Activity: Food Memory Game

I was originally going to include a photo in this post of L enjoying playing this memory game, HOWEVER he is covered ears to toes in a strep rash and in a couple years he probably won't appreciate having his picture posted on the internet covered in gross red splotches. We took him grocery shopping and a man in the parking lot saw him and made a disgusted face! Even though Ldidn't notice, I still felt like giving him a big cuddle and that guy the dirtiest look I could muster :(  Anyhow, I hope you like this little game I made as much as we did!

How to Prepare

Follow the link below to get started! Just download the images and either print on cardstock or laminate the sheets after printing and then cut apart (I don't have a laminator but I've become a big fan of these self-laminating sheets).

How to Play

This memory game is suitable for young toddlers all the way up to older preschoolers, depending on how you play it. For younger toddlers make this into a simple matching game using only one set of images. Have all the pieces facing upwards, pick out one image and ask the child to find another one just like it. For this age group also use this as a word excercise identifying both the foods pictured and what colors they are.

For older toddlers and preschoolers, start out the memory game by choosing only two sets of cards (4 cards total) and lay them face down. Flip one card face up. Pick a second card and flip it up. See if it matches the first card.  Continue to flip up cards until one matches.  Take the matching pair of cards and put them next to your child. Put the rest of the game cards face down again and repeat the game.  Try to remember the cards you have flipped over. Make sure to keep the cards in the same place in the layout.

To make the game more challenging as your child is ready, take one turn flipping only two cards, so that your child has to remember where the matching card is. You can then add more sets of cards until you are able to use both entire sets.

Also...

You can also use these cards as part of a refrigerator/pantry scavenger hunt to find the corresponding item when the memory game gets boring!

Download the full-sized game cards here! 

Lunchbox Labels

Luc has a cousin today! He is very cute and has the most adorable chubby cheeks. It's just too bad that he was born halfway around the world in Australia so we only get to look at photos of the little guy instead of getting to meet him in person. :( I'm happy for my sister-in-law and her husband on their new family but it's also sad that we live so far away from one another that our children will never really get to know each other. Skype and email are wonderful,  but they don't really make up for visits only being possible once every few years. Oh well, we'll do the best we can to keep our families connected!

When Luc started daycare, everything was so last minute since I only had two weeks (!) to find a daycare and get everything ready before I started my new job. I ordered some Name Bubbles to label his clothing (which have been absolutely fantastic because they stay put in the wash but are removable is you want to sell your kids' clothes or use them for your next child). Somehow, while I was ordering however I completely forgot to order labels to put his name on lunch containers.

First I tried writing his name in permanent marker. That turned out decidedly ... non-permanent. I tried using a regular label maker to make printed labels. It was easy and they looked great but they just really didn't stand up to the dishwasher and I didn't want to be always stuck hand-washing everything. I then tried using my old-school embossing label-maker like this one, and it worked great! The two Lock and Lock food containers below were labeled about 5 months ago and have been used virtually every day and they still are perfectly legible.

So while, the personalized Name Bubbles are really cute, this not only saved me $20 but I can use the label-maker for other projects. Yay for multipurpose! Also, I rather like the retro look of them anyhow.

Amazing Play Kitchen and Market Stall Ikea Hack

Check out this amazing play kitchen and market stall hack over at IKEA Hacker using the RAST bedside tables! I'm currently looking for a great play kitchen for Luc and if only I had more time on my hands and were as ambitious as this DIYer I would totally make these! 

Activities from the Kitchen: Ball Bash

My son had so much fun with this one, as you can see from this video! This is a great activity for burning off some excess kid steam particularly on a bad weather day when stuck indoors. This activity is dead easy, inexpensive, quick to set up, and a fun way to practice hand-eye coordination. 

 To set up the Ball Bash you will need:

- a ball (beach balls are good for toddlers as they are large and easily batted 

           around, preschoolers might prefer a smaller and more challenging  

           ball-just make sure that there's somewhere to attach a string to)

- a wooden spoon, paper towel tube, or similar

- some kitchen twine

- a piece of duct tape

Attach the string to the loop of the beach ball nozzle, making sure it's secure. Tape other end of string to the ceiling just out of your child's reach. Hand your child the wooden spoon and let the whacking begin!

