Kids’ Crafts That Say
“Thankful”
Thanksgiving is just around
the corner, and the weeks leading up to the holiday
are the perfect time to let children create crafts
that showcase the things for which they are thankful.
Here are two of my favorite
paper crafts for giving thanks.
Thankful Chain
Making a paper chain for
the Christmas tree is very popular, but you can
use the same idea and have the children write or
draw things they are thankful for on the paper slips.
Challenge your child to keep thinking of new things
for which he or she is thankful in order to make
the chain longer.
Thankful Tree
The Thankful Tree is also
really fun, and can be used as a gift. Trace and
cut out handprints in fall colors (younger children
will need help with the cutting). These will be
the leaves for your tree. If you are going to give
it as a gift, to grandparents for instance, help
the child write or draw their favorite things to
do with that person. Crinkle up a brown paper bag
to make it look like a tree trunk, and use the same
process for limbs. Then add the leaves. Mount everything
to a corkboard for later use as a memo pad. You
can add some decorative fall ribbon, and it’s ready
to show a loved one how much they are appreciated.
Thanksgiving Play-Doh®
Nothing says Thanksgiving
like pumpkin pie, and nothing encourages creativity
more than Play-doh®. Here’s a recipe that combines
both:
5 1/2 cups flour
2 cups salt
8 teaspoons cream of tartar
3/4 cup oil
1 (1 1/12-ounce) container
pumpkin pie spice (or a mixture of your own making
such as ground cloves, ground cinnamon, ginger and
nutmeg; let your child decide which is a favorite
scent)
Orange food coloring (2
parts yellow, 1 part red)
4 cups water
With your child, mix all
of the ingredients together.
Parent Only — Cook and stir
over medium heat until all lumps disappear.
Once the dough is cool,
knead it on a floured surface until smooth. Store
in an airtight container. This smells great, so
remind children NOT to eat it. Throw away after
two weeks.
Leaf Rubbings
The changing color of the
leaves is one of my favorite things about fall.
You can instill this love of change in the seasons
by taking a walk and looking for leaves of all different
colors. Choose a few favorites, and once home place
them under a white sheet of paper. With a crayon,
color over the leaf. You’ll see its impression right
away.
Talk about leaves (tailoring
for the age of the child). Ask them if they’ve noticed
the days are getting shorter and that night is coming
sooner. This is how trees “know” to get ready for
winter. Ask them about photosynthesis — the process
of turning sunlight into food. In the winter, there
is not enough sunlight, so the trees live off their
stored food. Once they stop making food, the green
chlorophyll disappears. This is when the other colors
of orange, red and yellow begin to emerge. Did you
know the colors were there all along?
The Pilgrim Voyage
Print off a copy of the
map.
Draw the equator. What does the equator do? Did
the pilgrims travel below or above the equator on
their voyage across the ocean?
Label the directions, the
oceans and the continents. Color the continents
green and the ocean blue. If you know your own history,
talk about what country/continent your relatives
left.
Make a boat. No one knows
for sure what the Mayflower looked like,
but ships at that time had two large, square sails.
Allow your child to brainstorm what they can use
around the house to make sails and a ship.
This is a great opportunity
to think about all the different nationalities of
people who live in America and chart where they
came from.
Natural Bird Feeder
Another way to show thankfulness
is by sharing. Here’s a great way to show children
how they can help our friends in nature with a natural
bird feeder. You’ll need:
Pinecone(s)
Ribbon
Peanut butter
Birdseed
Go for a walk and search
for a pinecone. When you find a cone, tie a ribbon
around it about three sections down and knot the
ribbon at the top.
With a child-safe knife,
have them spread peanut butter all along the edges
of the cone and in the inside. Have them sprinkle
birdseed all over the cone. Roll the cone in the
leftover birdseed.
Secure the cone from a tree
with ribbon where your child can watch the action
when the birds discover their treat.
Jill Monroe’s
newest release is Tall, Dark and Filthy Rich,
a Harlequin Blaze out this month. Visit her at
http://jillmonroe.blogspot.com
and http://www.jillmonroe.com.
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Bread
Recipes
by the Noodlers
Italian Bread or Dough for
Pizza Crust
1 package dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 egg
3 3/4 cups flour
In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the cup
of warm water. Add sugar and salt. Stir until
dissolved. Add 1 1/2 cups of the flour, and mix
until smooth. Add egg and oil. Stir until
glossy. Add 2 cups of flour, and stir until the
dough is easy to handle. Place remaining flour
on a board. Knead the dough for about five
minutes or until the excess flour is absorbed
into the dough and it forms a smooth ball.
Lightly grease the bowl and place the ball of
dough in the bowl. Cover and let rise for an
hour in a warm place. The dough should double in
size. If making pizza, cut the ball in half then
roll out. It should make two 16-inch pizza
crusts. Put on the topping(s) and bake on the
lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees for
about 12 minutes.
If making Italian bread, shape into a loaf and
let rise again for 20 minutes before baking at
375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until the
bread is golden brown.
Sweet & Moist Zucchini Bread
Mix:
3 eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla
1 cup oil
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup crushed pineapple
2 cups grated zucchini
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pour into two loaf pans and bake at 325 degrees
for one hour. Delicious!
Not-So-Basic Bread
Contributed by Linda Rose,
Esri
Rose’s mom
This recipe requires a bread machine and makes a
tall, two-pound loaf. One slice of this bread,
cut in half, makes a whole sandwich.
1 1/3 cups plus 2 tablespoons of water, just
above blood heat
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons powdered milk
1/4 cup gluten flour (available in bulk section
of health-food grocery)
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour (available in bulk
section of health-food grocery)
3 tablespoons oil (olive is fine)
1 tablespoon dry yeast
1/4 cup (scant) pumpkin seeds (available in bulk
section of health-food grocery)
1/4 cup (scant) cracked wheat (available in bulk
section of health-food grocery)
Into the bread machine pan, add the water, salt,
sugar, powdered milk, gluten flour, all-purpose
flour, and whole wheat flour. Add the dry yeast
and oil. Add pumpkin seeds and cracked wheat.
Turn the bread machine on and use the
light-brown, basic-bread settings.
(Note: If you want to increase the proportion of
whole wheat flour, also increase the proportion
of gluten flour.)
For metric conversions of the measurements above,
consult any of the following sites:
http://southernfood.about.com/library/info/blconv.htm
http://www.thatsmyhome.com/recipes/conversion.htm
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/conversions.htm
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