Emma's Lunch

Dinosaur Birthday Cake

2012-02-25T00:38:00.000+02:00

Boys love dinosaurs and especially dinosaur birthday parties. This dinosaur birthday cake makes a perfect centerpiece for any dinosaur party! I got the opportunity to create a cake like this for a special little four year old on his birthday.

Ingredients:

Two 10inch sponge cakes (I used this Chocolate Cake Recipe)

Butter frosting

Green food coloring

Assorted chocolates

I got the idea for this cake from the Betty Crocker website. They have a bunch dinosaur cake ideas but this is the one I liked the best.

It is really simple to make. Take one cooled 10inch round cake and cut off about 1/5 of the cake. Next cut out a semi circle. That part will make the body of the dinosaur. Cut out the tail and the head from the second 10 inch round cake. I did this freehand but the Betty Crocker website has a template you could use.

Mix your butter frosting with some green food coloring to get a color you like. Next apply a thin layer of frosting all over the cake. This will be the base coat used to seal in all the crumbs. Once that's done, place the cake in the fridge and allow to chill for about 30 minutes.

Then take out the cake and apply the final coat of frosting and decorate by adding assorted chocolates for dinosaur spots, spikes, toes and eyes. Use white frosting to pipe on the mouth and teeth.

Its such a simple cake to create. It looks like its a lot of work when there's really nothing to it.

Related articles:
Spiderman Shaped Birthday Cake
Superhero Birthday Party Ideas
Chocolate Cake Recipe

Come back soon for Dinosaur Birthday Party Ideas!

Enjoy!

Mardi Gras Masks Craft for Kids

2012-02-23T23:33:00.000+02:00

We've had a lot of fun crafting for Carnival. This Mardi Gras Mask craft is simple and fun and easily doable for any child.

What you'll need?

Hard paper

Scissors

Glittery Stickers

Glitter glue

Elastic thread

To make these masks even, draw one side of mask freehand, cut it out until able to softly fold over and trace the other side.

Once you've cut out the mask, using a pencil indicate where the the eyes should be. You can measure the exact location for the eyes by placing the mask against the face and marking that way.

Then, let your child get to work. Allow her to decorate as she pleases. Sticking the glittery flowers to the masks and further decorating using the glitter glue.

Once she's done, cut out the holes for the eyes using scissors.

Make a small hole at each side of the masks, thread through the elastic thread and tie into a knot. Stick a sticker on top of the knot for safety and enjoy!

Hand Print Carnival Masks Craft

Handprint Carnival Masks Craft

2012-02-21T22:48:00.000+02:00

Carnival is around the corner so we've been making masks! I love how these came out.

What you'll need?

Card paper

Glitter Glue

Glitter

Glittery stickers

Scissors

Elastic Thread or Stick/straw

Trace one of your child's hands, only the four fingers without the thumb. Get an idea of the size by measuring against your child's face. And then trace the second hand on the opposite side.

Join two hands together by either drawing straight lines or making a slight V on top. Cut out the mask and draw where eyes should be by placing in front of your child's face & measuring. Cut out the eyes and create a small hole right next to each of the eye spots. Get the elastic thread and thread though the holes. Tie a knot on each side.

Stick a glittery sticker on top of each of the knots to ensure it keeps in place. Using the glitter glue create various shapes to decorate your mask.

If not using the thread, you may glue a straw or a small stick to the back of the mask to be used as a holder.

You may decorate as you please, the red mask was first entirely covered in glue. Emma then sprinkled glitter all over it and we continued by using the glitter glue to decorate.

The masks came out great! We both loved the outcome. How will you dress up for Carnival?

Number Two Shaped Birthday Cake

2012-02-19T10:31:00.001+02:00

Last week was my friend's birthday. Luckily for me, she's still in her twenties and I got to create a number two shape cake again. Right along with the number seven shape cake. Last time I had to do a number two shaped cake was for Emma's second birthday, but that was way before this blog existed!

Since this blog has a lot to do with children, I will show you how to make the number two.... I don't think any children of 27 will passing by here.... Unless they are mommies that is!