DIY Non-Toxic Potty Cleaning Spray

What goes in must come out. So while this isn't food it is a useful recipe. It uses mostly ingredients that you will have on hand in your kitchen and you can whip up while you're in there anyway. If you're like me and are uncomfortable using toxic cleaners around your munchkins, this cleaner works great and you don't need to worry about what you are exposing yourself and your family to. This spray cleans, disinfects, and smells good while doing it. This also isn't a job for your regular all-purpose cleaner since something acidic works better with....um....protein based messes. Just dump out the dump, rinse with hot water, spray, wipe and rinse again.

DIY Non-Toxic Potty Cleaning Spray

- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 1 tsp liquid dish detergent
- 1/2 tsp lemon essential oil
- 1 1/2 cups warm water

Grab an empty spray bottle from your recycling (or buy one for the purpose). Measure out your ingredients in a liquid measuring cup and carefully pour in spray bottle, or alternatively, use a funnel. Shake before using.

* Will keep indefinately

DIY Baby Wipes

I had been meaning to try making my own baby wipes for ages. Not only are commercial wipes expensive, but they are made from mostly polyester fibers that take at minimum 300 years to biodegrade, and the majority of them contain ingredients that are questionable (i.e. parabens) especially for having around your little one's most delicate bits. 

I know that most granola types would promote using reusable cloth wipes. In a perfect world I would use cloth diapers and cloth wipes. However, we have a tiny washing machine and a terrible dryer and I am already completely overwhelmed with laundry, which is often a twice a day event around here. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it!

Most of the instructions that I came across for homemade baby wipes involve painstakingly removing and then folding sheets from an entire roll of paper towel into a box. Who has the time? Then I happened upon instructions at White House, Black Shutters that literally take 5 minutes to make. But best of all, they work amazing. You do have to use Bounty paper towels just as Ann Marie says...I tried a couple others that were good quality but they were still total fails. While Bounty are expensive, I got mine on sale for $5 off. When I did the cost comparison calculation, I can make 1680 homemade wipes for the cost of 477 commercial ones!

The only changes I made from the original instruction was to make only one container at a time...just to ensure that I would have no issues with mold and to add a couple drops of tea tree oil to the solution to stave off diaper rash.

Check out the full instructions here!

Staple Recipe: Homemade Yogurt

Although I've always been meaning to try, for some reason I have always been a little intimidated by making homemade yogurt...I somehow think I'm going to poison us all! When I've looked into making it before, I've encountered so many different methods -- thermos, oven, slow cooker, yogurt maker, etc, etc that I had the impression that it would be time consuming to find what method would work well. 

Then I  read a recent post on making homemade yogurt over at Dinner with Julie and I finally decided to give it a try using her directions since her method needed nothing more than a pot, a jar and a towel for equipment coupled with minimal effort. 

It could not have been easier or turn out better....all on the first try! It was thick, creamy and just plain good and we've been enjoying it all week. I'm so excited about having added this new staple to my home cooking arsenal.

  If you've ever toyed with the idea of trying to make yogurt at home, or even if the thought hadn't crossed your mind until now...check out Julie's instructions here...you won't be disappointed!

UPDATE: I have found that to get thicker yogurt, just simmer for 10 minutes rather than the 2 minutes in the instructions.
 
Is there anything that you're a little intimidated to try to make yourself?

DIY Non-Toxic All-Purpose Antiseptic Cleaner

 















This is a non-directly food related post but while you are preparing healthy food for your children, you may want to "green" your cleanup. Non-toxic all-purpose and kitchen cleaners can be pricey. This recipe literally costs pennies to fill a spay bottle. I have have tried at least a half dozen different formulations and I have found this one adapted from Better Basics for the Home: Simple Solutions for Less Toxic Living by Annie Berthold-Bond is the most effective homemade all-purpose solution. This is a great cleaner for everything from wiping down kids stuff, to crayon marks, washing baseboards, and countertops. Just let sit a few moments on crusty kitchen cleanup to let it do its work before wiping up.

DIY All-Purpose Antiseptic Cleaner

- 1/2 tsp washing soda (you can also use baking soda, but it isn't as alkaline and so won't be quite as effective)
- 1 tsp borax
- 1/2 tsp liquid soap or detergent 
- 2 cups hot water
- 1 tsp total antiseptic essential oil (i.e. I like 3/4 tsp lemon and 1/4 tsp rosemary but you can also any combo of: sweet orange, lavender, tea tree, thyme, rose, cinnamon, eucalyptus, or birch) 
Add washing soda, borax and soap to a clean spray bottle. Pour in the hot water and essential oil, cap, and shake until the minerals are dissolved. Give the bottle a shake each time before using. 


Makes 2 cups.