Iceberg, Anyone?

Posted in Kid's Corner by Selections By Sisters

It’s been super cold outside, which has left Reagan and I hanging out at home to avoid the absolutely skin chilling weather outdoors. Hanging out inside all day, with a two-year old, requires this momma to be on her toes. I try to have several projects/activities planned for Reagan that I can easily access when there is down time that needs to be filled. One activity that I’ve been waiting to do with Reagan is Delia Creates awesome iceberg activity. We had just come back from visiting cousins in Kingston, Ontario, where they were recovering from an ice storm that reeked havoc on their small city. We saw beautiful icicles and huge chunks of ice lining the slick streets. Delia’s activity seemed liked the perfect extension for our ice filled trip.

Materials

Several Tupperware Containers- we used three

Various things to freeze. We picked things that would float and things that would sink when our containers were filled with water

Water

Iceberg and glacier facts – I wanted to be sure that I was passing on accurate information to Reagan. Find what we used below.

Iceberg and glacier videos and pictures- Visual Learners! Find what we used below.

Directions

1. Show pictures and videos about icebergs and glaciers, while telling facts about each. Reagan’s only two, so this part of the activity was very short, specific and to the point.

Videos: Twinkle Trails: Icebergs and Glaciers , Iceberg Collapsing , Iceberg Flipping Over , Moving Iceberg

Facts for Parents: Quick Iceberg Facts , Discovery Kids

Pictures: Glacier and Iceberg Google Images

2. Find small objects around the house that will become a part of your icebergs. Reagan chose a toy car, several small animals, a play mobile person, a plastic banana bunch, and a toy Daisy. Place objects into bowls and fill bowls with water.

3. Place bowls outside to freeze. The bowls could also be placed into the freezer. We left our bowls outside for about 4 hours, in 10 degree weather.

4. Once frozen, talk about how the ice feels and looks. Reagan was in desperate need for a tubbie so we decided to take our project to the bathroom, easier clean up. We placed the plastic ice filled bowls into the warm tub water and watched as our ‘icebergs’ slowly came loose from their ‘glaciers’ (the plastic bowls). Reagan had a blast melting her icebergs! She made various attempts to remove her toys; holding the icebergs under water, holding them under the running faucet and just letting them float around the tub.

So much fun!! Thanks for the idea Delia Creates!

20Dec2013

Festive Fort

Posted in Home Life, Kid's Corner by Selections By Sisters

Sometimes things happen on a whim. Henry was over the other day and it just seemed like every activity that I attempted to entertain them with was a huge fail. We had Christmas lights out and ready to be put on the tree, a gigantic empty box in the basement, stickers and crayons… enter our fabulous fort! Super easy and endless hours of fun!

Materials
Large Box
Crayons
Stickers
Pen
Strand of Christmas Lights

Directions

Decorate a large box, inside and out with stickers and crayons.

Poke holes into the top of the box, the same distance that each bulb is away from each other on the light strand. I used a pen to poke the holes. Stick the bulbs into the punched holes.

An awesome fort to play and watch movies in!!

5Aug2013

Color Identification/Matching

Posted in Home Life, Kid's Corner by Selections By Sisters

When you ask Reagan the color that a specific object is, more times than not, she will answer ‘blue’. Is blue her favorite color or have I been slacking in the color identification aspect of life? I put together a small activity for Reagan and I to play this afternoon and she absolutely loved…eating the pieces to the game. Seriously though, this was a great activity and will be super beneficial in strengthening her color identification and color matching skills.

Materials

Tape
5 pieces of white paper
One crayon of each color- red, green, yellow, purple and orange
Fruity Cheerios

Directions
On each piece of paper write the name of the color crayon that you are using at the top of the paper, draw a large circle, using the same color, and fill in the circle.
Tape down the pieces of paper to a flat surface, in a arched shape, so that each color can be easily seen and reached by your child.

At this point, Reagan and I did various things.
1- I pointed to each color, one by one, and told her the name of the color.
2- I then pointed to the colors again, one by one, and repeated their names. This time I asked Reagan to repeat the colors name aloud.
3- I laid each color Cheerio in front of Reagan and one by one, I told her the color name of each Cheerio.
4- I then pointed to each Cheerio, one by one, and repeated their color names. This time I asked Reagan to repeat the color names aloud.
5- I then showed Reagan how to match the Cheerio color to the circle and name color on the papers in front of her. ‘ this Cheerio is red. Can you find the red circle that matches/is the same as this red Cheerio?’ We continued this activity for several minutes.
6- I then gave Reagan multiple Cheerios of the same color and had her group them together onto the matching circles. ‘ can you place all of the yellow Cheerios onto the matching yellow circle?’ Etc.

