Cooking with Kids: Cranberry Cookie Bars

Leave a reply
Please follow and like us:
fb-share-icon
Tweet
Pin Share

It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is almost here! My husband loves to cook, and he wanted to make something fun to bring to my family’s Thanksgiving dinner. He came across this recipe for Chewy White Chocolate Cranberry Cookie Bars on Chew Out Loud’s blog and decided to make it with Buddy. It’s perfect because they were easy to pack up and bring with us in the car. And of course, it’s always nice to have additional sweets around during the holiday.

Buddy loves to bake, so he was excited to help. The original recipe makes enough for a 8 x 8 pan, but we decided to double it and put it in a 13 x 9 pan. My husband started by cracking two eggs in a bowl, and Buddy beat them for him. 

Then they poured the eggs into the mixer along with a stick of softened, salted butter. Next, they put 1 and 1/3 cup of brown sugar into a measuring cup, and Buddy helped to pack it down. Once they measured the sugar, they added it to the mixing bowl along with 2 teaspoons vanilla. Buddy got to turn on the mixer, which he loved. It made Buddy feel like a real chef to be the one to turn the mixer on and off.

Next, they added 1 and 1/2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the mixer, and then mixed everything together. Finally, they mixed in 2 cups of fresh cranberries and a cup of white chocolate chunks. My husband and Buddy worked together to mix those last two ingredients into the batter.

The cranberry bar dough went into a greased 13 x 9 pan, which was also lined with parchment paper. They spread the dough out evenly, and then it baked for 35 minutes at 350 degrees. (The recipe says to go 30-33 minutes or until it is golden brown and puffy.)

Once the cookie has cooled, it needs to be cut into bars and topped with melted white chocolate. The final product looked fantastic, and tasted amazing! The fresh cranberries really give it great flavor, and the white chocolate was a great balance of sweetness. My family had a lot of fun making them together, and I’m looking forward to sharing them at Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Cinnamon Applesauce Thumbprint Ornaments

Leave a reply
Please follow and like us:
fb-share-icon
Tweet
Pin Share

Buddy makes ornaments to give as Christmas gifts every year, and this weekend we worked on this year’s ornaments. Because our family reads this blog, I don’t blog about the ornaments before we give them to keep them a surprise. So while I won’t go into detail about what we did this weekend, I do want to share the ones we made last Christmas.

I made cinnamon applesauce ornaments as a child, and every Christmas I pull them out and they still smell amazing! The previous two years, I made salt dough ornaments with Buddy, so I thought cinnamon applesauce ornaments would be a nice change of pace.

I used the recipe for cinnamon applesauce ornaments from Mc Cormick. Buddy and I mixed together 3/4 cup of applesauce with 5 ounces of cinnamon. I loved the look of the glittery cinnamon spice ornaments on Simply Notable’s blog, so we poured in some glitter into our mixture.

Buddy had a lot of fun pouring in the ingredients. Then we took turns stirring them together. Buddy was able to stir a little to start, but once it started to become dough, I needed to stir it. Once the dough was formed, I sprinkled more cinnamon on a piece of wax paper and on my rolling pin, and I rolled out the dough. Then I gave Buddy a small heart cookie cutter. We cut out the hearts together, and then I moved them to a cookie sheet.  After they were moved, I had Buddy stick his thumb in each one. Then I used a straw to cut a small hole at the top of each one. 

The ornaments baked in the oven at 200 degrees for 2 and 1/2 hours. Once they were cool, I used a silver paint pen to outline Buddy’s thumbprint. I finished the ornaments by tying a piece of red ribbon through the top. Everyone loved these ornaments! They were so cute and smelled great. I’m looking forward to pulling mine out again once I set up this year’s Christmas tree.

 

Fall Tree Pom Pom Painting

Leave a reply
Please follow and like us:
fb-share-icon
Tweet
Pin Share

I love doing seasonal activities, especially in the fall. When I first saw the idea of doing a fall tree painting on Crafts on Sea’s blog, I loved it. They did several paintings using different items as paint brushes. I liked the pom pom idea the best, and so did Buddy. There is a printable tree template on the blog, but I ended up just creating my own.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

During Buddy’s nap time, I got the painting materials set up. I used a marker to draw a tree trunk and branches on painting paper. Then I put washable paints on a paper plate, and put a pom pom on the end of a clothes pin. I also pulled out Buddy’s paint smock.

Buddy was so excited to start painting. He loved the idea of using a pom pom instead of a paint brush, and he was very careful with it. At first, Buddy put one dot of paint at the end of each branch. But eventually, he started adding more and more paint everywhere. 

After awhile, Buddy wanted more leaves on the paper. I suggested that he put some on the ground. However, Buddy thought it would be more fun to make them falling from the tree. So there are a lot of leaves everywhere on the paper. 

Here is Buddy’s final picture. 

Buddy had a lot of fun, and it was so easy to clean up! I threw away the paper plate, and the pom pom clothes pin, and we were done! Since we didn’t use a real paint brush, I didn’t have to clean it out at the end of our activity! We both loved this activity, and I know we’ll try pom pom painting again.

Going on a Leaf Hunt

Leave a reply
Please follow and like us:
fb-share-icon
Tweet
Pin Share

Last week we had a warm, sunny beautiful fall day. It was such a wonderful change from the cold and rainy weather that Buddy and I spent an hour and a half after school playing outside. We headed to the park, and after playing for a long time on the playground, we were looking for something else fun to do.

I’ve seen many fun fall scavenger hunts on Pinterest, and almost all of them had printable resources that can be used to guide the hunt. I had planned to do one of those hunts, but since we decided to do this activity spontaneously, I didn’t have anything printed. But it didn’t matter; we had a great time.

I asked Buddy if he wanted to go on a leaf hunt, and he loved the idea. I asked some general questions, and then we went looking for leaves. Here are my guiding questions (asked one at a time):

  • How many different colors of leaves can you find?
  • What is the largest leaf you can find?
  • What is the smallest leaf you can find?
  • How many different shapes of leaves can you find?
  • What other fun things can you find on the ground?

Buddy had a blast finding a bunch of different leaves! He found ones that were red, yellow, green, black, brown, and a light tan. We also found some different sizes of pinecones, an acorn, dandelions, and a couple fun sticks. While we were walking, we also saw some dogs, ducks, geese, and a squirrel. We made up a leaf hunt song that we sang as we walked around the park.

Once we were done, we took our findings home and spread them all out to analyze. We pointed out the biggest and smallest, discussed all of the colors of leaves, and picked favorites. Buddy wanted to bring everything inside, but he was content when I told him we’d have to leave them outside where they belong. 

Buddy had so much fun with this activity that he suggested another leaf hunt today. It was a lot colder than last week, but it was still nice enough to play outside. We stayed close to our house, but we were still able to find a lot of different leaves. Buddy put all of his favorites inside of his tricycle. 

I highly recommend doing a leaf hunt of your own this fall if you live in an area where the leaves changes. (And even if you don’t, a nature walk of any kind is a lot of fun.) We had a blast, and I know we’ll do it again soon.

Halloween Tic-Tac-Toe

Leave a reply
Please follow and like us:
fb-share-icon
Tweet
Pin Share

Buddy loves games, so I’m always looking for fun new ones to play with him. When I saw this candy tic-tac-toe Etsy listing, I thought that it would be fun to do with Buddy. He first learned how to play tic-tac-toe this summer, and it’s a go to game for us when we are waiting at a restaurant. I knew this candy version would be fun to play.

I cut out a piece of black cardstock and drew my lines with silver sharpie. (Mommy musings’s blog has a free printable Halloween Tic-Tac-Toe board that would also be fun to use.) Then I grabbed some candy corn and pumpkins, and went to go find Buddy.

Buddy was super excited to play tic-tac-toe! It was great having actual pieces to move instead of just drawing in each square. Of course, Buddy asked immediately if we would be eating the candy. Fortunately, these candies aren’t favorites of Buddy’s, so he was willing to play with them instead.

This was so easy and fun! It’s definitely an activity that will probably move into our diaper bag for restaurant fun.

Spider Web Spelling

Leave a reply
Please follow and like us:
fb-share-icon
Tweet
Pin Share

Last week, a friend of mine posted about a spelling activity she did with her three year old. I loved it so much, I had to do it with Buddy too. We went trick or treating for letters while walking on a spider web!

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

To set up this activity, I used painters tape to make a spider web on the floor. Then I made some Halloween spelling cards. I originally was going to print out some words, but I decided to just use some Halloween stickers on index cards. I wanted to use words that had few letters, and I wanted a picture so Buddy could “read” the word before he spelled it.

Buddy is better at identifying capital letters, so I decided to make this activity a lowercase letter activity. Fortunately, our magnetic letter set has both upper and lowercase letters to choose from. After I wrote the words, I pulled out the letters. Some letters I had multiples of in the set, but I chose just to do one of every letter that was needed.Once I had the words and letters set, I put one letter on each intersection of the spider web. I put the extras at the top vertex of the web.

I told Buddy he needed to pick a word, and then he would go trick or treating for the letters. To make this a little more challenging, I told Buddy he could only walk on the line when he was going through the spider web. Buddy did a good job of remembering the letters he was looking for, but sometimes he wanted to bring the card with him in the spider web. 

Once Buddy found the letters, we took them to our front door. I used a magnetic chip clip to hold up the word card, and then Buddy spelled his word underneath. Before we started each new word, we looked to see what letters were needed, and which ones he’d already found. 

