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Kids Fun, Art and Healthy Wellbeing

Butterflies from Apples and Celery

apple celery butterfly

apple celery butterflyHow do you persuade your children to enjoy healthy food? It often helps to create interesting forms to ignite their curiosity and desire to try different foods. Today we will share how to make a butterfly out of apples, celery and a bit of cottage cheese.

What you’ll need:

  • apple
  • celery
  • knife (adults only)
  • chopping board
  • cottage cheese / peanut butter

Method:

  1. Cut the celery into strips just a bit longer than the length of the apple.
  2. Cut the apple in half and then make thin slices with your knife. You can trim the edges to make the wings slightly smaller too. If your butterfly falls over because they are too thick you can always cut them in half again. 
  3. Fill the middle funnel of the celery with cottage cheese. You can also use another filling such as peanut butter.
  4. Place two apple wings in the celery stick.
  5. Cut two small pieces of celery for the antennae. 

Let the children taste it and enjoy!

 

celery apple butterflies

food sculptures

 

 

Crab food sculptures made from apples

Creating food sculptures is an excellent idea to promote healthy eating habits for young children in a fun and creative way!

You will need:

  • Apples
  • A wooden board
  • Knife ( Adult use only)
  • Plate

To do:

  • Slice an apple in half
  • With the other half the apple, cut thin round slices
  • Cut the 6 slices into 6 thin round strips
  • With one slice cut out 3 small triangles in the middle, for the claws
  • Place the one half of the apple on a plate
  • Ask your child to assemble the slices of apple with five legs on either side and the two slices that are cut into claws on the top to create a cute apple crab.

 

Open ended modelling activities for young children

Written by Julia Gorham and Heather Step

 

During our Holiday Crafts programme, the children made pinch pots with homemade clay. They loved rolling the clay between the palms of their hands and pushing down hard with their thumbs in the middle to make pinch pots. 

 

Sensory interaction between child and materials are foremost. The goal should be as much direct contact with the hands and materials as possible.

 

Impressions: Give your child objects with interesting textures to press into the dough or clay. For example: Plastic forks, lids, keys, coins  potato mashers and other washable items.

Stick sculptures: Use a lump of clay or dough as a base in which to insert materials such as sticks, toothpicks, pipe cleaners, straws, buttons and we also use natural items from our nature walks with pine cones, acorns, twigs, dried grass etc.

Playdough with colour: Let you child colour their own playdough by dropping a small drop of food colouring or liquid paint onto the homemade playdough and allow them to mix it.

 Geometric shapes: clay on the table and then moulding it. This is a great Montessori extension with the Montessori geometric solids. Older children can use clay to make forms such as cubes, spheres, prisms etc. by tapping the clay on the table and then moulding it. This is a great Montessori extension  for the Montessori geometric solids.

Pinch pots: Get your child to make a ball, press his thumb in the middle of the ball and then pinch the clay or playdough gently between his fingers and thumb to make a pinch pot. Making sure that your child widens the centre and thins the sides equally. Your child can then roll small dough eggs to place inside the pinch pot.

 

Clay recipe:

This recipe is taken from Family Education

Modeling Clay

Materials

 

  • 2 cups salt
  • Two thirds of a cup water
  • Saucepan
  • 1 cup cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup cold water

Directions

  1. Stir salt and water in a saucepan over heat 4-5 minutes.
  2. Remove from heat; add cornstarch and cold water.
  3. Stir until smooth; return to heat and cook until thick.
  4. Allow the clay to cool, then shape as desired.
  5. When dry, decorate with paint, markers, glitter, and so on.
  6. If you like, finish with clear acrylic spray or clear nail polish.
  7. Store unused clay in a Ziploc bag.

Note that it is better to use the clay immediately as it doesn’t keep well, even in a Ziplock bag. 

We painted the clay and also sprinkled glitter on it.   I used cupcake liners to contain them. 

Other people have created beautiful pinch pots with thinner sides – check out this other stunning picture to the right. It really shows that there is a lot you can do with this idea. 

 

 

 

 

Dolphin fruit sculptures with bananas and grapes

These cute dolphins make a tasty snack and will aid in your child’s love of healthy food.

