Your kiddos are so excited this time of year! Anticipating the upcoming holidays is contagious, and we have some crafting you can share with your children to use their imaginations and energy to create lovely decorations. We will add some simple recipes you can make with your children for snacks or get-togethers this season. These activities are meant to catch your child's attention and encourage them to assist you in preparing for the next few weeks!
Kid Friendly Breakfasts
When school is out for your children, or your toddlers are looking forward to a day of excitement, who is out of bed first? They are, of course! Here are a few suggestions on breakfast foods to get them involved. Maybe, if you are lucky, the older children can make them by themselves and surprise you with breakfast in bed!
You can make almost anything out of pancakes. Stack star shapes to create a tree, smaller, round shapes to decorate with fruit or cereals for bulb ornaments, or even cut-out shapes to build mock gingerbread houses. Check out this site for these and other ideas to get your day started with the "most important meal of the day!"
Snacks to Enjoy!
The holidays are all about appearance and taste when it comes to food! Cute healthy snacks are fun for your children to share, especially if they get to help make them.
Think of healthy foods in the traditional colors:
- Red- Red bell peppers, Strawberries, Raspberries, Tomato, Apples, Watermelon
- Green- Green bell peppers, Celery, Lettuce, Broccoli, Spinach, Avocado, Honeydew Melon, Kiwi, Apples
- White- Banana, Cream Cheese, Yogurt, Tortillas
Mixing and matching these foods can make a colorful statement. Other colors, such as yellow and blue for Hannukah, can be added with ribbon, food coloring, and even the containers in which the snacks are served. If these healthy options are readily available to your children, sugary snacks may never enter their minds. A simple ribbon and cut-out hat can make a wrapped cheese stick into the cutest snowman!
Ready for a Party?
Charcuterie boards are all the rage now. Let your child help you make a festive presentation for a holiday party or simple get-together with the neighbors. How you and your child arrange the finger foods for the board can be as creative as a holiday shape or just putting the foods where they fit. The display can incorporate foods from any category. From wreaths and tree shapes to a humble array of cheeses and crackers, these ideas should inspire you!
Because classroom parties for your child usually require pre-packaged foods, you may think your options are limited. But think of how many designs you can do with whole fruits, or packaged cheese sticks, pepperoni sticks, and crackers. You and your child can configure any shape that inspires your creativity!
Meals for the Holidays
What kid does not like pizza? Hardly any child will reject the idea of a pizza-themed meal! Have them make their own by providing wedge-shaped pizza dough and a variety of toppings from which they can choose. Use tomatoes, pepperoni, bell peppers, ham, pineapple, or any other food they like on their pizza. They decorate it, and then you place it in the oven using the instructions on the dough recipe. Out comes a pizza slice specially created for them!
For dessert, follow up using the theme of making a fruit pizza with sugar-free cookie dough, with cream cheese topping, in wedge shapes, or a wreath of fruit from which they can sample a slice.
Decorations for the Holidays!
Many families have traditional decorations that they use yearly to celebrate the winter holidays. Christmas, Hannukah, New Year's, and other holiday embellishments can be fun to add to or substitute for those we may need to replace. No matter their age, your children can create lovely décor for your home or as a gift for someone special. Here are a few ideas for decorating with your kiddos to get them involved in the holiday season!
Salt Dough Ornaments
One of the easiest ways to make ornaments for the tree and décor for the home is with salt dough. This simple recipe can be used like clay to model figures, cut into shapes with cookie cutters to paint, and press shapes into for fun embellishments. When you add cinnamon to the mix, your ornaments can make your decorations smell great! Ginger and cinnamon can make gingerbread person shapes to string together for a festive garland for the tree or mantle. Your child can push the limits of their imagination, creating a masterpiece for your home or a gift for someone special!
Joyful Pinecones
The adventure begins with your child going on a walk through a forest (maybe during a family outing to Flagstaff?) to collect pinecones for ornaments they can be happy to create and give to their family and friends. You can also buy them at many craft stores. Adding a red pompom, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, and other materials can transform a simple pinecone into a cute reindeer!
Another easy ornament to make is to paint and design an animal with the pinecone. Instructions here are for a tiger, but you could change the colors and make any animal you want.
Pinecone snowmen are so sweet and can be made with different designs so that no snowman is the same!
