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Crab Cakes

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This recipe gives a whole new meaning to the term “crab cakes” – there’s no actual crab here, just a wonderful crab-shaped figure of cake and fruit on your child’s plate!

The original recipe called for a store-bought loaf cake, cut into slices. However, it can be hard to find vegan loaf cakes, so I baked a yellow cake from a mix in a 9-inch round pan. Let cool completely, then carefully cut in half horizontally with a serrated knife.

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Using a large circle-shaped cookie cutter, cut out 8 crab bodies from your cakes. Use a smaller cookie cutter to form 16 eyes. Discard any additional cake scraps (or save for nibbling!)

We added strawberry claws and antennae, cake crumbs below the crabs for sand, and blueberries for water.

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For the smiles, microwave non-dairy chocolate chips at 20 second intervals until melted (about 1 minute total). Use a toothpick to draw on a happy chocolate crab smile.

Dig in!

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Needless to say, our crab didn’t last very long.

Destination: MCU Park and Coney Island

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Major league baseball stadiums can be overwhelming for children – the noise, the crowds, the noise, the fans’ energy, the noise – did I mention the noise?

A great bet for a child’s first game (and subsequent ones!) is to support your local Triple-A team. We’re lucky to live near MCU Park, home to the Brooklyn Cyclones. The stadium is wonderfully family-friendly; many games include kids running the bases either before or after the game; fireworks on select nights; or themes like Harry Potter Night.

Because the stadium is small, there is literally not a bad seat in the house, perfect for explaining the ins and outs of the game to children old enough to understand.

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You’ll be right up close to all those silly mascots, too!

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MCU Park has the added bonus of being right up against Coney Island with the rest of its attractions. Make a day of it before the game starts (I find that 4 p.m. games are the ideal start time for the preschool set). If you arrive in the early afternoon, you’ll have ample time to stroll the boardwalk and sample the food (Italian ice is a must!). Duck into Luna Park for a few kiddie rides;

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Gape in terror at the roller coasters;

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And soak up the local characters (parrot-toting guitar players??)

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A perfect summer afternoon!

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Trip Date: July 2017

Ages: 3+

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Spider Web Snacks

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To continue with some recent web-filled fun, we made edible spiderwebs for snack! This project has a few steps that kids can help out with for hands-on cooking fun.

Let your child help arrange 5 pretzel sticks on wax paper so they form a five-pointed star. Make as many arrangements of 5 as you’ll need to feed all the children snacking in your household.

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Adults: Microwave chocolate chips at 20 second intervals until melted (about 1 minute total). Transfer the melted chocolate to a zip-top plastic bag, then pipe the chocolate “web” in circles around the pretzel rods.

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Travis loved helping with this step, so our webs weren’t always perfect circles – nothing wrong with a few globs!

You can add a big clump of raisins in the center as big scary spiders. Single raisins around the edges made perfect flies caught in the web.

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Transfer the wax paper to the fridge and let the chocolate set. Once it cools, you can remove the spider web directly from the wax paper. Impatience meant that ours didn’t last nearly that long, so instead we ate a snack that looked more like chocolate-dipped pretzels – delicious either way!

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Spider Web Walk

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Travis recently fell in love with finding spider webs at our vacation house – so I surprised him this morning with a giant tape web on the floor! The web lends itself to lots of games.

First, we made “bugs” to get stuck in the web. I only had 3 pipe cleaners on hand but go ahead and scrunch up as many pipe cleaners as you like to form creepy crawlies.

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We then made up games of tossing the bugs into the sticky web and finding silly ways to get to them: on hands and knees; on tip toes; etc.

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I thought he might also enjoy driving cars through the web, since the tape lines made for perfect racing markers.

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Far more fun than this, however, was Travis’s decision to make his own spider web! He loved putting down each piece of sticky tape, which became a great chance to talk about how real spider webs are sticky, too, and why.

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He was so proud of his final creation!

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Phoneme Week 6: SH

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Apologies for the long lag since our last phoneme – we more properly had an SH month, to accommodate timely trips to shores and ships. Of course we started out by tracing S + H on our Usborne Wipe-Clean Alphabet cards. This sound was a fun one to explain and to say: “Shhhh!”

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Phonics Book of the Week: Shark in the Park was a fun intro to the sound, also featuring the words SHarp and SHeep. Although there were not many SH words, the book includes lots of repetition so Travis latched on right away. By the next morning he was guessing that shadow and shade also contained an SH!

Guiding Theme: SHell

To start the fun, we pulled out three different sizes of pasta shells just to play with. This was great fun for sorting and scooping.

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Of course there was also lots of beach combing to search for real shells to take home!Beach Wind Chime (1)

We Listened:

We Made:

We Learned:

  • For science of the week, we focused on the word SHadow; as a perfect coincidence, there was a great explanatory story in our July High Five about what makes a shadow. Then we were off on a shadow hunt outside and experimented with finding them in front of us, behind us, and beside us. SH (18)We also traced a shadow puzzle.Shadow Puzzles (6)
  • For math of the week, talk about the word SHort. We compared items in our home as an easy intro to what makes something short versus tall. Blocks are great, as are dolls or figurines or anything else you have at home that provides a short and tall comparison.SH (a)

We Visited:

  • The SHore, (obviously!), to see shells. If you’re lucky (or if there is an aquarium nearby), you may also spot SHarks! SH (3)Or hermit crabs in SHells.SH (4)

We Ate:

Other Words of the Week:

