Literature Highlight & Activity - Dappled Apples

The last few mornings I have loved the fresh crisp smell of fall in the air... with the start of fall many classrooms are doing activities involving apples. One book I must read each and every fall is the the lovely book Dappled Apples by Jan Carr.




The words in this book flow with delightful rhymes and alliteration..."flutter, flitter, gold as glitter, colors crackle round the tree....pumpkin pile-up...evil fairy, Yikes! She's scary! Patched-up pirate, Who is he?..." From jumping in piles of fall leaves to pumpkin patches and trick-or-treating this book highlights all the reasons children (and adults) love the fall. The illustrations are made of bright, colorful cut-paper collages that give the reader a 3-D effect.

I read Dappled Apples several times during the fall season and do the following after each phase of the book:

After reading the first part about apples: take your child to an apple orchard. Children love the act of picking their own apples just like the children in the book. It teaches your children about seasonal foods and where apples come from.

After reading about fall leaves: go outside and pile up leaves with your children. Then join them in a leave jumping (which usually also ends up in leaf throwing) party.

After reading about the pumpkin patch, take your children to a pumpkin patch. Pack the following items: crayons (or other drawing utensils), paper, and a clipboard. (You don't HAVE to take a clipboard, anything hard will work, but children LOVE using clipboards, plus with the wind that comes in the fall it will be easier to hold your children's paper... so I highly recommend purchasing one... or several if you are a teacher. I will continue to post activities where children do things outside and will need clipboards.) While at the pumpkin patch have your children go on a hunt for interesting looking pumpkins. Once they find their favorite unique pumpkin have them draw a picture of it (or of a whole group of pumpkins). If you have a little extra cash, I also recommend buying the pumpkins. It is always fun to actually take one of the pumpkins home.



After reading the part about trick-or-treating have your children sit around your art table (my art table is our dining room table covered in a plastic table cloth I purchased at a dollar store). Place scissors (I recommend children's scissors, also if you can get some scissors with different blades they are really fun to use), construction paper, and glue at the table. Then have your children make their own cut-paper collage pictures of Halloween costumes.

Happy Dappled Apple-ing!!!

Recipe - Rice Pudding

Every so often when I was growing up my sweet mother would make this yummy treat. My mom always forced us to eat healthy food growing up... (imagine a school field trip... all my friends eating twinkies and juice boxes and there I was pulling out my smelly tuna fish with sprouts sandwich! Don't get me wrong, I like tuna fish sandwiches, but it didn't compare to what other children hand. Plus people could always smell it coming out of the little sandwich bag.) This recipe is very yummy and healthier than some other rice pudding recipes you may find.

Nana's Rice Pudding

Ingredients ~ 1/2 cup powdered milk, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 & 1/2 cups milk, dash of salt, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 cups cooked rice (white, brown or a combination of both) I always make a little extra in case I decide to add more to it before I bake it, cinnamon, raisons, chopped walnuts (sometimes I make it without walnuts if I don't want it crunchy... but my mother "always likes a little crunch."), and nutmeg

Directions ~ Mix powdered milk and sugar. Add 1/2 cup milk and stir. Add dash of salt, egg, vanilla and stir. Spray oven safe bowl with non-stick cooking spray (I no longer purchase this since there is propellant in it, and I'm not fond of eating propellant, so I lightly grease everything with a little Crisco). Pour mixture into bowl. Pour rice into bowl and stir. Add milk and stir. If it looks too liquidy to you feel free to add the extra rice I recommended above. Add raisons, walnuts, and cinnamon to taste and stir. Sprinkle nutmeg over the top. Cook at 350F stirring several times while baking. Bake for 30 minutes. If it doesn't look done, keep baking. It shouldn't need to bake longer than 45 minutes, the longer it bakes the less "pudding"-like it will be so monitor it closely towards the end or it will be too dry. (If you do over bake it, just add a little milk to the individual bowls you serve it in to help soften it.)

After I dish up my pudding I always sprinkle a little white sugar/brown sugar/cinnamon mixture on the top of each serving to add a little extra SWEET!

Happy Baking!!!

Recipe - Oreo Cookies

A great back to school treat and activity is to bake homemade oreos. My dear friend Michelle shared this recipe with me a few years ago and it is ALWAYS a hit, plus little ones think it is neat to make their own oreos. You must follow the directions EXACTLY, but it is super easy.

Homemade Oreos

Ingredients for Cookies ~ 2 devil's food cake mixes, 1 & 1/2 cups shortening, 4 eggs
Ingredients for Filling ~ 2 cups powdered sugar, 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese (softened), 2 tablespoons butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 tablespoons milk

Directions ~ Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. *Since you bake these for precisely 9 minutes you MUST preheat your oven.* Combine mixes, shortening and eggs. Scoop out dough and form into balls. You will want to make your balls as close to the same size as possible. Place dough on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 9 minutes. Remove cookies from oven. Cookies will NOT look done. Let cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Place on rack to cool. Combine remaining ingredients. Spread filling between 2 cookies.

This recipe makes approximately 38 decently sized oreos (76 individual cookies).

I am such a bakaholic/cookieandbakedgoodseatingaholic that I have to plan on sharing my goodies.. which usually means doubling a recipe... or I will eat them all in little to no time. However, this recipe makes enough to share without doubling... even for me!

Happy Baking!!!

Food Activity - Making Butter

This activity can be done at home or in a classroom setting and it is sure to put smiles on faces.

What you need:

Clear glass jar with secure lid

Whipping Cream



What you do:

Pour the whipping cream into the jar.

Put on the lid and make sure it is tight.

Shake.

*There are recipes that recommend adding salt and other things, but my experience has been that this works just fine.*

Placement of children:

Have children sit on the floor in a circle.

This can be done as a whole class activity along with a lesson about having unity in the class and working together to help each other. This can also be done as a family to teach the same thing. In either case it is a good idea to have a little chant or sing a little song as you go around so every child has the same amount of time to shake the jar (I usually allow about 10 seconds per student to keep it moving around the circle). I have also done this where I read a story or put in a story on a c.d. so I have my hands free to count down time for each child with my fingers so they know when it is time to pass the jar to the next child.

Once the butter has been made, simply scoop some out and put on any yummy bread of your choice. The butter doesn't have a lot of flavor but children enjoy watching the change from the liquid to solid form.

Happy buttering!!!