Children Love Making Pretzel Treats

Pretzels: Taste good, Low Sugar, Crunchy Treats

Let’s get some of the warnings and negatives out of the way. One large pretzel rod has about 40 calories from the flour, but pretzels are basically nutritionally empty and may be a choking hazard for very young children. Although very salty, pretzel treats are fun and easy to make. Bottom line: pretzel treats  really taste good, reduce some of the sugar of cookies, and add the crunch children like.

   Soft pretzels originated in Europe with the monks in the early Middle Ages and remain an emblem for bakers.  They were brought to Pennsylvania Dutch country by the Germans. The area still produces 80% of pretzels in the United States.  Hard pretzels have no real nutritional value but stay edible a long time and were introduced in 1850.

Pretzels Very Versatile

  Pretzels are good dipped in Greek yogurt, chocolate, mustard, melted cheese. They can be slathered with sun flower seed butter, a good substitute for peanut butter, Nutella, parmesan cheese, jelly, white or dark chocolate.  When crushed they are a good topping for ice cream or yogurt.

  To make dipped hard pretzel logs with children, you’ll need

Make Pretzel Logs

 one 12 ounce package of chocolate chips, dark chocolate or white chocolate; one teaspoon vegetable oil and 24 rods or package twists. Cover a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Mix the chocolate chips and oil in a bowl and place in a microwave for 30 seconds.  Children can carefully stir with a wooden spoon under supervision.  If chips are not melted, return to the microwave for 10-15 seconds.  Dip or spread chocolate with a spatula or table knife. Place on the cookie sheet to harden.

  You can place contrasting melted chocolate frosting in decorator bag and children can drizzle  more chocolate over the pretzels.  Refrigerate for about 15 minutes and place in a covered container or eat on the spot while reading a few books.

Quick Pretzel Cookies

  Another salty sweet snack and not nutritious is pretzel cookies.  You’ll need 1 bag of some kind of flat pretzel like the knot or lattice square and 1 bag of Hershey kisses or 

Very Versatile Snacking

Rollo candy. Spread pretzels on a cookie sheet and place a Hershey kiss or Rollo chocolate butterscotch candy on each pretzel.  Place in the oven at 275 degrees for three minutes. Remove immediately. The candy should be melted.  Come people place an M&M or pecan in the middle. With a Rollo and pecan the cookies taste like a chocolate turtle candy. Refrigerate until hardened and store in a covered container.

  Thin pretzel sticks can be used as skewers or substitute forks. You can place cubes of cheese, meat, tofu, cut grapes, apples, pears, strawberries, blueberries, mango, or raspberries to spear and add nutrition.  For more see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com and wnmufm.org/Learning through the Seasons, live and podcasts.  

STE(A)M Activities Help Children Solve Problems

STEAM - Thinking 'How To"

  STE(A)M teaching is a way of helping children think like scientists, technologists, engineers, artists (architects), and mathematicians as they solve meaningful and interesting real world problems. When children use STE(A)M they are making hands- on projects and following the problem solving model real engineers use: Talk about and define the problem with a team, research it, talk about and draw possible solutions, talk about and choose a plan, talk and create, talk, test, and evaluate, talk and improve, talk and redesign until the problem is solved. 

  Families can help their children by using the STE(A)M model and vocabulary while doing everyday chores like cleaning, cooking, or doing a family STE(A)M activity.

Family STE(A)M Fun

  With family holidays coming

Define A Problem

 up here is a cheap STE(A)M activity for young cousins: making drinking straw structures. You’ll need box of drinking straws with the flexible bend cut off, a roll of masking tape, child scissors, and a piece of paper for a base.

  Define the problem and talk about it. You can choose a problem like building sturdy a bridge, playground structure like a swing set or climbing dome that will hold many action figures.

  Research and talk about it. What kind of structures do the children have at school? What kinds of shapes are they? Triangles, rectangles, circles? What makes them sturdy? Do they have reinforcing bars that make triangles? Triangles distribute the weight and stress.

  Draw pictures of ideas for structures based on the discussion. Choose a plan, and create it with straws and tape. Help young children cut the straws, tape and wrap it around the straws. Are there triangles?

  Test the structure and evaluate. You can use action figures to test for strength. Look for parts that bend under the weight.

  Talk and improve the design. Do you need more reinforcement straws to make more triangles? Is the structure able to hold more weight now?

  Redesign and talk until the design works and the children like it.

Start With Shapes

  Very young children can start with a square pyramid structure.  Cut a straw into four equal parts and tape them to a paper to make a flat square. Then cut four more straw pieces of equal size. Anchor them on each corner and the top with tape to make a pyramid.

   Smaller straw pieces can reinforce the pyramid until there are many triangles and trapezoids.  When they look through it can they count the shapes? Is the structure sturdy? How can you test it? If the top is made like a little basket or platform will it hold a small gourd or little animal without collapsing? What other sturdy structures can children design? For more see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com and wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons.

Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fofos

Families have new Photographers: Children

Who Is Your Family Photographer?

This time of the year families get together and create memories.  Often at the end of the visit,  someone will say, “Oh, we forgot to take pictures while we were all together!”  Children can be trained to be official photographers. They can be encouraged to take a few really good and interesting photos and decide which ones to keep.

  Children as young as 4 can take pictures responsibly with guidance. First teach them the basics.  If you want new digital camera, the Canon Power Shot ELPH 180 is highly recommended for youngsters first learning to use a camera. It costs a little over $100 and takes photos almost as good as an expensive Smart Phone.

Where to Start

   If you do let kids use your Smart Phone, there are many editing Apps like Enlight Photofox where a team of teens and youngsters can have surprisingly professional results.  You can search Apps for kids’ photography, Pixlplay adapted Smart Phones for kids, Kidizoom camera, and places to save kids’ photos on line.

   Now back to the traditional digital camera. Professionals 

Decide What You Want to Capture

have suggestions. Show children how to hold the camera with the strap always around their wrist with the camera tight against their body perfectly still. Show them how to use the buttons: power, snap shot, replay, and trash. Then explain how to decide what they want to take by just looking through the screen. They can practice taking close ups and extreme close ups safely inside the house without using the zoom.  Young children are often too unsteady for the zoom.

Photography Patience

   The first time photographer will probably use up the battery clicking away so don’t expect a great deal of keepers. Point out that a photographer needs light or flash but does not point into the light unless there is a reason. Show them what 

Look For the Creative Angle

happens if you do.  What interests them might be very different from what you want or what interests you for a while. At least everything is digital and can be erased.

  Children can practice for portraits by lining up their toys and taking close ups of human faces. They can take photos of hands or shoes so the family can play “Guess Who?” A patient family pet is also a good subject. Try to stay away from selfies, experts suggest. Teach close up, medium, and full body shots.  When they are good at those show them the zoom. However, teach them to choose their shot carefully and hold really still or put the camera on a flat surface for zooming.

 You can encourage them to try creative angles, like being on their back looking up through a tree, or looking down from the top of the stairs. For more ideas see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com and Facebook, wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons, and Pinterest.

Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos