Toddler Valentine’s Day Treats

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Valentines Cupcakes (5)

Valentine’s Day is full of sweet treats, and here are a few food ideas that even a toddler can help out with… or just enjoy!

Edible Valentines (4)

Edible Valentines: This first idea comes from the classic Toddler’s Busy Book. I tinted a little store-bought frosting pink with food coloring and showed Veronika how to smear this onto graham crackers (Nabisco’s original are vegan).

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Since candy hearts are not vegan, we topped the graham crackers with the seasonal gummy hearts from Annie’s bunny packs! This made for an adorable craft project and snack rolled into one.

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Valentine Cupcakes: What would Valentine’s Day be without a little chocolate? For this toddler-friendly baking project, I simply whipped up cupcakes from a dairy-free chocolate mix. The Valentine twist, though, is to make them heart-shaped. After spooning the batter into cupcake liners, place a marble at one edge of each liner which will indent it like a heart!

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And of course Veronika loved playing with leftover marbles and liners.

Valentines Cupcakes (1)

The effect wasn’t quite as pronounced after baking, since the cupcakes rose so high in the liners, but we could still sort of see them as hearts. Veronika loved helping spread on chocolate frosting. In general, frosting cupcakes like this is a perfect toddler skill in the kitchen.

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We added a few final decorations (like more of those Annie’s hearts). Sprinkles would look pretty, too!

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Sweetheart Sandwiches: Next up, I made little sandwiches which are perfect for a snack or lunch on Valentine’s Day. For the first version, I stirred a little cinnamon into plain non-dairy cream cheese.

Sweetheart Sandwiches

For an alternate version, turn it pink! Use strawberry flavored non-dairy cream cheese (such as Kite Hill), or just tint plain cream cheese pink with food coloring, then stir in a little agave nectar. Finally, use a heart shaped cookie cutter to make a heart.

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And for a final edible treat, I spelled out L-O-V-E for the kids’ Valentine breakfast, thanks to this sweet idea from Parents magazine.

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On a large plate, form an L from tater tots, an O from a kiwi slice, a V from a toasted waffle cut with a heart-shaped cookie cutter, and an E from raspberries. The kids’ reaction to all these goodies? They loved ’em!

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Learning with Blocks, Three Ways

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Letter Blocks (2)

I love when I can draw Veronika’s attention to her blocks in novel ways, and here were three ways to grab her attention today. As a bonus, all of them involved different types of learning!

For the first, I typed up the alphabet in big letters and printed out the page, then cut it apart so each letter was an individual square. Tape one letter per one of your child’s building blocks, and each block becomes its own specific letter!

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As I taped them on, we said the name of each letter and its phonetic sound, and sang through the Alphabet Song several times. Then it was time for her simply to play! But as she built towers, I named the block she was holding. “Oh, you have the G block!” I could say, or, “B block is on top of A block!”

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I plan to leave these little labels on so that her familiarity with each letter symbol increases every time we dump out the bin of blocks.

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For the second novel way to play, we focused on two different skills: counting and listening to instructions. Thanks to a great tip from Hands on as We Grow, I used the cards from our Candyland board game to give her specific directions.

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Draw a card and ask your toddler to hand across whatever appears on it. “Can you find me one blue block?” I asked her, holding up the Candyland card with one red square. She was an ace at handing me one block of the appropriate color, whether the green, yellow, or red that followed.

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Things got a little trickier for her when I pulled a double color (a kid favorite when playing Candyland, of course).

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“Can you hand me two red blocks?” I asked. She seemed confused, so I pointed to the squares on the card. “One, two!” and then lined it up with two blocks. “One, two!” I repeated. It was hard for her to focus on this challenge, so we turned to game number three…

…which was actually a repeat of a block puzzle game we played a few months back, but last time I made the puzzle much too big. Tape out a small square or rectangle on the floor with painter’s tape and show your child how to arrange blocks in, puzzle-piece style!

Block Puzzle (1)

Veronika especially liked when there were small spaces to fill, like the semi-circle that completed an archway or a small circle inside a square block.