The only way to create a number two shaped cake is either by cutting it freehand or following a template. And luckily, I created a Number Two Template just for this purpose! The actual number fits a 12x9 inch (30x22cm) baking pan, although to print it that size you need to print on an A3/Legal size paper since the number is just a little bigger than an A4/Letter size.

What you'll need:

Any cake recipe (I used this chocolate cake recipe)

Number two template

Serrated Knife

To decorate as in photo:

Soft icing

Yellow fondant

White fondant

Heart shaped cutters

Chocolate vermicelli

Rolling pin

Offset spatula/or a butter knife

Note: for the cake above I made the 27 smaller, in order to fit one baking pan.

Bake the cake as per instructions. Once baked leave it to completely cool on a wire rack. Print the number two template on an A3/Legal size paper cut out and place on top of the cooled cake. Using a small serrated knife carefully cut out the shape. To reduce the number of crumbs you could first chill the cake.

Just an FYI, I created number seven freehand.

Once cut, if you want to use fondant, you first need to do a crumb coat. Meaning you need to completely cover the cake with a thin layer of soft frosting to seal in any crumbs and allow the fondant to stick to it. You will need to do a crumb coat even of you choose to use soft icing all over the cake. Before applying a second layer of soft icing you should chill the crumb coated cake.

Next roll out the yellow fondant. Knead it until soft and pliable and roll out a thin layer. Carefully transfer to the cake and softly stick to all sides.

You can roll out some white fondant and using cookie cutters cut out heart shapes. Stick the hearts to the cake using a tiny bit of water.

And that's it! You're done! Place in the fridge until serving.

Looking for a Number 3 Shaped cake? We've done that too :)

Healthy Butterfly Lunchbox

2012-02-16T23:30:00.000+02:00

Emma and I have been preparing for preschool. How you may ask? Working on letters? Numbers? No..... Lunchboxes!

Once they move away from the cushy kindergarten that provides all meals and snacks for the kids, it can be quite daunting thinking about having to pack a lunch on a daily basis. You may also want to make it somewhat fun and interesting, to mix it up a little instead of just packing the old sandwich.

Here we've got a cheese sandwich, I cut off the crusts and then I used a butterfly cutter to cut a butterfly shape within the sandwich. I placed another slice of cheese in the shape of a butterfly on top. I packed two silicone muffin cups, one with lentils and one with yoghurt. And that's it! You're done! When sending this to school you could place a piece of foil paper on top of lentils and yoghurt to prevent spillage. Once they can read a loving note makes a nice touch.

Emma loved it and although the lentils weren't the same as they make them at school she had a few bites. I will have to keep reintroducing it to her.

What's for Bedtime?

2012-02-15T23:25:00.001+02:00

Things have been coming up on Wednesdays lately. But I'm happy to share a few more books this week.

Our English book this week has been What is Valentine's Day? by Harriet Ziefert. I didn't actually know we even had it, until one day Emma unearthed it. Apparently we got it last March in Dubai and forgot about it. I think Emma was attracted by the hearts on the cover.

This is a lift the flap story which explains to kids all about Valentine's Day. It belongs to a series of books which attempt to teach about all kinds of holidays. Some of the other books in the series are What is Christmas? What is Hanukkah? What is a Birthday? What is Mother's Day? etc.

Emma quite liked this book. We've read it maybe 5 times and she's already reciting it! Its simple, to the point, Emma now knows what is Valentine's Day. Its a pretty simple book I'd recomend it for younger kids, which pretty much makes sence since we bought it almost a year ago.

In Greek, Emma and Daddy are reading "When I grow up I'll be a ballerina" 'Oταν μεγαλώσω θα γίνω μπαλαρίνα. I can't actually find the english version of this to share. Anyway, Emma is in love! The illustrations are lovely, its a book about friendship and perseverence. It teaches that we should remain focused and continue working hard even when its tough. It teaches that hard work is rewarded. Emma wants this book almost every night. At least every night when its daddy's turn to read.