I was surprised that Buddy liked the longer words. When I was making the word cards, I almost skipped pumpkin because I thought it would be too long for him. But Buddy liked having a lot of letters to find, and he was really proud when he was done. 

Buddy had a lot of fun with this activity. When we had picked up all of the letters, he put them back down on the spider web. It did take a little bit of time to set up and pick up, but it was worth it. It was such a fun way to practice letters and work on gross motor skills.

Do you have any other ideas for activities with magnetic letters? Please share in the comments.

Fun Fall Books For Preschoolers

Leave a reply
Please follow and like us:
fb-share-icon
Tweet
Pin Share

I love reading seasonal books with Buddy. Over the last couple years, I’ve been able to purchase or check out many fun fall books. I’m going to share our favorite fall books for preschoolers in case you’re looking for some new reading material.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

Little Blue Truck’s Halloween

This is Buddy’s favorite Halloween book. It’s a board book with flaps to lift. Each flap is a masked animal and under the flap is the unmasked animal. It’s well written with rhyming stanzas. Buddy loves seeing all the animals and the costumes.

Peppa Goes Apple Picking

Buddy likes Peppa Pig, and he’s enjoyed every book we’ve read in the series. This one is special because we go apple picking every fall. I like having a fall book that isn’t Halloween based.

It’s Pumpkin Day, Mouse!

This is a book in the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie series. Buddy loves these books, and this Halloween one is no exception.

Halloween Jack

Buddy got this book as a gift last October, and it’s really fun! There are large googly eyes that are in different Halloween figures (witch, mummy, vampire, etc.) It is a silly and not scary book.

I Love You Little Pumpkin

This is another lift the flap book with Halloween costumes. It’s a cute book that Buddy liked when he was younger, and he still enjoys it now.

Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin

Buddy has loved Duck and Goose books since he was one. This one is our favorite because it’s funny. Duck and Goose look for a pumpkin in strange places (“Is our pumpkin in the tree?” “No.”) and eventually they find what they’re looking for. It’s a simple story that’s a lot of fun.

Duck and Goose Honk! Quack! Boo!

This book is longer than Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin and is best for kids ages 3 and up. It is also funny, and Buddy really enjoyed it. It made him very excited for dressing up for Halloween and going Trick or Treating.

Click Clack Boo

Buddy really likes the Click Clack Moo series, and this Halloween version is a lot of fun.

The Night Before Thanksgiving

This is a version of Twas the Night Before Christmas with a Thanksgiving spin. It’s a good way to get ready for the excitement and chaos of Thanksgiving with a large family.

Do you have any other favorite fall books? Please share your ideas in the comments.

Ice Cream Shop Sensory Bin

Leave a reply
Please follow and like us:
fb-share-icon
Tweet
Pin Share

Buddy loves sensory bins, so I’m always excited when I see a new sensory bin idea. When I saw the Ice Cream Sensory Bin on Fantastic Fun and Learning’s blog, I knew Buddy would love it! He loves playing with cotton balls, and he loves ice cream, so it’s perfect!

I set up the bin by putting a bag of cotton balls into a silver bowl. Then, I put some toppings into old baby food containers. I used two different types of pony beads (circles and stars) to be sprinkles. Fantastic Fun and Learning used sequins, but I thought beads would be easier to separate back out after we’re done. I also found a few red pom poms to be cherries. I finished the bin by adding a few plastic bowls and spoons and an ice cream scoop.

Buddy was thrilled when he saw the bin. He immediately started scooping out ice cream and sprinkles into each bowl. Buddy loves to serve pretend food, and this was even better because of the sensory aspect. He seemed to really enjoy the scooping from one container to another. 

Once Buddy had played around with the materials for a bit, I was a customer to the ice cream shop. I would place an order, and Buddy would make it for me. Buddy thought this was a lot of fun!

Of course Buddy made himself ice cream sundaes and had a lot of fun pretending to eat them. 

This was such a fun sensory bin! Buddy loved it and has done it a couple other times since our original activity. It’s being added into our regular sensory bin rotation as a pre-dinner time distraction.

Alphabet Kaboom Game

Leave a reply
Please follow and like us:
fb-share-icon
Tweet
Pin Share

This summer, Buddy and I spent a lot of time working on alphabet activities. When I came across the idea for the alphabet kaboom game on The Many Little Joys’s blog, I was excited to make it to play with Buddy. However, when we tried to play the game, Buddy wasn’t interested in it. So I put it away for another day.

I pulled out the kaboom game this weekend, and Buddy and I had a blast! The set up for the game is super simple. I grabbed a handful of jumbo popsicle sticks and wrote a different letter of the alphabet on the bottom of each one. I also wrote the word Kaboom on the bottom of six sticks. Then I put the sticks in a metal bucket so the written parts were in the bucket.