  • Ship: I set the stage for this word with a read of Usborne’s On a Pirate Ship. We continued the fun with their Build Your Own Pirate Ships sticker book.SH (2) Although recommended for ages 4 and up, Travis had no trouble at all with a little guidance, and was thrilled with each creation! Then it was time to craft a popsicle stick pirate ship: Popsicle Ship (4)We finished with a real pirate ship adventure – thank you summer vacation!Vineyard (19).jpg
  • Shore: Other than the above-mentioned shore visit to collect shells, we read Shine-a-Light Secrets of the Seashore and Seashore from Usborne’s non-fiction Beginners collection.
  • Shine: Here’s your perfect week to enjoy Usborne shine-a-light collection. There are 13 to choose from, and we did many reads of On the Train and Apple Tree. To chase away nighttime shadows, we then made a Tissue Paper Night Light; don’t forget to shine your flashlight around the room and see if you can make any SHadows.SH (8)
  • Shoes: Set up all your shoes and play shoe store. The best part of this game was trying on silly shoes.SH (6)Dad’s boots are so fun!SH (7)
  • Shapes: Now’s the time to pull out any shape toys you have – in fact, since so many of our shape toys have been retired to the “baby bin”, it was a fun excuse to dig through and play with old favorites. For more preschool-aged fun, we read Usborne’s Lift the Flap Shapes.SH (10)
  • Shampoo: For purely tactile fun, we made Instant Sensory Snow out of shampoo. Then let your little one try their hand at sudsing up their own hair during bath time this week!Instant Snow (3)

Spaghetti with Lentil Bolognese

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This recipe is great for mixed households with meat-eaters and vegans alike – the hearty lentils are a fantastic meatless twist on a classic bolognese sauce.

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 medium carrots, chopped
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 minced garlic cloves
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 cup French green lentils
  • 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 (1-pound) package spaghetti
  • Vegan Parmesan sprinkles
  • Fresh basil leaves
  1. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the carrots, onion, and garlic; cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in the tomato paste.
  2. Add 3 cups water and the lentils. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 35 minutes. Uncover and stir in the tomatoes, along with 1 cup water, the salt, and the black pepper. Simmer for a final 10 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package directions in a pot of boiling, salted water. Drain and return to the pot. Add the lentil sauce and toss to combine.
  4. If desired, top with the parmesan and fresh basil just before serving.

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Spread Your Wings

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Butterflies are everywhere this time of year, whether flitting past us on the beach, at the playground, or in the nearest batch of pretty garden flowers. If your little one wants to bring home the butterfly beauty, try out this creative suggestion from High Five magazine.

To start, grown-ups need to cut a butterfly wing shape from a large piece of cardboard.

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To make our wings shiny, we covered them first in strips of aluminum foil – this part was a huge hit, since Travis loves the way foil looks and feels. Plus glue is always fun!

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Once the glue dried, it was time to decorate our aluminum foil. Use anything crafty you have, including markers and paints.

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Butterfly stickers added a whimsical touch.

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To attach the wings to your little butterfly, punch holes in the middle where the wings meet. Thread string through the holes, and then tie over your child’s shoulders.

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Time to flutter away!

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Red, White, and Blue Nachos

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My favorite way to bring the colors of the American flag into our home on Independence Day is by concocting something in the kitchen! If savory nachos aren’t your freedom fare of choice, try flags for breakfast or a sweet flag-colored sundae instead. However you celebrate today, Happy 4th of July!

Ingredients:

  • 6 ounces blue tortilla chips
  • 1 cup salsa
  • 1 cup shredded Daiya mozzarella
  • Chopped tomatoes
  • Sliced olives
  • Black beans
  1. Let your little chef spread the tortilla chips in an even layer on the bottom of a 13×9-inch baking sheet.Red Nacho (1)
  2. Spoon the salsa evenly over the chips. (Note: rotating the baking sheet was very helpful so Travis could reach the chips evenly).
  3. Sprinkle the cheese evenly on top.Red Nacho (2)
  4. Adults: Broil the nachos for 3 minutes.

We added extra toppings of chopped tomatoes, sliced black olives, and black beans to turn the nachos into a full meal, but you can stick with the trio of read white and blue ingredients if you prefer!

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Red, White, and Blueberry Sundae Cups

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Get in the 4th of July spirit with this star-spangled dessert! If you want to go for something a little more gourmet, try pureeing the blueberries with a bit of water, cornstarch and extra sugar for a syrup on top instead, but we just liked our sundaes with fresh red and blue fruit!

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 (10-inch) flour tortillas
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • Non-Dairy vanilla ice cream
  • Fresh blueberries
  • Fresh strawberries, sliced

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  1. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon; set aside.
  2. Use a 4-inch round cookie cutter or glass to cut 3 circles from each tortilla. Brush the tortilla rounds evenly with the oil and sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
  3. Press the tortilla circles into six cups of a muffin tin, and bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes. Let cool slightly.
  4. To assemble each sundae, scoop non-dairy vanilla ice cream of your choice into each tortilla cup. Top liberally with strawberries and blueberries!

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Beach Memento Wind Chime

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If your summer plans take you to the beach, bring a bit of the beach home with you with this neat project!

The first step of course is finding your treasures, so the next time you head to the beach, bring a shovel and pail; take a walk in the sand to comb through for the prettiest finds. We only found small pieces of shell at this particular beach, but they were a gorgeous assortment of colors – purples and whites and even gold!

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At home, find a sturdy stick and use twine to wind around your treasures, and then knot onto the stick. Travis loved “helping” with the winding and knotting.

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Once we had our treasures dangling in a row, we hung them outside where they could click and clack against each other.

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A super windy day made this project even better!

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