And finally in Serbian, we've been working through Puss in Boots by Stella Gurney or Macak u Cizmama. This book is actually translated into Croatian, it is full of fun fun fun. There are wheels, pop ups, flaps, excellent illustration and an option to tell the short story instead of having to read the entire text, which is quite long. Its a great upgrade to the regular tale. There are so many things to do while reading that your child will never get bored!

Happy reading everyone!

Hand Print Valentine's Day Card

2012-02-14T23:30:00.000+02:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

I like the idea of having a day to do something different for our loved ones. Yes, we should show our love on a daily basis but lets face it, we don't give cards and little gifts to the people we love everyday. And while Valentine's day may be a Greeting Card Company holiday, you're not really falling into that trap if you make your own cards!

We made this fun card using both Emma's and Lia's handprint.

What you'll need:

Red card paper

Black card paper

Scissors

Glue

A tube of glitter glue

Two little hands

Cut a long strip of black paper and fold it into an accordion. Using the glitter glue write "THIS MUCH" on the accordion flaps and leave to dry. Trace two hands, cut them out. Write "WE LOVE YOU" on one hand and "DADDY" on the other hand. Replace Daddy we anything else you may like, Grandma, Mommy, etc. Then glue one to each end of the accordion.

And there you go! Incredibly simple, loving, keepsake Valentine's Day card :)

Muffin Tin Monday - Valentine's Day

2012-02-13T22:56:00.000+02:00

Well its one day before Valentine's Day so today we really need to have an appropriate muffin tin!

We had Special K in a heart shaped cup, mini bites of bread and cheese, yoghurt in a heart shaped cup. Then two heart shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and heart shaped cheese bites.

Emma loved it! I created the mini bites using Fun Bites cutters. Emma really liked seeing the mini food. I'm planning on using them a great deal in the future :)

Spiderman Shaped Cake

2012-02-10T23:30:00.000+02:00

Spiderman cake is the perfect cake for a boy's party, no matter how old! Today is my husband's birthday and for his birthday Emma requested a super boyish Spiderman Cake. So how could I say no??

What you'll need:

An oval baking dish

Any cake recipe (I used the no bake Doukissa recipe)

Red fondant

White fondant

Black icing

If using a sponge cake recipe you will also need soft icing, chocolate or butter will do.

Prepare the cake, if using the Doukissa recipe leave it to chill for at least two hours before decorating. If you are short for time you could even place in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. If using a sponge cake recipe, like this delicious chocolate cake leave it to cool and then cover entirely with a thin layer of soft icing. This will allow the fondant to stick easily and it will hide any imperfections on the cake.

Once the cake is ready, take out the red fondant, kneed it until easily pliable, scatter some icing sugar on your working surface and roll out. Once you receive a thickness of about 2 millimeters lift carefully so it doesn't break and cover the entire cake. Using your hands press the icing into the cake so that it covers everywhere equally.

Next roll out some white icing and cut out eye shapes out of it. I did one eye freehand and for the second one I traced the first eye ensuring I got the same shape. Place on the cake and using a toothpick mark Spiderman's lines.

Once that is completed use black icing to pipe around the eyes and create the distictive lines on his face. Start by drawing the vertical lines once that's completed continue with the horisontal

Put back in the fridge and serve cold. Our cake came out great, the kids loved it and especially the birthday dad! :)

Felt Flower Valentine's Heart Craft

2012-02-09T10:36:00.000+02:00

Valentine's Day is almost here. This gorgeous felt flower heart is perfect for adding a Valentines touch to your home.

What you'll need:

Red felt

Hot glue

Felt glue or white glue

Scissors

Marker

Cardboard

Black paper

Box Cutter

One CD

Draw a heart on your cardboard. There are a couple of things you can do to make it even. You can print out a heart shape and trace it on the cardboard. Or, do as I did, draw one half of the heart freehand on a piece of paper. Cut it out and trace it on the cardboard, flip over and trace the other side. Using your box cutter cut out the heart.