Reagan definitely ate more Cheerios than she matched, but she was learning, having fun and eating all at the same time! Which, in my opinion, is a successful activity!
I folded back the pieces of tape and stuck them to the backs of the paper. I stacked up the papers and put them away for future use.
A super easy activity that your child will enjoy, if not the activity portion, at the very least, the Fruity Cheerios!

Have Fun!

28Apr2013

Blueberry Muffins

Posted in What's Cookin' by Selections By Sisters

Martha has done it again! I made these delicious Blueberry Muffins that I found on her site and they are absolutely delicious! I didn’t take step by step photos, because Reagan was awake and there was just too many things happening at once. The next time around I will make a very small amount of the crumble topping. Even after generously topping all 12 muffins, I still had tons left over. You will need a had or stand mixer for this recipe, that is unless you have speedy wrists and can get the desired egg and sugar consistency without an electronic device.

REAGAN LOVED THESE MUFFINS!!

Martha’s Recipe

Ingredients:

For The Crumb Topping
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For The Blueberry Muffins
3 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for tin
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large whole egg plus 2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup milk
2 cups fresh blueberries
Granulated sugar and mace, for topping (optional)

Directions

Make the crumb topping, if desired: Whisk together flour, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl. Pour in melted butter and toss with a flexible spatula until large crumbs form.

Make the muffins: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line standard 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.

With an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter and granulated sugar until fluffy.

Add eggs and vanilla; mix until well combined. Reduce speed to low; alternate adding reserved flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with flour. Gently fold in berries by hand.

Divide batter evenly among prepared cups; if desired, sprinkle generously with granulated sugar and mace. Alternatively, sprinkle crumb topping evenly over batter in each cup.

Bake until light golden on top, rotating tins halfway through, about 30 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes before turning out muffins. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This is what was left over from the crumb topping

3Apr2013

Pancake Muffins

Posted in What's Cookin' by Selections By Sisters

The quest continues to find foods that Reagan will eat. Breakfast time is always a hit or a miss and usually consists of bites of toast, yogurt, fruit and Raisin Bran. I’m not a breakfast fan and pancakes are the absolute last thing that I would ever order at a restaurant, but I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE New Hope Mills Buttermilk Pancake Mix. I don’t know what it is about this pancake mix, but I am totally in love!

I was up super early this morning, so I decided that it was pancake day! I wanted to make something fun for Reagan to eat and decided on these adorable pancake muffins that I had seen on Pinterest. Reagan loves blueberry muffins and we had just picked up a bunch of blueberries at the market on Saturday, so…fresh blueberry pancakes here we come! (they are muffin shaped, so my hopes were high)

I’ve been adding Reagan’s DHA and probiotic to multiple meals lately, instead of just one. Since she hasn’t been really eating much, it’s pointless to add the entire serving of the DHA or the probiotic to say, just her yogurt at breakfast time. It’s such a waste, because she never eats the full serving of ANYTHING let alone something that I add the DHA or probiotic to.

Ground Flaxseed has also made its way into Reagan’s diet (mine and the husbands too). Flaxseed is known to have many healthy components, but is especially known for containing healthy amounts of Omega-3 essential fatty acids (good fats), lignans (antioxidant qualities), and fiber (soluble and insoluble). Reagan can benefit from ANYTHING healthy!!

I decided to make three different kinds of pancakes- strawberry, blueberry and plain. My husband is not a fruit fan, so the plain would be right up his alley. The amount of fruit depends on how much you want on top of each pancake muffin. I topped 4 muffins with 4-6 blueberries each, used 2.5 strawberries to top another 4 muffins and left 4 muffins plain.

Ingredients
2 cups New Hope Mills Buttermilk Pancake Mix
3 table spoons Organic Whole Ground Flaxseed Meal
1 egg
1 cup water
blueberries
strawberries
cooking spray

Materials
muffin tin
wire cooling rack
metal spoon
mixing bowl
metal fork

Add dry ingredients together.

Add egg and water- mix until smooth (no clumps)

Using cooking spray, coat bottoms and sides of muffin tin holes. I swipe insides of tin with paper towel so that they are not too greasy.

Fill muffin tin holes 3/4 full and then top with desired toppings.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes- The strawberry ones took a little longer- 14 minutes

Test with a fork to see if muffins are done- Stick a fork into two different muffins and if the fork comes out clean, the pancakes are done. Using a metal spoon remove pancakes from muffin tin holes and place on wire rack to cool.

These muffins were super yummy, but they were a total FAIL for Reagan. She picked out the fruit chunks and didn’t even attempt to try the tiniest bite of the pancake. Humph…there’s always tomorrow.

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REAGAN LOVED THESE MUFFINS!!

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