Chocolate Chip Pancake Recipe

Stir the flour, baking powder and sugar together in a bowl. Add the eggs, buttermilk and melted butter, whisk to combine. Stir in choc chips.

Serving Size:

12 - 16

Category:

Breakfast, Brunch, Cakes & Baking, Chocolate, Easter treats, Kids cooking, Kids food, Pancake recipes

Special Info:

Gluten free, Nut free

Ingredients:

• 2 cups plain flour, gluten-free if necessary
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 750mL buttermilk
• 75g unsalted butter, melted
• ¾ cup choc chips
• Extra unsalted butter for greasing pan

Method:

Stir the flour, baking powder and sugar together in a bowl. Add the eggs, buttermilk and melted butter, whisk to combine. Stir in choc chips.

Heat a large non-stick frypan over medium heat and melt ¼ teaspoon of the extra butter. Pour 1/3 cup (I use my measuring cup) of pancake batter into the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes until bubbles appear on the surface. Turn the pancake over gently and cook for another minute.

Transfer cooked pancakes to a plate and keep warm (oven at 120°C) while cooking the rest of the pancakes. Stir the mixture between pancakes so all the choc chips are not left on the bottom of the bowl.

Serve in stacks of 2-3. Great on their own but also wonderful with fresh berries, yoghurt, cream or mascarpone.

http://www.kidspot.com.au/best-recipes/Easter-treats+64/Choc-chip-pancakes-recipe+2173.htm

Learning developments enhanced while using playdough

Motor Skill Development

• Using play dough helps a child practice using certain physical skills with the hands when they manipulate the dough with their fingers. Children can practice skills such as pinching, squeezing or poking while they play with the dough.

Cognitive Development

• Using play dough helps a child practice using imagination and other cognitive abilities such imitation, symbolism and problem solving. This helps the child learn more about his environment as he makes and mimics everyday objects with the play dough.

Emotional Development

• Using play dough may help a child to calm down when frustrated or angry. Holding and squeezing the play dough can produce a calming effect on the child and is useful for teaching anger management skills. Additionally, children may feel more comfortable expressing themselves in other ways while their hands are busy.

Social Development

• Using play dough may help a child develop social skills as she plays along with other children with the dough. Additionally, making play dough is an opportunity for a child to practice cooperation and sharing with a caregiver.

How To Play WITH Your Children – It’s Harder Than It Sounds

Ask parents if they play with their children and they will inevitably reply, “Of course I do.” Chances are, however, that they are not really playing WITH. Adults tend to play near, at and around but not quite with.

The most important part of a child’s day is play. It is through play that children experiment with role playing, symbolism, rule setting and negotiating social situations. They begin to develop empathy, expand their vocabularies and create new brain connections. Children need to design their own play based upon their view of the world. Young children are very concrete and can only pretend that with which they are familiar. They are also often unable to differentiate between fantasy and reality. That inability to separate the real from the imagined is what makes their capacity to play so much deeper than that of an adult. Adults do not typically spend endless hours in a doll’s imaginary world or putting toy cars through the toy car wash. Adults cannot stay in the realm of the imagined. Not only can’t we stay, we are challenged to enter it successfully.

In order to get a glimpse of how children see the world and to determine what interests them, adults need to enter their play. Adults have to resist the overwhelming urge to make the rules and steer the course of their children’s imagination. Adults tend to dictate play rather than join it. When a grown up walks over and dictates play – says, “Let’s do this” – the grown up has taken over the thinking process. When adults become the active thinkers, children become passive. They become followers instead of leaders. It is essential that adults do not take control of play.

The first steps in entering play are to wait for an invitation and to observe. There are times when children prefer to play alone or only with other children. Adults should not power their way into this other world. Going over and trying to join with them is, when you think about it, not very polite. It is not very different from that moment when we are writing checks to pay bills and our children come over and grab the pen. We are models of behavior in every situation and play is no different. Pull up a chair. Sit nearby on the floor and wait. If the children want to play with you, you will be invited. The children will hand you a toy or begin to include you in conversation. While waiting for your invitation, observe. The only way to truly enter their play is to observe. Take note of what exactly they are doing. Children sitting around a table in a play kitchen may not actually be cooking. Children building with blocks could be building anything – a tower, a roadway, an entire town. Adults should build what the children are building to encourage their creativity and decision making skills.

Once you have been invited, ask questions. Ask who you are in their dramatic play or how you can help with their construction project. Asking rather than telling enables the children to keep the power in their imaginary world. Children spend most of their day without power. Adults tell them when to awake, set the schedule of the day, and determine their meals and more. The one time that children really control their world is when they are pretending. Letting them be the leaders gives them the gift of self-confidence. They can make decisions that others will abide by and encourage. There is no greater lesson they can learn about their abilities.

When I watch young children play and participate in their imaginary world, I am in awe. They are so much more capable than we often give them credit for being. They think of things I could not possibly have added. They show us exactly who they are and how they see the world around them. Play is the hard work of their development and our window into their thoughts.

