Tots and Me... Growing Up Together: January 2015

Friday, January 30, 2015

Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen #108: Trail Mix Candy Bars

Time for Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen

(A weekly linky to share what you and your children have created in the kitchen.)

The linky is at the bottom.

Last week I did something I have wanted to do for a while. Well, sort of. There is a certain trail mix that we purchase occasionally from Walmart that I have always wanted to melt and turn into bars. I still want to try this in the future, but I couldn't wait to get to a Walmart as I wanted to use this idea with our Poppins Book Nook lesson last week. We were focusing on "states of matter" and were observing snow and ice melting and water boiling. The book we read, called "Joe-Joe the Wizard Brews Up Solids, Liquids, and Gases," shared information about states of matter using the example of chocolate syrup, a chocolate bar, and chocolate gas. So, we melted solid chocolate chips (and other kinds).

Ingredients:

Cake:

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1 cup peanut butter chips

1 cup white chips

1 cup raisins

1 cup peanuts

This was very simple. We combined all the ingredients...

Stirred them up a bit in the bowl.

Then we placed it in the microwave and melted the chips using 30 second intervals on medium power. It took a few minutes for the chips to be nice and melted.

We then poured it (you know, liquid pours) into a square pan that I had lined in foil and sprayed with cooking spray.

We put it in the refrigerator until it hardened back into a solid. I removed them from the pan by lifting on the foil. Then I turned it upside down and the foil pulled right off. I cut it into yummy bars.

Do you have your children help you in the kitchen? What lessons do they learn? Do you have any kid friendly recipes to share?

I'd love to see your posts, whether you have done something this week or some time in the past. Just link up below. This is a weekly linky.

I am linking up to:

Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Try a New Recipe Tuesday at Home to Four Kiddos
The Gathering Spot at Mamal Diane
Friday Food Frenzy at Close to Home
Fantastic Thursday at Five Little Chefs
Foodie Friends Friday at Robyn'sView
Family Fun Friday at Happy and Blessed Home
Find a New Recipe Friday at Almost Supermom

And here is my Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen linky

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Throwback Thursday Blog-Style #32: January 29, 2015

Welcome back to...

I know, I know, Throwback Thursday seems to be all about sharing pictures from the past, great memories that mean something to you, that you would like to share with others. At least that is how it appears to me. Throwback Thursday wasn't something I was participating in, and then I came up with an idea.

I thought it would be great fun and a help to my blog to share old content, but not just any old content. Each week I will share an old blog post from a previous year, any year, BUT it has to be from the current week (for example, something I've posted around January 28th, from any previous year) I will go in, edit the post if needed, add a pinnable image if I don't already have one, and share it on Facebook.

Would you like to join in? You do not need to edit your past post in any way, you don't need to create a pinnable image, though it couldn't hurt, in fact it will help your blog traffic to add quality pinnable images to your posts.

Just go into your archives, choose a favorite post from this current week from any previous year, and link it up below.

I will be pinning posts to my appropriate Pinterest boards and will be randomly selecting a Featured Throwback Thursday post to share next week. Just a note, I will be sharing a picture from your post if you are selected as the featured post, but I will link back to your post. I will ALWAYS give credit and link back. By linking up you are giving me permission to use your picture in the post.

Here is my Throwback Thursday post:

Originally posted January 26, 2013
Delicious Dish Tuesday: Chicken Broccoli Tater Tot Casserole

Here is this week's randomly selected

Featured Throwback Thursday:

Jen from Chestnut Grove Academy shared:

Lighthouses Week #3 (And North Carolina Study)

To participate, link up below. It would be great if you could visit several of the other posts that have linked up. Stop by, comment, and pin images so we can help each other.

If you would like to help spread the news:

Happy Throwback Thursday!

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Wordless Wednesday: January 28, 2015 (w/linky)- Stick People

This is a craft the girls came up with all on their own. They mainly used craft sticks and masking tape.

I think Harold wanted to join in.

Looking forward to seeing your Wordless (or not so wordless) Wednesday posts this week.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Workbox Wednesday- January 28, 2015

Welcome to Workbox Wednesday!

We didn't really have anything new in our workboxes this week. The girls do have some new copywork that goes with the Sound Words for Kids curriculum that we are reviewing. And they are now having to write summaries instead of just titles for the Bible Notebook work. However, those are the only changes. How about you?