It’s very easy to play the game. We took turns pulling out a stick and saying the letter. Sometimes we would add a word that started with that letter as well. But whenever someone pulled a Kaboom stick, that person had to put back all of his/her popsicle sticks. At the end of a set amount of time, whoever has the most sticks wins. Buddy didn’t like the idea of setting a timer, so we just listened to music and the game ended at the end of each song.

Uh oh! Buddy got a Kaboom!

Buddy liked this game so much that we played it over and over again! We probably played eight or more games in one sitting. It was a wonderful way to practice letters, and we both had fun. We will be playing it again soon.

 

Best Car Seats for Air Travel

Leave a reply
Please follow and like us:
fb-share-icon
Tweet
Pin Share

This has been a big car seat week for our family, because we finally changed Buddy’s car seat to be forward facing. We waited as long as we could, but he finally got too tall for facing backward in his seat. In the process, we’ve bought a new forward facing seat for Hubby’s car. All of this car seat change has me reflecting on the seats we’ve had so far, and what I’ve learned about traveling with them.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

I’m often asked by friends with kids about how we fly with a car seat. Since Hubby works for an airline, we fly with Buddy often. We have also purchased car seats specifically because they would be useful for flying. This blog covers what I’ve learned at every car seat age.

There are a few options with flying with car seats. You can check your car seat with checked baggage. You can bring it through the airport and either check it at the gate or bring it onto the plane. And finally, you can rent a car seat if you are renting a car at your destination. I’ve never trusted that, and the options of car seats are very limited. Hubby and I never considered this to be a good option for us, so we’ve always brought our own seat with us.

Infant Car Seat

When Buddy was an infant, he flew on our laps. Because we didn’t have a seat for him, we always checked his bucket car seat. We bought this car seat backpack to help carry the seat into the airport. We always added baby food, extra diapers, and Buddy’s clothes in this backpack as well. I put all of these extras into extra large ziplocks, so I could easily pull out the car seat away from the rest.

Buddy’s first flight!

The one thing I wanted to mention about the infant seat is that you don’t have to fly with the base as well. Those bases are heavy, and I’m amazed when I see people carrying them through the airport! Our car seat was able to be strapped in with just a seat belt, and I think that is common for most infant carriers. (Be sure to read your manual to double check before you fly.)

I hated checking the seat because I always worried about it getting lost. We did lose a bag on one our flights with infant Buddy, but fortunately that was my luggage and not Buddy’s car seat.  It may be worth buying a seat for your infant to not risk losing the car seat. (Plus, your infant is safer in a car seat on the plane than in your arms.)

Baby Buddy in his baby car seat.

Convertible Car Seat

When Buddy outgrew his bucket seat, I got a Britax Advocate for my car. However, we knew we didn’t want to travel with that seat because it weighs a ton! After a lot of research, I got a recommendation for a lightweight convertible car seat from a friend of mine who flies with her kids even more than I do. She recommended the Evenflo Tribute LX, which is what we ended up getting. It weighs 9 pounds, so it was even lighter to carry through the airport than Buddy’s infant seat. It doesn’t have a ton of padding, but Buddy’s always been very comfortable in it. We’ve taken it on long car trips, and he seems just as happy in it as in mine. The best part about it is that it’s a very affordable car seat with great safety reviews. It’s also pretty easy to install in both cars and airplanes. 

When Buddy was under two, we still hauled this seat in the back pack and checked it. But once he turned two and we had to get him his own seat, we took it onto the plane with us. It was a great peace of mind knowing the seat wouldn’t get lost. To get the seat through the airport, we used this belt to tie the seat onto either my suitcase or Buddy’s stroller. You are supposed to be able to use the car seat as a stroller once it’s belted to the suitcase, but I never tested that out.

Buddy was forward facing on the plane in this seat (There’s not really enough space to rear face on a plane), but he was always rear facing in this seat in cars. The only big drawback to this seat is that it only lasts until 40 pounds, which is why we ended up buying a new car seat for Buddy this week. But since we paid around $50 for it in the first place, I don’t have a problem having to upgrade it after two and a half years.

Forward Facing

When I was researching traveling convertible car seats, I came across the Ride Safer Travel Vest. Hubby and I were so excited about the idea of carrying a vest with us instead of a car seat, and we had to wait two long years between learning about it, and when Buddy was finally old enough to get it. (The Ride Safer Vest is made for forward facing kids from ages 3-8.) This vest is basically a belt positioning booster, and it makes the regular car seat belt hit Buddy’s body appropriately. It comes in a travel bag, and it’s so easy to throw in one of our carry ons. We also love bringing it with us when we need to Uber somewhere. It is a lifesaver, and we love it so much!

If you have questions about flying with young children, please share in the comments section. Best wishes for safe travels!