Healthy Strawberry Fruit Parfaits

 

We just went strawberry picking this morning and decided to make a yummy strawberry snack. I forget how DELICIOUS these are! I try to teach my kids how to make yummy & healthy snacks. The funny thing is, if I had put these in a regular bowl, they might have complained, but since they were in fun ice cream cups, they gobbled them up
Parfaits are also great because the kids can help. My 3-year-old added the strawberries and sprinkled on the granola.

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Strawberry Parfaits

Yogurt, any flavor (we used vanilla)

Strawberries (any fruit would work, we also like blueberries)

Granola

Whipped cream (a little for the top)

1. Layer the yogurt, strawberries and granola until the cup is full.
2. Top with a little whipped cream

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TIP!  I don’t buy Cool Whip anymore. Have you ever looked at the ingredients label? I just whip regular whipping cream, plus a little sugar and vanilla in the mixer for about 5 minutes. Sooooo yummy.

Straw Splatter Painting

Blowing paint through straws. Summertime painting can’t get much more fun!

1. Open 3-4 paint jars. I like these Crayola Washable Paints I found at Target. You can also get them here. We were aiming for 4th of July pictures, so we used red, blue and yellow.
2. Put one straw in each paint jar.
3. Spread newspaper or a large piece of butcher paper over your workspace. We did this outside on the washable plastic kids table and still covered it with paper. Okay, it goes everywhere, but that’s what washable paints are for … right?!
4. Use paint shirts! Or on a nice, warm day my 2-year-old went for the shirtless technique.
5. Dip one end of the straw in the paint (we did go over the “don’t suck in” rule)
6. BLOW!

P.S. Don’t stand directly in front of your kids trying to take a cute picture while they are blowing, you will get paint-splattered

I let these dry, then we cut star shapes out of them to use for 4th of July decorations. I love how they turned out!!

Linking to: Summertime Fun Party

Stars & Stripes

This is a simple project, fun for the kids and perfect for the 4th of July (or just learning about stars & stripes during S week).

• Supplies Needed …
  1. 1 piece of white cardstock
  2. 7 red paper stripes
  3. 1 blue rectangle
  4. lots of shiny star stickers
• Show the kids an example of an American flag. Point out the red and white stripes, the blue rectangle in the corner and the stars on the blue.
  1. Using a glue stick, help them glue their red stripes on the paper first … spacing them evenly enough all the way down.
  2. Next, add the blue rectangle to the top, left corner
  3. Finish by decorating with star stickers. There are several to choose from here!

NOTE: As you can see from the pictures, my 2-year-old wanted to make the flag his own way. I’m glad now that I just let him be creative and do it his way. He loved it and it was still a great decoration for the 4th of July

• Listen to The Star-Spangled Banner while you make this project! (click on the blue link. Click on the play button in the right-hand column under the Star-Spangled Banner lyrics) 

Linking to: Summertime Fun Party

Strawberries!

Since summer is just around the corner and official preschool at our house ended last week with letter Z, I decided to start posting summer and summer holiday projects and preschool-type activities!

To start, I love this idea from Laura at Come Together Kids …

Red, White, and Blue Strawberries.

How simple. How pretty. And how delicious! Perfect for the kids. Strawberries should be ready for u-pick around June 15th here (I called this morning hoping it would be earlier) and these will definitely be on the menu!

Red, White and Blue Strawberries @ Come Together Kids

We love going to U-PICK farms all through the summer and fall for berries, apples, and pumpkins. I use this site www.pickyourown.org to find great local u-pick farms. And I use it just as much to learn how to freeze and store what we do pick. Start here to select your state.

