Easter Treats

We are currently reading The Easter Chick by Geraldine Elschner.  Hilda the hen laid an egg and waits weeks for her baby to hatch.  One day she hears a voice from inside the egg asking, "Mother, when is Easter?".  Hilda is not sure because the date seems to change every year.  The little chick wants to hatch on Easter Sunday to be a true Easter chick, so Hilda sets out on a mission to find out how to determine when it will be Easter.  Luckily, the wise old owl offers up an answer to help the little chick.  This is a nice book to help children understand why the date changes.  The book also offers hidden bunnies to be found throughout the book, as well as religious symbols (a church, three crosses on a hill in the background).  

I thought it would be fun to make a hatching chick treat.  I made marshmallow crispy treats in the shape of eggs and arranged marshmallow chicks hatching out of the eggs.

I also used cookie cutters to make marshmallow crispy bunnies with candy, sugar, and icing eyes, noses, whiskers, and ears.

Leprechaun Sandwich

Our leprechaun sandwich is a sandwich (any filling is fine) cut out into a circle with a biscuit cutter (you can use a glass if you don't have a biscuit cutter).  The hair and beard are carrots, the eyes are raisins, and the nose is cheese.  The hat is green bell pepper with a strip of the pepper to make the brim and a piece of tortilla chip for the buckle.  The shamrock is cucumber slices.

The Luckiest Leprechaun is about an unexpected friendship between a leprechaun and a dog.  It's funny and unique, and we always enjoy books about friendship.  Check it out and let me know what you think!

Taste the Rainbow

We made a fruit rainbow, and every piece of fruit was eaten.  I actually had to give C and R more fruit.

What Makes a Rainbow? is helpful for teaching colors as a young rabbit goes on a quest to find out what makes a rainbow.  Each color page features a ribbon of that color to make up the rainbow.  My five year old still likes this book, mostly because of the ribbon rainbow.

Truffula Trees and Brown Bar-ba-loots - The Lorax Snack

We are looking forward to seeing The Lorax soon.  I hope it's good, and I really hope it stays true to the book.  I LOVE that Danny Devito does the voice of the Lorax - how perfect!!!!

We have been reading The Lorax on the iPad this week because we couldn't get our hands on the book.  Honestly, we are loving the convenience of having the book on the iPad!!!

To make our book themed snack, I used:

• watermelon sherbet
• orange sherbet
• chocolate wafer cookies, and
• Teddy Grahams

I placed one scoop of each flavor of sherbet on a plate and made swirls in the ice cream using a fork.  The wafer cookies became trunks, and the Teddy Grahams are the obvious choice for the Brown Bar-ba-loots!

Do you plan on seeing the movie?  I read Teacher Tom's concerns about the movie today, and he really made me think; he has many valid points!  Little Wonders' Days posted a great craft and educational activity to go along with the book/movie.  Finally, click here for directions on how to make your own Lorax mustache.

Linking to:  Happy Birthday Author, Dr.Seuss Linky Party, and Wow Me Wednesday

Cat in the Hat Snack Caprese Style

This was delicious.  It is slices of mozzarella and tomato layered to look like the famous Dr. Seuss hat.  I drizzled a little balsamic vinaigrette on the plate and put some basil on the side.

Linking to:  Happy Birthday Author

Shamrock Cupcakes

It's super easy to make a cute shamrock design to top your cupcakes or cookies.  Three green m&m candies and a tiny green frosting stem make a simple shamrock.  You can use a tiny bit of frosting to stick the candies on top of cookies without frosting the whole cookie.

Check out St. Patrick's Day Countdown by Salina Yoon.  This rhyming book is a good introduction  to St. Patrick's Day for the youngest leprechauns in your house.  I recommend this book for toddlers and preschoolers.

Rainbow Toast

The sun was shining bright today and then it started to rain.  We looked for rainbows, but could not find any, so we made our own.

I poured a tiny bit of milk into three small bowls and added food coloring to make one bowl each of red milk, yellow milk, and blue milk.

The kids used new paint brushes to paint rainbows on their bread.  The yellow mixed with red to make orange, the blue mixed with the yellow to make green, and they painted a little red over the blue to make purple.

I toasted the bread and added a little butter and cinnamon sugar for flavor.

We read A Rainbow of My Own by Don Freeman about a boy who imagines what it would be like to have his own rainbow.