Little Books for Little Cooks

I came across some fun and yummy recipes that go along with books you can read with your pre-schooler. Click the link for some great ideas. Little Books for Little Cooks

My Life in Food

I recently joined a forum on the website PickyEatingAdults.com and saw links to this program on picky eaters. After watching it, I have conflicting feelings. On one hand, it's comforting to know that we are not the only people who struggle with food. However, it's also somewhat discouraging and makes my heart ache for Big Brother...listening to the adult picky eaters talk about how food has negatively impacted their relationships and lives.

My Life in Food, Part 1

My Life in Food, Part 2

My Life in Food, Part 3

Article on Duke University Picky Eating Adults Study

Click here to read an article about a Duke University Study on adult picky eaters. It pretty accurately describes Big Brother's eating habits, "The work could also shed light on why they share certain favorite foods, most of them bland, processed and laden with carbohydrates."

Apple Graphing

Over the course of the past few weeks, we've been learning about apples. I saw a post about apple graphing and thought it would be a fun activity to do with the kids.

I placed yellow and red apples in a bowl and explained that we were going to sort the apples by color and place them in the boxes on the chart. Big Brother and Baby Sister eagerly sorted the apples and then we counted to see how many yellow and red apples we had. The kids had fun putting the apples back into the bowl and sorting them again and again.

Don’t Give Up!

Progress is achieved in spurts at our household. The only fruit Big Brother accepts is applesauce (which he is starting to phase out of his diet), so I thought it was time to work with him on accepting other forms of apple. We read books about growing and harvesting apples (see my Apples, Apples, Apples post for more apple-theme ideas), went to the grocery store and looked at all the different kinds of apples in the produce section, and baked and tried apple crisp (we’d had success with it before; this time he accepted it on his plate but didn’t want to touch or eat the crunchy topping). I was getting frustrated and discouraged. After all our effort, it didn’t seem like we were making any progress.

When I was least expecting it, we made giant leaps of progress! I cut apples into butterfly, star, and train shapes using a cookie cutter and gave Big Brother a shaker with some cinnamon and sugar in it. He sprinkled cinnamon/sugar on his apple cutouts and started licking the cinnamon/sugar off! (He has never touched apple slices, let alone licked them!) One evening we watched a couple of videos about harvesting apples (video 1 & video 2). When we watched it the first time, he didn’t seem very interested. However, when daddy came home, he excitedly asked daddy if he’d watch it with him. Then at supper, I sliced up an apple to share with Baby Sister. Big Brother asked for an apple train. He proudly showed daddy how to sprinkle cinnamon/sugar on it and lick it off the apple.

This was a great reminder to be patient and not give up. Even if it seems like little progress is being made, your child is benefiting from the learning activities that you implement. Try not to become discouraged and don't rush your child – he needs to be free to move at his own pace.

Mini-Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Big Brother helped bake some mini-chocolate chip banana muffins. We used Pamela’s Ultimate Baking and Pancake Mix and the recipe on the back of the package. After I put the muffin batter into the mini-muffin pan, I used a spoon to push a chocolate chip down into the center of each muffin.

As we were eating the muffins, Big Brother was a little confused about where the chocolate chip went (the chocolate chip melted during the baking process). He and Baby Sister liked the muffins. – I think they enjoyed eating food that was just their size and of course they loved the yummy chocolate chip in the center!