the lemon juice into a liquid measuring cup and add the soy milk to measure 3/4 cup. Let stand for 5 minutes, then whisk together with the Ener-G egg. Add the soy milk mixture to the flour mixture, stirring to form a soft, sticky dough. Drop by spoonfuls over the vegetable mixture to form 6 biscuits.
  6. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake at 450 degrees F for 20 minutes, until the biscuits are lightly browned on top.

Easter Magic

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Here are a few ideas to make Easter magic happen and the holiday feel special, even though this year isn’t quite back to normal or extended family gatherings, yet.

Go to a Drive-By Easter Bunny

Sitting on the bunny’s lap is out, but check if your town has a local Easter bunny photo opportunity from a safe distance, even if that just means waving to him out the window. Included goody bags were a definite bonus!

Turn Jelly Beans into Lollipops

On Easter Eve, we “planted” jelly beans in a cup of dirt (a.k.a. a mix of chocolate cookie crumbs and chocolate cake mix).

Add a little water and tell the kids that the Easter Bunny’s magic will make them grow into lollipops overnight.

Imagine Travis and Veronika’s delight when they came down and saw that the lollipops had “sprouted”!

Easter Egg Hunt

I had a few extra tricks this year to make sure the kids’ egg hunt was their best one yet. First, I color-coded the eggs for the first time, to cut down on squabbling. Travis got green and yellow, and Veronika’s were blue and white.

As double insurance against any egg fights, Veronika’s were all hidden down low…

…and Travis’s were up high, corresponding to their relative heights. Toddler and big kid both could hunt at their own pace, with no grabbing for the same eggs.

What were your favorite Easter extras this year? Please share in the comments!

Pond Ecology Kiwi Crate

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Here’s our unboxing review of Travis’s latest from Kiwi Co, all about the ecosystem of pond life. This was a neat divergence from past crates, in that it focused on a place rather than one scientific principal. There was lots to learn about frogs, fish, and more!

The first project was the most creative of the lot: making Chalk-Art Frogs. The process relied on surface tension (floating chalk) to color in the provided paper frog shapes. Travis helped put together the provided chalk grater and loved carefully grating a mix of chalk colors into it.

Tip over the provided tray of water and gently tap out the chalk. We did a test run on a provided square of paper first.

Lift up gently for the big reveal!

Next Travis carefully added the frogs, which didn’t pick up the chalk as clearly as the white paper, but were still neat. Let dry completely, then move on to…

…project two, a Leaping Lily Pad. The scientific principal in action this time was energy, as in a spring (or a frog’s legs). Travis decorated the provided cardboard lily pad with a few of his completed frogs, then it was just a matter of wrapping it with the provided rubber band to create tension.

Release, and…. Pop!

We found that this only worked if we used both provided elastics, not just one.

Now it was time to peer under the pond water and make an Aquarium in a Bottle, with the scientific concept of density at play. Travis mixed the provided salt into warm water, and filled three small plastic cups. For a fun way to color them, Kiwi instructs kids to scribble marker over thin paper squares. Place the paper in the cups, one each for red, yellow, and blue, and the water immediately changes color.

Next, he used the provided syringe to fill plastic fish with this colored salty water. The booklet contained helpful tips for testing the buoyancy of each fish. If there was too much water and not enough air, it sank; squirt out a little. If it floated on the top, there was too much air and not enough water; add a little more from the syringe!

When all our fish were just right, Travis added them to the provided clear bottle for a little “aquarium” he can keep on display.

Kiwi often provides ways to upcycle the crate itself, and this month was no exception, with a suggestion to make another “leaping” project: Lively Leaper frogs.

Cut the front flap from the crate (or a similar box) that measures 7 inches long x 2 inches tall. Make notches at 1.5 inches and 3.5 inches. Fold in half at the 3.5 inch mark, then fold again at the 1.5 inch mark, down in the opposite direction.

Just like the lily pad, hold your finger on it, then release and the frog “jumps”. We added a little green frog with marker for extra effect.

Overall, Travis liked that this crate explored lots of scientific concepts instead of just one topic in depth.

Dinosaur Fossil Excavation

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Depending on the age of your child, this game can be either mostly sensory play or mostly STEM play. Either way, it’s sure to delight!

I set up a dinosaur excavation pit for Veronika with three kinds of “dirt”. The first was a box of chocolate cake mix, the second was crushed chocolate cookies, and the third was regular flour (although whole wheat flour probably would have worked better).

Next, I buried a few of our small plastic dinosaurs under the “dirt”. If your children are older, you can use store-toy bones or fossil prints, instead (or even make your own). Since I knew Veronika wouldn’t quite understand what she was seeing with the fossils, we stuck with whole dinosaur bodies. She was about to be a very lucky paleontologist.

I scattered a few rocks on top for a finishing touch, then set out an old shaving brush, bucket, and shovel. Time to dig!

She immediately took to shoveling up the dirt and transferring to her bucket, a process which she absolutely loved.

I showed her how to brush the dust and grime off the dinosaurs as she unearthed each one, but honestly she wasn’t much interested. Dinos, rocks, and dirt alike went into her bucket and then were dumped into the tray to start all over. She also enjoyed pouring the “dirt” back and forth between a few small plastic cups.

Don’t fear the clean-up. The mixture sweeps up easily… as long as you don’t get it wet. Trust me: You do not want to deal with wet chocolate cake mix on your floor.