Use your cardboard to draw a heart on black paper. Cut about 1cm or 1/2inch wider than the heart shape you traced. Next cut into the black paper heart about a centimeter/half inch to make little flaps. Glue to the back of the cardboard heart, flip over and glue the flaps to the front in order to dress the back of the cardboard.

To create the flowers, take the felt and use the CD to draw circles. Cut them out and then cut out a spiral about 1cm thickness. Make sure that the marked circle is cut off otherwise it will create a black shadow in the center of your flower. When cutting the spiral, you do not have to be precise. That is what gives texture to the flower and that whimsical look to the heart.

Start rolling the spiral tightly from the outer edge working your way in to create a rosette. Periodically add felt glue as you roll the flower. Make sure to keep the bottom of the flower straight so that the top part creates the uneven flower feel.

I cut about 50 circles. I started with creating rosettes using the entire spiral and arranging them on the flower board. You will see holes that will create where you will need smaller flowers. Create smaller flowers by starting a rosette using your spiral. Cut off the rest of the felt when you reached the desired size of flower.

Use hot glue to glue flowers to the board. Have your child help you arrange them. Ideally you would have to have all the above steps done before involving your child (depending on their age of course).

Leave a comment and let me know if you've enjoyed this. I will be posting a video tutorial soon on how to do different types of felt flowers. Watch this space and Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day Muffin Tin

2012-02-06T20:20:00.000+02:00

We've been away from Muffin Tins lately. We used to be very regular, but ever since they got rid of the themes I'm not so excited to do it. I liked it when there was a set theme and all the participants tried to match it. It was great visiting other sites and peeking at their interpretations of the same subject.

But without further ado here is out Valentine's muffin tin.

There are heart shaped chicken nuggets, heart shaped buttered bread, yoghurt in a heart shaped muffin tin, heart shaped rice, a Baby Belle cheese with a heart cut out and heart shaped srawberry slices.

Emma loved it of course :)

Bento Valentine

2012-02-02T22:46:00.000+02:00

Here's a fun Valentine's Day inspired bento I created for Emma. There is really nothing to it yet she gets so excited about it.

So what we've got inside are a bunch of heart shaped silicone cups with strawberries, bananas, Special K cereal which Emma loves to dip into the yoghurt. And of course two really cute teddy bear picks :)

Chocolate Hearts Valentine's Day Recipe

2012-02-01T11:39:00.000+02:00

For this Valentine's Day make these delicious, decadent chocolate hearts.

Use this chocolate balls recipe and either shape the balls into hearts using your hands, or get a baking tray and line it with non stick baking paper. Flatten the mixture to the thickness of about 1cm or 0.5inch. Take out a heart shaped cookie cutter to make heart shaped bites.

Decorate with edible hart glitter, or colorful vermicelli or even just chocolate vermicelli.

Enjoy with your sweetheart this Valentine's Day.

Heart Shaped Chocolate Desert Recipe

2012-01-31T23:30:00.000+02:00

Here's a lovely Valentine's Day treat. Its so simple to do and makes a great themed desert.

Ingredients:

Chocolate cake recipe or brownie recipe

Chocolate glaze

White chocolate candy melts

A drop of whipping creme or milk

Heart cookie cutter

I used this chocolate cake recipe for this desert. Once the cake was baked and cold slice off the dome using a serrated knife and cut out heart shapes using a heart shaped cookie cutter.

Place the hearts on a wire rack and cover them with melted chocolate glaze.

I used the same glaze found in the chocolate cake recipe. After 5 minutes, when the glaze has set, melt a few white candy melts and add a drop of whipping creme to loosen it. Dip a fork into the candy melts and drizzle over the chocolate covered hearts.

Serve with lots of love on Valentine's day & enjoy! :)

Chocolate Balls - No Bake Recipe

2012-01-29T23:30:00.000+02:00

This is a delicious recipe. It requires no baking, its simple and versatile. You could pretty much shape it in any way you like and decorate it for any party theme.

Ingredients:

200g ground dark chocolate

200g ground almonds

2 bags of Vanillin sugar

2 egg whites

3tsp of rum ( I used 1 tsp of vanilla extract instead)

Chocolate vermicelli

Roasted hazelnuts (optional)

In a small bowl combine ground almonds and ground chocolate. Mix well together. Add the Vanillin sugar.