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Not, bad, with a little mommy help! Older kids can make their taped areas progressively larger as they grow more skilled at this.

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How does your toddler learn with blocks these days? Please share in the comments!

Baking Soda-Powered Boat

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Baking Soda Boat (3)

Here’s a fun way to propel a boat forward, thanks to the fizzy reaction between an acid and a base. It’s an easy and quick STEM lesson with an automatic payoff.

The set-up requires a little grown-up work. First, cut a small hole in the bottom of an empty water bottle. Cut a straw in half and insert into the hole, then close up any open gaps with hot glue.

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To make the “fuel” for the boat, pour a little vinegar into the bottle. Make sure the straw is on the top of the bottle as your pour, so none spills out. Now spoon in a little baking soda, but don’t let the two substances mix yet! Screw on the bottle cap, then set your “boat” down in a basin or bathtub filled with water. The acid and base mix, and the boat zooms forward.

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Note: Make sure the straw is in the water for this part, or the experiment won’t work as intended. We learned this after round one!

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Next time, we would do this experiment with a larger water bottle (making it easier to keep the baking soda and vinegar separate until the right moment), and we’d also do it in the tub so the boats have more room to zoom. But Travis still loved watching the little motion we achieved!

Depth Perception Walk

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Distance Walk (4)

It might seem like there’s less to seek and find on winter nature walks than in other seasons, but the opportunities to leran are still abundant! To wit, we had beautiful cold sunshine today, and used the walk to play with concepts of distance and balance for Veronika!

As we walked, big brother Travis and I took turns pointing out items that were either near (“These branches are so close!”)…

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…or far. “Those leaves are far away!” Travis said. “Let’s race to them!” I was so proud of his teaching, because the racing was his own idea, and helped highlight the difference between items close by and those we needed to get to.

Distance Walk (1)

After that we played around with how fast or slow we could cover the distances. Travis loved leading Veronika with the trail of a stick in the snow, too, sometimes close to her…

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…and sometimes far up ahead. For some final fun on the return walk, we collected a few nature treasures (winter-brown leaves were the most readily available!) and lined them up like a balance beam in the snow.

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Veronika loved testing her balance as she walked along the line. Once the leaves scattered, she repeated the task but this time her footsteps took her in a zig-zag! All in all, these activities kept us warm and active on what could have been a frigid walk.

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DIY Bath Bombs

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DIY Bath Bombs (7)

Both my kids love bubble baths, so today we decided to mix up the bubbly fun with a homemade bath bomb! You can make this concoction entirely from ingredients found in your kitchen; look for citric acid in the baking aisle.

First, Travis helped measure out and stir together 2 and 1/2 teaspoons citric acid, 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, and 1 teaspoon cornstarch.

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Add about 2 drops of food coloring (we used green!), followed by 1 and 1/2 teaspoons canola oil; the mixture is still crumbly at this point.

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Spoon into a small paper cup, then press firmly with the back of a spoon to pack down. Let dry for at least 8 hours.

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At bath time, tear away the paper cup. Toss in the tub and watch it fizz! Truth be told, the big reveal of the moment was a little less exciting than Travis had hoped for, but it still made for a neat bubbly reaction.

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Roasted Winter Vegetables

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Roasted Winter Veg (1)

This quick roasted veggie recipe is a great way to introduce unfamiliar ones (like parsnips) to the more familiar (such as sweet potatoes or butternut squash). Mix up the recipe simply by varying which root veggies you use next time! Rutabagas, carrots, or beets might be nice, too.

Ingredients:

  • 1 sweet potato
  • 1 small butternut squash
  • 2 parsnips
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  1. Peel and cube all of the vegetables and transfer to a 9×13-inch baking dish. Drizzle with the oil an sprinkle with the salt.
  2. Bake at 425 degrees F for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.

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Color-Changing Lemonade

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Color-Changing Lemonade (5)

This fun STEM snack idea from Kiwi Co has a “wow” factor thanks to the fact that red cabbage acts as a pH indicator. In other words, it will turn acids (like lemon juice) pink. Just like that, a glass of yellow lemonade becomes a glass of pink lemonade!