Pillowcase (or Sewing)

I love doing preschool at home because we can do anything we want to. It’s not always sitting at the table with letters and numbers or papers and crayons. Making a pillowcase is S.I.M.P.L.E. and very forgiving of mistakes. Believe me, I don’t sew more than straight lines and these always turn out great

1. Go to the fabric store and let your preschooler pick out one yard of material. You’ll need matching thread if you don’t already have some. That’s it.
2. Wash & dry your fabric.
3. Lay the material out flat on the floor and use little scissors to cut all the scraggly threads off the edges.
4. With the right side down, fold the long edge down about one inch. I have one of those little slider sewing rulers, so I let my 3-year-old use that to measure as we pinned along the way.
5. Sew a straight stitch all along that long edge. Matt helped me push the pedal, raise and lower the foot, take out pins, and cut the threads when we were finished.
6. Lay the material flat on the floor, right side down, and fold the same long edge over another 3 or 4 inches. It’s really up to you. Use your ruler again and pin.
7. Sew a straight stitch along the long edge.
8. Now fold the pillowcase in half, right sides together and pin all the way around.
9. Sew a straight stitch all the way around, trim the threads and turn inside out. You have a nice new soft pillowcase!

PRESCHOOL TIPS:

• Go slow! Be patient. Yes, you could whip this out in 20 minutes, but let the kids help wherever they can. They love it.
• Pillowcases don’t have to be perfect. I love making these because they’re very forgiving and still look great.
• Careful with the pins. They do hurt little fingers

Shapes

• "Mouse Shapes" by Ellen Stoll Walsh is a great shape book and would work nicely to read before doing the activity below. Available here.

 

• Shape pictures
  1. Cut out a variety of shapes. I used different shapes, colors and sizes. Save these in a baggie.
  2. Give the kids a blank paper and spread several of the shapes on the table.
  3. Let them glue and create any kind of picture they want to.
  4. Use crayons to add detail and background.
  5. I did show them a few ideas before we started like how to make a train or face or house. It was fun to see how different they were.

• Shape Run
  1. Draw several different shapes on several plastic buckets (one on each).
  2. Place the buckets upside down in the yard a good distance from each other.
  3. Call out the name of one of the shapes, then blow a whistle & have the kids run to that bucket. Repeat!
• Shape Hunt
  1. Show the kids a circle cut-out then search around the house for things that are circle shaped.
  2. Then show them a square cut-out and search the house for square-shaped things.
  3. Use a triangle, oval, star, heart, etc. I'm always surprised how much they love this game!

Treat idea: S’mores!

Use a square graham cracker half, a couple small rectangles of chocolate, and a circle marshmallow. Melt in the microwave for 20 seconds (watch them, they puff quickly!). Smoosh together and eat.

Snack Idea ... Use circle Ritz crackers, square cheese slices and triangle/rectangle slices of meat for a yummy lunchable type snack.

Grow

• Plant assorted seeds between wet paper towel & place in a ziploc baggie. Place in a sunny spot & they will sprout in a few days.
• Plant a small garden ... use an egg carton, fill each space with potting soil. Help the kids plant a few seeds in each space (carrots, radishes, peppers, corn). Use popsicle sticks to label each space. Water & wrap with plastic wrap to create a greenhouse. The kids get so excited to see their seeds begin to sprout. These can be transferred outside when they get bigger!
• Cut the bottom 1" off a long celery stalk. Place in a clear cup of water dyed with food coloring. The kids can watch the color travel through the celery stalk.
• Make simple plant sequence cards ... Use index cards, on the first draw dirt & a seed. On the second, draw a seed with roots. On the third, draw a seed with roots & a plant beginning to grow. On the last, draw the seed with a full-grown plant or flower. Help the kids put them in the right order.
• Measure your kids on a growth chart to see how much they've grown! I made this wooden ruler when my kids were little. We mark it every year on their birthday and half-birthday. I write the date, their age, and their name.
• Read "The Tiny Seed" by Eric Carle
• Plant your own instant garden ... Draw rows on a long roll of brown paper to resemble a garden. Cut pictures of plants and flowers from gardening/seed catalogs and glue them on to your garden.
• Grow a Grassy Letter ... Let the kids place a layer of soil in a pie tin. Use a craft stick to write the first letter of his name in the soil. Help him sprinkle grass seed over his letter. Lightly water the grass seed. In a few days, the grass will sprout in the shape of their letter!

snack idea: sunflower seeds