Separate the egg whites and whisk a little with a fork. Add rum or vanilla extract to the eggs and add to the chocolate mix. Mix well with your hand until completely combined. Place in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Remove from the fridge and roll into small balls about 1.5 cm or about 0.5inch in diameter. Roll them into the vermicelli and place in mini muffin paper cups.

If you like you can shape the balls around the roasted hazelnuts. After roasting remove the skin and place in the middle, then roll into the vermicelli or any other decorative sprinkles you like. I think I actually prefer this with a nutty surprise in the middle. Come to think of it, you could pretty much put anything you like in the middle.

Enjoy!

First Foods - Pears, Prunes & Oats

2012-01-27T22:29:00.001+02:00

Baby food and weaning has inadvertently become a feature on this blog. Its not surprising since we're weaning Lia. She's a real solid food lover! Here's another favorite of ours.

Ingredients:

Pear

4 Prunes

2 tbsp of instant oat flakes (Ready Brek)

Peal and chop the pear, pit the prunes and add to a saucepan with water. Allow to boil until soft. Once done puree to a smooth consistency. This combination produces quite a runny puree. To tie together add two spoons of oats.

This is another lovely recipe to help with constipation in babies. Both pears and prunes are natural laxatives and the bran in oats also helps. If I wasn't thinking about the constipation I could have added rice instead of oats but I'm staying away from that for now.

The oats I use are Weetabix's Original Ready Brek. I love this porridge. It contains 100% oats, no added sugar or salt and its fortified with vitamins. You can find it in the cereal aisle. I also use it on its own. All I do is add some breast milk and its ready to go.

Lia loves it as well! Its often mixed with her food.

Happy weaning everyone!

Gruffalo Bento

2012-01-26T23:59:00.000+02:00

Since we've been in Gruffalo mode lately, I thought it'd be fun to make a quick Gruffalo bento for Emma. And when I say quick, I mean quick.... between Lia's feed time and bed time.... which are really close together!

It turned out great, although I wish we had had some brown bread left ... oh well.

He has terrible tusks

and terrible claws

and terrible teeth

in his terrible jaws.

He has nobbly knees

And turned out toes

And a poisenous wart

At the end of his nose.

His eyes are orange

His tongue is black

He has purple prickles

All over his back.

Our Gruffalo is made of a cheese sandwich, his tusks are almonds, his teeth are sunflower seeds, his tongue is licorice and his eyes are orange peel. Now that I've written the poem I realized I forgot to place a poisenous wart on his nose.... Well I forgot the nose all together!

There are also carrot sticks, banana slices and strawberry wedgies. Emma ate the entire thing! Except the features of course :) and loved it!

I like the idea to relate our bentos to the books we're reading... May see more of that in the future.

What's for Bedtime?

2012-01-25T23:40:00.000+02:00

Emma just loves books! And Lia is following in her footsteps. Even though she's only 6 months its the "toy" she'll play with the longest. Just like Emma did at her age :)

Our English book this week is The Gruffalo's Child again by Julia Donaldson, following The Gruffalo craze. Reading of The Gruffalo's Child only ensues after Emma has read to us The Gruffalo. She knows it word for word, and knows exactly when to turn the page! The Gruffalo's Child is fun, its told from the point of view of the little gruffalo who is warned by her father of the big bad mouse. Its a lovely sequal to The Gruffalo, although that's just what it is....a sequal.

Emma and daddy are reading Tell me Something Happy Before I Go to Sleep by Joyce Dunbar translated into Greek - Πες μου κάτι όμορφο πριν κοιμηθώ. I like this book. Baby rabbit can't sleep and asks her brother on the top bunk for help. Its really nothing very special, but what I love about it is that the older brother really goes out of his way to make his little sister feel safe and happy. I guess this is what I'd like for Emma to be with Lia.