What you need:

  • Bananas
  • Grapes
  • A polystyrene/ paper or plastic cup
  • Marker pen
  • Knife ( for adult use only)

 

To do:

  • Slice the end of the banana.
  • Draw eyes on either side of the banana
  • Place the banana in a cup filled with grapes
  • Place a grape inside the dolphins mouth

Pineapple Food Sculptures

What a great way to promote healthy food sculptures for young children!

 

You will need:

  • A ripe pineapple
  • Wooden board
  • Knife ( For use by adult only)
  • Plate

To do:

  • Cut the outside skin and top of the pineapple
  • Placing the pineapple sideways, slice several thin round slices of the pineapple
  • Cut small triangles with the rounded slices
  • Set aside the round cut slices and triangle cut out slices of the pineapple
  • Ask your child to assemble the different sizes to make a pretty yellow sun on a plate

Kids Best Vanilla Biscuits Ever

vanilla biscuitsTry this flop proof, easy recipe to make yummy, vanilla biscuits with your child

 

You will need:

  • 150 grams butter
  • 125 ml sugar
  • 1 large egg lightly beaten
  • 5 ml vanilla essence
  • 500 ml cake flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • Cookie cutters
  • Icing and sprinkles
  • Rolling pin
  • Baking tray (buttered)

To do:

  • Cream sugar and eggs together and add vanilla essence
  • Sift dry ingredients
  • Mix into creamed mixture to form a soft dough
  • Roll with a rolling pin until smooth and add extra flour on the surface if necessary
  • Press cookie cutters and place on buttered flat plan, leaving spaces in between
  • Bake at 180 degree for 12 to 15 min
  • When cool, decorate with icing and sprinkles

Watermelon and Cucumber Sticks

Let your child have fun with colourful watermelon and cucumber flower sticks!

You will need:

  • Watermelon sliced into thick slices
  • Flower cookie cutters
  • Sliced cucumbers, cut in half
  • Kebab sticks

To do:

  • Press a flower cookie cutter into the sliced water melon
  • Remove the cut out watermelon flower
  • Slide a kebab stick into  the water melon flower, to the top of the kebab stick
  • Slide two halves of the cucumber underneath the flower

Kiwi fruit and grape turtles

 By Julia Gorham

Fruit art to make with your children encourages healthy eating habits and is a good way to introduce different fruits . When I introduced the kiwi fruit to the children, this was their  first taste of the unusual, kiwi fruit, and they loved it!

 

 

 

 

You will need:

  • A kiwi fruit peeled and sliced
  • 2 yellow grapes cut into two
  • 1 yellow grape

To do:

  • Place the cut kiwi fruit on the middle of the plate
  • Place the cut yellow grapes on each end of the kiwi fruit for the turtle legs
  • Place a whole grape at the top of the turtle for its head.

 

 

 

 

Mulberry Jam

fresh mulberries in white basket

Have you always wanted to make your own jam? We’ll give you the opportunity with this delicious mulberry jam. 

Ingredients

2 cups mulberries with stalks removed

1 and a half cups sugar

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

2 teaspoons lemon juice

How?

Wash mulberries. Place in a saucepan with the sugar, juice and rind.

Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat; boil for about 10 until the mixture thickens.

Skim, pour into a bowl and let the mixture stand overnight. Stir several times

Heat a glass jar in the oven, pour slowly and seal jar

Label your jam.

3 Dough and 3 Paint Recipes to Keep Young Kids Busy

Looking for some sensory ways to keep your kids busy? Working with dough and paint is a toddler favourite activity, and will interest all preschoolers too.

 

Peanut Butter Playdough

1 part peanut butter 
1 part non-fat powdered milk 
1 tsp. of honey*(optional) 

* Mix and knead.* Honey should be avoided for children under age one.

Oatmeal Fun Dough

2 cups uncooked oatmeal 
1 cup flour 
1/4 cup water 

*Mix all ingredients and knead dough.

Rubber Dough

2 cups baking soda 
1 1/2 cup water 
1 cup cornstarch 

*Mix with fork. boil over medium heat until thick. Cool on flat surface.

Other Recipes

Flour Finger-paint

3 cups flour 
2 TBSP liquid soap 
3/4 cup water 
food coloring 

*Mix all ingredients together

Finger Paint

*Mix together dry tempera paint with liquid starch or wall paper paste.

Puffy Tempera Paint

(for paper use only) 
1 part salt 
1 part flour 
1 water 
2 parts dry tempera 

*Mix all ingredients together and put in squeeze bottles.