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Tag Archives: Thanksgiving

Holiday Baking With Kids — The Best Cookies and Treats!

Posted by melissa.t on November 1, 2012 2 comments

I think the holidays are the perfect time to get the kids baking in the kitchen. And, if your kids are like mine, they love sweets and baking cookies.

Our favorite recipe is iced sugar cookies. The measuring, stirring, and baking means lots of fun family time, too. Then, decorating with icing lets us be creative. Finally, we can enjoy our delicious cookie creations with hot chocolate or milk.

Martha Stewart’s Sugar Cookies

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Assorted candies, sprinkles, or colored sugars, for decorating (optional)

Directions

  1. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in one bowl. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture; beat until combined. Divide dough in half; flatten into disks. Wrap each in plastic; freeze until firm, at least 20 minutes.
  2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment. Remove one dough disk; let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Roll out 1/8 inch thick between two sheets of floured parchment, dusting dough with flour as needed. Cut shapes with cookie cutters. Using a spatula, transfer to prepared baking sheets. (If dough gets soft, chill 10 minutes.) Reroll scraps; cut shapes. Repeat with remaining dough.
  3. Bake, rotating halfway through, until edges are golden, 10 to 18 minutes (depending on size). Cool completely on wire racks. To ice cookies, spread with the back of a spoon. Let the icing harden, about 20 minutes. Decorate as desired.

To make icing, sift 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl. Whisk in 3 to 4 tablespoons milk, water, or lemon juice, 1 tablespoon at a time, until smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If too thin, whisk in more sugar; if too thick, add more liquid.

- – - – - – - -

We added cake coloring to color the icing. Look how bright the colors turned out!

**Try these molasses sugar cookies for a little varation.

Give your kids icing and sprinkles and let the artistry begin . . .

What else can you bake with your kids? How about one of these unique and delicious treats?

More Holiday Treats To Bake with Kids

Candy Cane Cookies (recipe and photograph from Spoonful)

Cake Mix Cookies (recipe and photo from Projects for Preschoolers)

Nutella Meringues (recipe and photo from Cream Puffs in Venice)

Rice Crispy Treat Houses from Land o’Lakes

Snowman Cupcakes (recipe and photo) from Meet the Dubiens

Peppermint Popcorn Bark (recipe and photo from Plain Chicken)

Mini Fruit Pizzas (recipe and photo from Banner Boutique)

Wreath Cornflake Cookies (recipe and photo from Mr. Food)

Accessories for Cooking with Kids

Finally, don’t forget that every young baker loves his or her own apron and supplies. You might like this Curious Chef Cookie Kit with cookie cutters, a whisk, a spoon, a rolling pin, and more. Imagine Toys has lots of cooking toys for kids, too. Play pretend with a play kitchen of your own!

I’m going to let my kids pick our next holiday treat recipe.

What about you? Which will they pick?

Thanksgiving Play and Games Roundup

Posted by melissa.t on November 17, 2011 4 comments

In the U.S., Thanksgiving brings hustle and bustle — preparing for family time, food celebrations, and often travel.

But, there’s also many possibilities for fun and games! So, I’ve gathered the best Thanksgiving ideas from around the web to make sure you have ways to keep play in your celebration with kids.

Thanksgiving Games

Crazy Turkey Game from Hobby Farm

Eat or Be Eaten Turkey Toss from Dinosaur and Octopus

 

Don’t Eat Tom Turkey from Happy Home Fairy

Go HERE for this game’s printable turkeys.

  • Cover each of the turkeys with a small snack or treat (cereal, candy corn, M&M’s, etc – One of my Happy Home Friend’s even used frozen peas – haha!)
  • One person in the group goes out of the room.
  • One of the Turkeys on the game board is chosen by the group to be the “Tom Turkey.”
  • The person comes back in the room and chooses a snack and eats it from off of each turkey. They keep eating the snacks until they get to “the Tom Turkey” that was chosen by the group.  When they reach for that snack, everyone else yells, “Don’t eat Tom Turkey!!”
  • That person’s turn is over and a new person goes out of the room to repeat the game.
  • You can play as many rounds as you like, or print off multiple boards if you have a big group.

TURKEY STRUT from Kid Activities

1. Use pieces of masking tape to make turkey footprints all over the floor.
2. Start playing music.
3. Have children pretend to be turkeys and strut around the room.
4.When you stop the music, have the turkeys find footprints to stand on (one turkey to a footprint).
5. When you start the music again, have the turkeys continue strutting around the room.

Thanksgiving Memory Game from 365 Kid Games

  • The players sit in a circle.
  • The first player starts by saying, “At Thanksgiving dinner I ate turkey.”
  • The next player must repeat this and add another dish, “At my Thanksgiving dinner I ate turkey and cranberry.”
  • The third player must repeat it and add yet another dish, “At Thanksgiving dinner I ate turkey, cranberry, and stuffing.”
  • The game continues with each player adding an item to the menu after first listing all the previous items in the exact order they were first said.
  • If a player makes a mistake he drops out and the game continues until there is just one person left.

The First Thanksgiving Wampanoag Game from Scholastic

The Wampanoag played a game called the Pin Game. A Ring was attached to a stick, and you had to flip the ring up over tte stick, or pin.

Thanksgiving Play

(+ imagination of course!)

Simple Mayflower Boat Craft from I Can Teach My Child 

 Pilgrim Hat from Teach Preschool


Thanksgiving Pinecone Turkeys from What I Live For

Coffee Filter Turkeys from Critters and Crayons

Another Coffee Filter Turkey Idea from The Chocolate Muffin Tree

Turkey Mask from The Outlaw Mom

Pilgrim Ship Vegetable Platter from National Geographic (very cute!)

VIDEO: Mayflower: Kids Play from History.com

Thanksgiving Books 

 

Practicing Daily Gratitude With Kids

Posted by melissa.t on November 7, 2011 1 comments

With Thanksgiving around the corner, I started thinking how to incorporate gratitude throughout each day. Of course, most kids don’t know what the word gratitude means so I use “thank you” as a way to describe grateful, or having gratitude.

Then, I find daily opportunities to say thank you –for anything. Here are some ideas you I have. Will you join me this month, the month of giving thanks?

Morning Gratitude

“Thank you, sun for rising!”
In yoga, there is a pose called Sun Salutations. I love that. Say thank you to the sun, and for the day first thing in the morning!

“Thank you for my food.”
Whether or not your belief system includes a higher power, you can say thanks before you eat a meal. Look on Belief Net for examples from different belief systems.

Mid-Day Gratitude

“Thank you”
Model saying thank you ito everyone you encounter both in your home (your husband or wife, and kids) and outside your home (the barrista at Starbucks.)

And, expect your kids to use “please” and “thank you” throughout their day, too.

Gratitude Stories
Share stories about others to teach gratitude.

Evening Gratitude

“To Mom/Dad/Sister/Brother, Thank you for . . . “ 
Write a sticky note to someone else in your family saying “thank you” and leave it on their place at the table.

“Thank you for . . . the day.”
Reflect at bedtime for something good that happened in your day. Consider starting an evening prayer habit.

Expressing gratitude reduces stress and is proven to make people more joyful. I’m glad Thanksgiving reminds me to be grateful, and to teach my kids gratitude practices, aren’t you?

Anytime Gratitude Activities

Chopstick Gratitude Game from Family Fun Magazine

Gratitude Jar Year Around from Living Montessori

Blessing Board from Lee, Me and the Girls

A Giving Tree from Real Housewives of Idaho

What are you up for doing this month? What do you already do with your kids?