In Serbian, Little Prince still makes an appearance, despite the advanced language. We are reading a little bit at a time, but in addition to that we also are also reading one of Aesop's Fables, The Fox and the Stork or in Serbian Лија и Рода. This is one of my favorites! I love Aesop's fables because they are full of educational morals, but what I especially love about this edition is the fact that it rhymes. I like it so much that if Emma happens to fall asleep half way through, I still continue reading it!

Barnes & Noble has coupons available for bedtime books.

To see other books we've read in the past click here. Enjoy reading!

Valentine's Day Heart Picture Frame Craft

2012-01-24T22:51:00.001+02:00

Valentine's day is almost here, and Emma has actually been talking about it.... strangely enough, since we don't really pay too much attention to it.

So this year, we decided to actually do something about it and create some fun Valentine's day crafts, starting with a picture frame.

What you'll need:

Thick red paper

Different types of sprinkles

Glitter

Glue

Glitter glue

Scissors

Photograph

Cut two equal hearts out of red paper. Cut out a smaller heart shape out of the center of one of the hearts. An easy way to do an even heart is to create half a heart and cut it out. Use it to trace along your paper first one side and then the other.

Glue one heart to the other. Place glue only to the top and the bottom of the heart, make sure you leave the sides unglued so that a photo can easily be slipped in.

Next apply glue to the entire top heart (the one with a hole in it) and then haphazardly glue different types of larger sprinkles on top and then sprinkle some glitter on the rest of the glue covered area.

Trace the photo heart opening with some dark colored glitter glue to give it definition. Slip in the photo and enjoy! You can hang it on your wall at work or home or keep it on your desk.

Emma loved applying glue and most of all dropping sprinkles & glitter :)

Snowman Shaped Red Velvet Cake Pops

2012-01-21T21:52:00.002+02:00

Christmas is behind us but I don't think that should stop us from sharing fun Christmas related recipes! Although these pops could easily be served at a winter party, or a winter time birthday party.

Ingredients:

Red Velvet Cake Pops Recipe

White Candy Melts

Red roll out icing

Chocolate flakes

Chocolate candy melts

Mini Licorice cups

Lollypop sticks

Follow the red velvet cake pops recipe to create the mixture.
Then create the same amount of 2cm/ 1 inch balls and 1cm/ half inch balls.
Dip a lollypop stick into some melted white candy melts and stick it into the larger ball.
Place a small drop of candy melt on top and stick the smaller ball to it to make a snowman shape.
Stick it into a Styrofoam board and place in a freezer for about half an hour.
Roll out some red icing, cut out scarves for the snowmen. Create little cones for the nose.
Melt more candy melts and dip in the snow man.
Shake off excess candy melt and stick on a chocolate candy melt for the base of the hat. Use the mini licorice cup for the top of the hat
Glue the rest of the features, the red scarf, nose, eyes and the buttons.

Place in the fridge until serving.

To serve as in the picture, get a relatively shallow glass bowl and alternate white and red florist sand. Stick the pops in and serve!

First Foods - Prunes

2012-01-19T13:31:00.001+02:00

Prunes or dried plums are a great first food because they are a natural laxative. So for those babies struggling in this department prunes are a great addition to the diet. Besides its laxative qualities it is also a great source of beta-carotene.

If your baby is constipated, in addition to giving prunes it would be a good idea to stay away from BRAT.

B- bananas

R- rice

A- appples

T- toast

Ingredients:

20 Prunes

Baby's usual milk

Pit prunes and place into a saucepan and add water to cover. Boil for 15-20 minutes or until soft. Take out the prunes and reserve the water. Add prunes to your food processor and puree until you get a smooth consistency. If too thick add some of the cooking water. You may freeze in a silicone ice cube tray to serve later.

To serve take out 3-4 of the ice cubes, defrost and add some of the baby's usual milk. Prunes are great to mix with all fruits but if your baby is struggling with constipation try mixing them with boiled pears.

For another great recipe including prunes see the Pears, Prunes and Oats recipe.

Happy weaning!

We're Going Black in Protest Against SOPA & PIPA

2012-01-18T12:32:00.001+02:00

Emma's Lunch is going black today in protest against SOPA and PIPA because these bills will censor the internet. Join us!