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Read this blog for more articles and learn about early childhood workshops for parents and early childhood professionals - www.helpingkidsachieve.com

Do-It-Yourself Recycled Crayons

MAKE SURE THAT THE CRAYONS ARE WAX NOT PLASTIC, LIKE THE ONES WE USE IN THE CLASSROOM!

  Practice fine motor and one-to-one correspondence skills by placing a paper cupcake liner in each section of a muffin tin. (Or, if you want funkier shaped crayons, try using some silicon baking trays.)

Use the pincer grasp to place all the peeled crayon bits into muffin tins, sorting them by complimentary or contrasting colors. Add a bit of color-mixing theory to the activity by discussing what the resulting crayon colors might be -- avoiding mixes that will make dull grays and browns! (If you wish, for extra tactile input, sprinkle glitter into the cups. 

Pop the tray into an oven, pre-heated to 150 degrees F, for 15-20 minutes. Leave the oven light on for eager eyes to witness and be sure to take the tray out when the crayon pieces seem just melted, but not bubbly.

Carefully have an adult remove the tray from the oven, showing it from a safe distance to eager young ones.  Then it is time to put the tray in the freezer.

You can take a toothpick to swirl the colors a bit if you wish before freezing the crayons, which can add a little more color mixing and visual interest to the activity.

Carefully have an adult remove the tray from the oven, showing it from a safe distance to eager young ones. Then, after taking advantage of the inherent science lesson on matter and how it changes from solid to liquid due to the heat of the oven, place the tray in the freezer. Or, if it is cold enough like it was here when we made our crayons, just put it outside. (You can take a toothpick to swirl the colors a bit if you wish before freezing the crayons, which can add a little more color mixing and visual interest to the activity.)

Number worksheet

This is a worksheet I created so that you can print it at home and the children can use bingo markers to mark the value in the table

http://www.scribd.com/doc/131436129/Bingo-marker-numbers-1-5-worksheet

Easter crafts

Jesus's Cross

Counting eggs

Flower basket 

Easter Card

Easter nests

With just three ingredients, these chocolate treats are 

quick and easy to make - Chocolate, Corn flakes and 

jelly beans made a lovely Easter Nest for everyone :)

The children improved their handy/eye co-ordination 

while stirring the cornflakes and melted chocolate. 

They improved their concentration and spoon handling 

while spooning some of the contents in a cupcake 

paper and their pincer grasp while adding the 

jelly beans to make little eggs!

Shapes song

Meet the numbers

 

 

 

This is a very interesting article by  Marianne Gibbs, EdD, OTR/L which i found on http://prekandksharing.blogspot.com/#

 

Have you ever found yourself saying, “Hold it right” to a young child who is trying to hold a pencil? If you have, you know these words alone simply do not work. Acquisition of an efficient pencil grasp is a process of pattern development. An efficient pencil grasp involves three fingers holding the pencil: Thumbkin, Pointer, and Middleman. I call these the Busy Fingers and they make up the tripod grasp. When Ringman and Pinky hold a Pillow (cotton ball or pom pom) and "go to sleep," the Busy Fingers are ready to play! The Busy Fingers can effectively hold and move a pencil, crayon, or tool while the Sleeping Fingers help to stabilize and support the child's hand and grasp.

 

I love to use singing to convey this simple strategy for holding a pencil correctly. Check out my “Fingers and Pillows” song, which is available in English and Spanish to help teachers and parents teach proper positioning for pencil grasp. By adding in simple hand movements (sing the song and you'll see what I mean) we can teach children about Busy Fingers, Sleeping Fingers, and Pillows. This is a fun way to teach students how to hold a pencil efficiently in a child-friendly way!

Follow these links to receive a FREE Pdf version of my piggy-back song lyrics:

English Version of "Fingers and Pillows" Song Lyrics

http://www.writeoutofthebox.com/images/pagefiles/file/PDF/Fingers%20and%20Pillows%20Song.pdf?phpMyAdmin=a09b3ddcd27cd8f189e1f33a49aa090c
Spanish Version of "Fingers and Pillows" Song Lyrics

Marianne Gibbs, EdD, OTR/L

Write Out of the Box

Simple number value activity

This is a simple activity you can do a at home. Just write large numbers from 1 to 5 for your children and draw dots according to the number value. Then you can use small blocks, or recycled bottle caps, for the children to place on the dots and mark the number value. Revise Revise Revise Values! Touch and count the dots too!!

Play dough recipe

 

Play dough is a great activity for children and parents of all ages.
Ingredients
2 cups flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
2 cups boiling water
1 teaspoon food colouring
Mix all dry ingredients, add oil and boiling water with food colouring, mix well.
Store in an airtight container.
To add interest you can add glitter for a textural change, some aromatherapy scented oil for smell.
With some shaped cutters, rolling pin and some imagination your set for hours of fun.

fine motor skills practice

This is a really simple and fun activity to do at home with your children to help improve fine motor skill development. All you need is a kebab stick (beware of the pointy edges), a small bit of playdough (i'm posting a recipe for home made playdough in a few minutes under the Activities to do at home label) and Cheerios cereal or some other type of cereal with the same shape.

