Prime Time With Kids

Dog Biscuits

 

Bake a batch of these crunchy dog biscuits with your kids for a great Christmas doggie gift or a snow or rainy day activity.  This simple recipe goes together in minutes, and young kids will have an easy and satisfying time rolling out or patting down the pliable dough to create shapes with cute cookie cutters.

 

Ingredients you’ll need:

2 cups whole-wheat flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 cup peanut butter at room temperature

1 cup whole milk

½ teaspoon salt

All purpose flour for rolling the dough

 

After you set the oven to 375 degrees, here’s how to get the kids involved:

 

Step 1: Let one child measure and combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Step 2: Another child may measure and stir the peanut butter and milk together in a smaller mixing bowl.  It will take a minute or two until the mixture is smooth.  Slowly pour it into the dry ingredients and stir until well-combined.

Step 3: Sprinkle flour on the counter.  Knead the dough a few times until it is easy to roll out into a ¼ inch rectangle with a lightly floured rolling pin.  Cut with cookie cutters in fun shapes such as a fire hydrant, bone, kitty heart or X’s and O‘s and transfer to greased (or parchment paper covered) cookie sheets.

Step 4: Bake 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.  Let cool.

 

Divide into gift bags, tie with red ribbon and a Christmas tag and deliver to neighborhood dog friends for Christmas.

 

Note: A 1-1/2 inch heart shaped cookie cutter makes six dozen Christmas biscuits.

Thanks to Etta Rosen for this article.

Puppets

Puppets are a wonderful way to enjoy art and drama and to develop language skills.  They can be used with all ages of children. The youngest children can watch you perform and talk to the puppet. Starting at about age 3 the children can help make the puppets and put on simple ‘shows.’ You can make a puppet from almost anything. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Finger puppets:

♦

Draw a face on your fingertip.

♦

Draw on strips of paper and tape them around your fingers to make different characters.

♦Decorate the fingertips of an old glove with felt, yarn for hair and beads or buttons for eyes; make a whole family on one hand.

 

♦Cut out simple animal or people outlines on cardboard.   Do not include legs or feet but leave a wide bottom edge.  Cut out two holes near the bottom – large enough to put a finger through each hole. Your fingers can make this kind of puppet dance or walk.

♦Almost anything slipped over your fingertip can make a puppet – try making faces on a paper cup or a ball.  Put a cloth napkin over your hand first to give the puppet some clothes.

 

A toilet paper tube can be used vertically for a soldier or other figure, or horizontally for a dragon or other long animals.  Just put the tube over your finger to make it move.

Stick puppets:

♦Make a drawing of an animal or person and glue it to the end of a Popsicle stick. You can draw hair or make the hair more interesting using curled paper.

 

♦Cut out photographs of members of the family or friends and glue them to sticks. You can act out real family events.

Sock Puppets:

♦A simple puppet can be made from an old sock by adding hair and eyes. Put your thumb in the heel and your fingers in the toe of the sock to make the mouth.

 

♦For a fancier version cut a plastic lid in half and then tape it together to make a hinge. Glue this mouth in place at the toe end of a sock. This makes a great dragon.

Paper Bag Puppets

♦Take a lunch size paper bag and draw a face on the flap at the bottom of the bag.  Glue on hair, ears or other features. Put your hand inside the bag. Move the flap up and down to make the puppet talk.

 

To make an owl, glue or draw eyes under the flap. Draw eyelids and eyelashes on the flap. Add wings, ears and feet. When you move the flap up and down the owl will blink. 

Making a Stage for the Puppets

♦

Hide behind the back of a couch.

♦

Use the edge of a table covered with a tablecloth or turn a table on its side on the floor.

♦

Balance a mop handle or broom stick between two chairs and hang a large towel or blanket over the stick to make a stage.

♦

Make a puppet theatre out of a large cardboard box (appliance size). Cut a window for the 

puppets. Operate the puppets from inside.

 

Enjoy the show!

Enjoy the show!

Snow Day Boredom Busters  – Indoor Physical Activities

By Christine Connally

It’s difficult when the weather is too snowy, wet or cold for kids to play outside and get all of that great kid energy out.

 

Here are some indoor physical activity ideas:

• Create an indoor obstacle course in the largest, kid safe room in the house (playroom, basement, family room, etc.)  Use large cushions and toys to create places for kids to climb over and under.
• Turn on some music (kid music or other music that is appropriate) and dance.

• Play freeze dance. Tell the kids to dance when you turn the music on and to stop dancing when the music stops.  Let the kids take turns being the leader,  controlling the music.

• Do the limbo dance.  Play music and challenge the kids to go under the limbo pole as it gets lower and lower.

 

• Make paper airplanes and see how far they can fly.  Remind the kids not to throw them at  other people.

• Mark small squares on the floor and challenge the kids to see who can stay on their spot the longest.  Make it tougher for older kids by having them stand on one foot.

• Play ball toss games with soft items like rolled up socks.   The younger the children the larger the container they are tossing into should be.  For very young kids, use a laundry basket.  For older kids, use something smaller like a box, basket or large plastic mixing bowl.

• Build a fort using blanket and furniture like chairs and tables.  Or if the kids have a small play tent put that up.

• Play sports charades.  Charades is a game where you act out something while people try to guess.  You can do this with sports actions, using no equipment, just making the actions.  For example – hitting a golf ball, pitching a baseball, serving a tennis ball, bowling, etc.)

• Jump rope. 

• Play with a hula hoop.

• Try juggling, top spinning, or yo-yo contests.

• Play hide and go seek.

• Play “keep the balloon up”. Use one balloon per child or one balloon per small group. The group may add additional balloons as they gain control and awareness. *

* Safety Note – Balloons are a choking hazard, supervise children when playing with balloons and make sure to find and throw away any pieces of popped balloons.

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New Ideas for the Same Old Toys

There are some toys that kids usually play with on their own while you watch on the sidelines. However, you can make those toys feel like something new and fun, by suggesting different ways to play with them.  Another thing that will make it more fun is if you become actively involved rather than just watching.

 

Play Food/Dishes

• Teach your host children how to say the names of some of the food and dishes.
• Using English and/or your language play games where you are ordering food like in a restaurant. Take turns with who will be the waiter and who is the customer.
• Come up with silly food combinations.  For example: Who wants pickles on their slice of cake?
• Play a guessing game where the kids have to figure out what food you are talking about.  For example: I grow under the ground in the dirt.  People eat me fried, mashed and baked.  What am I? (a potato)
• Play a game with setting the table using your language to ask for the different items (plate, spoon, etc.)
• Ask the children to divide the foods up into the different food groups (vegetables, meat, dairy,  etc)

Block, Lego Blocks and Other Building Toys

• Divide all of the blocks up between the people playing by taking turns for each person to select block by block.
• Suggest specific things to build (robots, house, mountain) and build together.
• Challenge everyone to use all of their blocks.
• Sort the blocks by color or shape and make patterns with them (red, blue, red blue or square, triangle, rectangle.)  You can create a pattern and ask the child to fill in what comes next to continue the pattern.
• Make the tallest block tower you can and let them knock it down (over and over again, if like most kids they like destroying things.)

Mr. Potato Head

• Teach your host children the names of the different parts in your language.
• Play a game asking them to put on the body parts by naming them in your language.
• Play the same game above, but using Simon Says.  Simon Says is a game where the leader gives commands by saying “Simon Says” first. For example, “Simon Says, put on the nose.”  The players are only to follow the commands when the leader says Simon Says.  If the leader doesn’t say Simon Says first and just says, “put on the nose,”  and the player follows the command they are out of the game.  Repeat the game multiple times, so all kids get a