Check out some other sites doing the same:

Google

Wikipedia

To do something about it you can go to the Google page and sign a petition or go to the Wikipedia page and enter your zip code to find your representative to complain.

Lets not let this go ahead unnoticed. Internet as we know it depends on it.

Also this is the last post published on the old domain, please update your links to www.emmaslunch.com. Thank you!

No Sew Finger Puppets Craft

2012-01-17T23:45:00.001+02:00

As a follow up to last weeks finger puppet theater we decided to make some finger puppets. We came up with the cutest, funnest finger puppets... totally by accident! I was ready with my felt, thread and needle, I had already started drawing outlines, when Emma took one of the pipe cleaners, curled it all around her finger, and gave me the best idea ever! We made a piglet, a duck, and a funny looking cow :)

What you'll need

Pink, yellow, black & white pipe cleaners

Pink, yellow & white medium pompoms

4 pink tiny mini pompoms

Googly eyes

Pink, orange, white & black pieces of felt

Hot glue

Curl the pipe cleaners around your child's finger. For the cow, place the black and white pipe cleaners together and curl them at the same time. Cut out a closed U shape out of white felt and glue it to the white pompom, draw two dots for the nose and glue the googly eyes. Next cut two small triangles out of the black felt and glue to the top of the head and right next to them glue two pink mini pompoms. Then glue the head to the body.

For the pig, take the pink pompom glue mini pink pompoms as ears. Cut a small circle out of the pink felt, draw two dots for the snout and glue to the head. Next glue googly eyes or as we did, cut small circles from white felt and draw a dot to each and glue to the head. Once its done glue it to the pink body.

For the duck cut a semi circle shape out of orange felt and glue it to the yellow pompom, then glue the googly eyes to the head. Once the head is done glue it to the yellow body.

Let the fun begin! Emma loved them and played with them for hours!

Make a Rainbow at Home - Science Experiment

2012-01-15T17:39:00.000+02:00

Emma loves rainbows, she still remembers the time I rushed her out of the house in the rain because the sun was out and I was sure a rainbow was around. And I was right! There was a huge rainbow above the park in our neighborhood.

Every time it rains she tells me we'll find a rainbow if the sun comes out. Well now she's old enough to know why! So this is the next one in our series of science experiments.

What you'll need

A glass with water

A sheet of paper

A sunny day

Take a glass with water and hold it up near a sunny window. Let the sunlight pass through the glass, effectively using the glass as a prism to make a small rainbow on your piece of paper. You should see red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, the colors of a rainbow.

I told Emma, we get rainbows when light passes through water, and when it rains sunlight passes to thousands of drops of rain and that makes the beautiful rainbows in the sky. I didn't go into prisms with her... maybe when she's older.

We were actually lucky that it was a cloudy day. We saw the rainbow appear and disappear as the sun moved behind the clouds!

Happy learning!

Jello & Chocolate Wedgies

2012-01-14T11:33:00.000+02:00

This is a really fun desert to serve on any occasion. We served it for Christmas, it went really well with the red theme. I found the idea for it on Pinterest!

Ingredients:
Wilton's Chocolate Candy Melts
Strawberry jello
A silicone form with half circles
Alcohol (if you want to make it into an adult version)

Melt the candy melts, I used 15 chips for each little bowl. Melt enough to do one bowl at a time so that the chocolate doesn't harden before you are ready. Using a spoon shape the chocolate in the mold. Keep molding with the spoon until the chocolate sets. Carefully take out of the mold and place in the fridge. Repeat as many times as you need bowls. Keep in mind, one bowl should make 2 wedgies.

Next make strawberry jello, let it cool to room temperature and then add to the chocolate bowls. I used the silicone mold to hold the chocolate bowls steady.

Place in the fridge and wait for the jello to harden. To make wedges, use a large knife and apply even, steady, strong pressure on the bowl to create two wedges. It is tricky. And you may get a few odd looking pieces, so take that into account when making your bowls.

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