 

 

 

 

 

What your child has to do, is : hold the kebab stick in one hand and use the other to fit in the doughnut shaped cereal into it. It may be a bit tricky until they get the hand of it. (especially with toddlers)

 

 

 

Sensory play

Children learn through their five senses. The senses of touch, sight, smell, taste, and hearing are how young children explore the world around them. As parents and educators, it is our job to help them explore their senses by providing appropriate activities for sensory play and learning. The different textures, feelings, surprises and fun things that they discover during sensory play are very important hands  on experiences that will help the children to take initiative in exploring and learning in different places and in the future. it is always very important that we, as adults, supervise these activities to always ensure safety.

Spring sensory basket 

Indoor Water play 

Maths educational games

Count Greenelle's toys - http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/preschool/ngames/numbers.htm



Online pre-writing numbers - http://www.turtlediary.com/preschool-games/math-games/learn-to-write-numbers.html

The number 3

Vanilla Honey milk shake recipe

Vanilla Honey Milk Shake

What you'll need

• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon honey
• a pinch of cinnamon
• 1 cup vanilla ice cream

How to make it

1. In a blender, process 1 cup vanilla ice cream, 1/2 cup whole milk, 1 teaspoon honey and a pinch of cinnamon until the ingredients are combined.
2. Pour into chilled glasses and serve immediately. Makes about two 8-ounce servings.

jam tarts recipe

Jam Tarts

What you'll need

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 5 egg yolks
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup ground walnuts
• 1 1/2 cups seedless raspberry jam

How to make it

1. In a large bowl, mix the flour, egg yolks, butter, 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla extract, then knead until it forms a soft dough. Chill for 30 minutes.
2. On a floured surface, roll the dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut a heart for the bottom of the cookie sandwich, and a heart with a smaller heart cut in it for the top. Brush the tops with the egg whites. Mix the walnuts with the 2 tablespoons of sugar and sprinkle on the cookie tops. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 10 minutes. Cool.
3. Spread the bottom hearts with a layer of jam and put the tops on. Makes about 26.

clown hat treats

Clown hat Treats


Oh how cute! Wouldn’t these be perfect for a carnival themed party?Fill the cones up with smarties and these ice cream cones will make the cutest party favors for little guests to take home.

Backed jacket potatoes recipe

Stuffed baked jacket potatoes

Ingredients
4 medium potatoes

100g strong cheddar , grated, plus extra for topping

100g sweetcorn

100g mixed peppers , diced

small handful fresh herbs , such as oregano, basil, coriander, dill or thyme

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Prep 20 mins
Cook 1 hr 15 mins

Vegetarian, Low-fat

1. Equipment you will need: medium mixing bowl, small mixing bowl, dessertspoon, fork, baking tray, grater, oven gloves.
2. Get an adult to heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and bake the potatoes for about 1 hr until cooked and the skins are crispy. Leave to cool completely. This can be done up to 2 days ahead.
3. To stuff the jacket potatoes, heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Ask an adult to cut the potatoes in half. Using a spoon, carefully scoop out the middle of the potato, leaving the skin unbroken (like a boat). Place the scooped potato into a mixing bowl.
4. Using the fork, mash the potato until there are no lumps. Add the cheese, sweetcorn and peppers and mix well. Gently pick the leaves from the herbs. You can rip the larger leaves into smaller pieces. Stir the herbs into the cheesy potato mixture.
5. Using the spoon, carefully scoop the mixture back into the potato boats. Make sure that you use all the mixture up. Sprinkle with a little extra grated cheese and place on a baking tray. Using oven gloves, place the tray in the oven and bake for 10-15 mins until golden.

Broccoli Cheese Emerald nuggets recipe

                       Broccoli Cheese Emerald Nuggets

To make this recipe delicious and fun to eat,you can cut them into diamond-shaped bites. Their bright green colour lends itself to the shape–offering a great opportunity for you to talk with your family about how vegetables are ‘gems’ for our daily diets. Talk about the importance of fresh fruits and veggies for overall health, then enjoy watching your family relish the flavour of broccoli as you sit down to this delicious dinner!

Ingredients :

1 (12 ounce) bag frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained

2 eggs
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup breadcrumbs
Place thawed broccoli and eggs in a blender. Blend until pureed. Pour puree into a large bowl, and stir in the cheese and salt. Spread half of the breadcrumbs onto the surface of a large cutting board. Press puree on top of the breadcrumbs, pressing it down until it’s approximately 1/2″ thick. Spread remaining breadcrumbs on the top of the broccoli-cheese mixture. Use a pizza cutter to slice nuggets into diamond shapes. Transfer to a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake in an oven preheated to 425 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before serving.