Pumpkin Recipes Add Nutrition, Math, Fun

Pumpkin Season Lasts All Year! 

Halloween may be over but the pumpkin season lasts all year. Pumpkin is an all-around nutritious food.  It is low in saturated fat and very low in cholesterol and sodium.  Then it is loaded with an array of vitamins and minerals and a good source of dietary fiber. Since November is one of the top baking months you might try these child friendly recipes.

Kiddie Pumpkin Cookies

  These cookies are quick and easy to make. You will need 2 cups flour, 1 1/3 cup quick or old fashioned oats, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 cup ( 2 sticks) butter or margarine softened, 1 cup packed brown sugar, 1 cup granulated sugar. You can experiment with lowering the sugar to ¾ cup of the sugars.  You’ll need 1 cup canned pumpkin, 1 large egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. If desired, you can add ¾ cup chocolate chips to the batter or poke them in while the cookies are just out of the oven.  Children can drop them one at a time and push them into the hot cookie with a spoon.

Make Kiddie Pumpkin Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Beat in butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar until fluffy.  Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla extract. Mix well. Add flour mixture.  Drop a ¼ cup of dough onto a baking sheet sprayed with cooking oil.  Bake for 14-16 minutes.  Cool before moving.

Kiddie Pumpkin Cupcakes

  This recipe is for moist pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin tin with 

Make Kiddie Pumpkin Muffins

cupcake liners. Whisk together 1/3 cup oil, 1 cup sugar, ¼ cup milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.  Sift in 1 ¼ cup flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Fold in 1 cup canned pumpkin and then ½ cup chocolate chips. Be careful not to over stir because the batter will become gummy and change the texture of the cupcakes. Fill lined cups 2/3 full and bake for 24-26 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  For more cooking time ideas see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com, wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons, Facebook, and Pinterest   

Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos

Helping with Impromptu Child Care

  

What's In Your Cupboards and Drawers?

Preschool children are coming in half an hour for child care. No problem. You’re always well stocked. There are many educational toys found in your kitchen. Open up your low kitchen cupboards and drawers. They are full of mostly safe playthings for children and hide anything that is not safe.

   The first go-to toys are cans. Children may make low towers on the floor or higher ones if they have heavy shoes. Cans may be arranged to make houses and castles, or they may add folded heavy paper to make bridges.

  If they have brought figures, cars, or a few stuffed animals they can play raceway, house, or action figure adventures.  The activity will give you time

Empty the Cupboards

 to wash the can cabinet you have been putting off and get down on the floor to play, too.

Random Containers

  Your other drawers may hold plastic containers and lids.  They make excellent puzzlers.   Are there tops and bottoms that fit? If you have some that do not make a pair, they can be used for sandbox, beach play, or recycling later. They can turn the containers upside down and make a few drums using a wooden spoon to pound for a few minutes.

Empty the Cupboards

   Children can gather all of the containers and help set chairs and guard chairs next to the sink. Fill the sink or dish pan half way and add a few drops of soap and a cloth. It’s time for washing, rinsing, and drying dishes for about 15 minutes.

   While supervising the washing you can empty another drawer of wooden spoons, spatulas, other utensils. and gadgets. Double check for sharp edges on items like potato peelers and set those aside. You can explain the purpose for some of the odd looking gadgets as you add them to the washing water.

   While adding the items ask yourself, “Do I really need this?”  If not, out it goes into the donation bag.

Children Have Fun Filling Containers

 By now you should have cleaned, put away and culled at least four drawers, double dried these dishes, and have wet children.

   You can scoop up the little wet people, throw their clothes in the dryer, and head for the bathroom. There should just enough time for a warm bath with a few of the containers you are not going to use.

  Children have fun filling different sizes of containers. It’s similar to filling cups to equal a gallon.  Which containers will float? How many action figures will it take to sink a container boat? Teach children to check for hand and toe wrinkles. Then they will help decide it’s time to get out of the tub. put on warm dry clothes, and have a snack. For more see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com and 

wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons.

Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos

Storms Teach Science and Acts of Kindness

Storms Grab Children's Attention

Storms like hurricanes, tornadoes, and blizzards grab children’s attention and are excellent times for families to teach weather, geography, and how people help each other. Emergencies can bring out the best in people. One never knows how children can be inspired to become a scientist, meteorologist, first responder, builder, and medical person based on childhood teaching.

  Getting the facts

  Technology can be a useful tool that always needs to be monitored to protect children and to ensure the content is not too scary. However, if something is happening near an extended family member’s home, they will hear conversations and it is a good time to teach.

  There are many opportunities to use maps to teach the geography of the situation.  

Getting the Facts

The library has atlases for children. There are also placemats of maps of the world and the United States in local children’s stores and online at the Rainbow Resource Center for under $3.00 so children can see geography every day and you have an opportunity to grab a children’s map quickly.

Teaching Weather Facts

  Besides local news, the weather channel has many interesting maps and videos. You can select age appropriate ones, turn off the sound, and use your own commentary, if needed. There will be many examples of courageous rescues and acts of kindness and few minutes may be enough.  Your children may have many questions so this is a good time to discuss.

Very young children will be hearing about events and may draw their own scary false conclusions, unless you help them learn the facts. National Weather Service is an excellent source of information, videos, and pictures. You can Click 

Check Up-To-The-Minute Events

around the site to find exactly what you want.

  Books about weather and storms include: “Weather or Not” by Maryann Dobeck; “Fly Guy presents:Weather” by Tedd Arnold; “The Magic School Bus presents Wild Weather” by Sean Callery. Families can show some of the pictures and add their own simplified narration for young children. Older children will enjoy the creative presentation.  Some good online family teaching sites include weatherwizkids.com and weatherforkids.org. The Google maps site is an excellent example for older children to experience how technologists work with first responders to spread information and keep people safe.

Kindness

   There are many opportunities for families to teach how people pull together to help each other. Children will have opportunities to help give money and donate through schools, faith organizations, the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Scouts, Rotary and many other civic groups. Children can help gather and pack donated supplies.  These often can include children’s drawings of courage, strength, and love that may be just what people need for the challenge of recovery during the months and years ahead. For more see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com and wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons .

Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos and http://www.weather.gov