First, soak about 1 cup torn red cabbage in 1 cup very warm water. Add 1 cup sugar, stirring until dissolved. Let stand for about 30 minutes. Strain the cabbage mixture through a fine-mesh sieve over a cup. Set aside.

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In a second cup, whisk together 1/2 cup lemon juice and 1 cup cold water.

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Pour a little cabbage mixture into a glass and add ice. Fill with the lemon mixture, then start to stir as you add the remaining cabbage mixture.

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Pink lemonade!

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Note: The kids declared that the lemonade tasted a little “funny”, which is no doubt the result of a little cabbage flavor. So you may find that this drink works more as a novelty than as the best glass of cold lemonade your kids will ever have.

Valentine’s Day Vase

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Valentines Vase (5)

This cute Valentine’s Day gift idea from Hands on As We Grow is a great way to recycle leftover plastic bottles! We used non-dairy smoothie bottles, which were the perfect size and shape.

Clean and dry the bottles thoroughly, then set out a tray filled with Epsom salt. We added red food coloring (naturally!) for Valentine’s Day.

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Next, I showed Veronika how to smear white glue all over the bottle with a paint brush.

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Once the bottle is completely covered, simply roll in the salt. It will cling on, and it sparkles so beautifully! Veronika thought it was so pretty that we added blue food coloring and made a second bluish-purple version. Let dry completely.

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Meanwhile, Veronika was still busy playing with the Epsom salt mixture, stirring it around with a paint brush or dipping her brush into the cup of glue and back again. Just be sure to supervise play closely, as Epsom salt is not edible.

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When the vases are dry, fill with roses and set out for someone special!

Valentine Window of Hearts

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Toddler Hearts for Window (5)

Veronika has made lots of Valentine cards to give away this year, but we realized our house was lacking in decorations that we had kept for ourselves! I had leftover doilies from one of her projects, and these only needed a little toddler-friendly embellishment before we could hang them in the windows.

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First, Veronika used dot markers to decorate some of the doilies. We chose red and purple, to keep with a Valentine’s color scheme.

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I thought she might also enjoy painting some of the doilies, but she hasn’t wanted to get her hands messy lately. Instead, I placed a few of the doilies in a plastic container and added two balls, one big and one small. Squeeze in a few drops of red paint, then roll the balls around. Your toddler might want to do this with his or her hands and get nice and messy!

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Veronika preferred it when I showed her how she could til the container to and fro, making the balls scatter paint across the doilies.

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Let these painted ones dry before adding to the other doilies hanging in your window. This made the easiest toddler “garland” ever!

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Sponge Towers and Stamps

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Sponge Towers (3)

Large kitchen sponges are easy to buy cheaply and in bulk, so consider stocking up the next time you’re at the store. I love keeping a few in the craft bin because they always come in handy, and not just for watery outdoor summer play.

Veronika and I found two fun ways to play with them this winter afternoon! First, I cut several of the sponges into strips so they made almost a soft foam version of Jenga blocks! I showed her to stack these into layers, and she loved helping add to each strata as our tower grew taller.

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And of course she loved knocking the sponges over.

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She also came up with her own way to stack them, simply one strip atop another, and I loved watching her concentration!

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Note: If building up the Jenga-style towers is too tough for your toddler, you can also make simple shape blocks. Aside from the obvious opportunity to talk about shapes or short by shape, toddlers will no doubt find many uses for these soft (danger-free!) blocks.

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They were great fun for hauling around in her dump truck…

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…or teaching an early intro to simple patterns, like alternating pink and blue.

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When the stacking was done, we still had a few sponges left over so I wanted to use them for more of an artsy craft. Sponges make perfect “stamps” for painting and since we’re so near to Valentine’s Day, I cut them into heart shapes.

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These made great prints, and Veronika was especially intrigued with the fact that the color that appeared on the paper wasn’t the yellow or blue of the sponge…

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…but red paint! So this accidentally turned into a quick lesson on cause and effect.

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Want more ways to play with DIY sponge blocks? Check out what big brother Travis was doing with them 4 years ago!

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