If you use workboxes, tot trays, or anything similar, feel free to post a link to your blog post or a picture (pictures can be from facebook, but please make sure they are PUBLIC so we can see them, or use a host like photobucket.com to get a URL for your photo) that shows WHAT IS IN YOUR BOXES!

Please don't forget to visit my co-hosts at Chestnut Grove Academy and Line Upon Line Learning.

Visit others that link up, leave comments, follow, etc. The favors will be returned! Feel free to grab a button too, so others can find the link up and join in the fun!

What is in your workboxes?

Toddler Ideas Tuesday: January 27, 2015

Welcome back to Toddler Idea Tuesdays! I hope you will join with me again in sharing the fun activities, crafts, and lessons that you are doing with your young children.

Okay, only 2 1/2 weeks until Valentines Day! I decided to spend these weeks leading up to Valentines Day sharing some toddler-friendly Valentines Day ideas on Toddler Idea Tuesdays. Last week I shared a couple of simple Valentines toddlers can made. This week I am going to be sharing some fun crafts.

One of my favorite crafts for young children is a simple Heart Person. We have made these on more than one occasion. I just cut out different size hearts and have them use them for the body, head, eyes, nose, ears, feet and hands. As the children get older, they cut out their own big hearts (I still cut out the little ones).

Several years ago, we made Showers of Love decorations. We made some homemade finger-paint and the children finger-painted a heart and then made small fingerprint hearts. I then cut out the small hearts and attached them to strings, which were then attached to the big heart, sort of like heart shaped raindrops falling out of a heart shaped cloud.

A fun tradition we have, is to make Valentine's mailboxes out of cardboard and construction paper. We will put the children's Valentines in there on Valentine's Day morning, but I also have used them for leaving the children little notes.

You can find instructions on how to make them here.

Now onto:

Toddler Idea Tuesday Features

On my last Toddler Idea Tuesday post, there were 5 wonderful Valentines posts linked up. I will be picking one randomly selected post to share, plus the top clicked-on post.

This week's randomly selected post is:

Jen from The Mad House shared how to make a Fingerprint Heart Relief Canvas craft.

The following post had the most clicks:

Christianity Cove shared "Love Butterflies" a really cut Valentines Day Craft.

I would love to have you join in this week! What sort of activities do you do with your toddlers and preschoolers? Do you have some favorite activities you would like to share? I invite you to link up below. I will be pinning posts on my Toddler Ideas board and I would love to feature some of the activities each week from what is linked up. Please know I may share a picture from your post and link back to it, along with sharing how we used your idea in our toddler time. By linking up you are giving me permission to use a picture from your post. I will ALWAYS give credit and link back. Additionally, if you choose to try out any of the ideas with your toddler, please make sure you give credit where credit is due.

Linky will be open through Sunday night, to give me time to check out all the posts and get the Features organized. Please take the time to visit some of the other wonderful posts linked up.

Monday, January 26, 2015

Observing States of Matter With Poppins Book Nook

Welcome to the January edition of Poppins Book Nook!

This month's theme was: To The Laboratory

It's no secret that we enjoy hands-on learning in our homeschool. The children love observing God's wonderful creation all around us. It just so happens we have been starting to focus on Water in our My Father's World lessons, so I thought we would have some fun with States of Matter for this month's Poppins Book Nook. We have looked at this subject before. The older girls know that the states of matter are: Solid, Liquid, and Gas. So, to make things fun and interesting, we found this cute book at the library.

Joe-Joe the Wizard Brews Up Solids, Liquids and Gases by Eric Braun is about a boy who attends Ms. Tickle's Academy of Magic. His least favorite class is "Regular Old Science." In the story, Joe-Joe does not want to learn about their new subject: States of Matter. He tries to turn his homework into chocolate bars, but instead turns it into chocolate syrup. This leads into a hands-on lesson on the states of matter, where the teacher explains what matter is and how they change from one to the other.

As it is winter time, we have had the opportunity to observe snow as well as water, ice, and steam. We went out to play and brought some snow in to compare how long a packed glass of snow takes to melt as opposed to a loosely filled glass. We also saw how packed snow sometimes melts into more water than a loosely filled glass. We were surprised to find that one time the packed snow melted into more snow than another time. We theorized that it might have to do with different types of snow.

Loosely Filled vs. Packed

We also observed water and ice. The older girls and I recorded the different temperatures of cold water out of the faucet, hot water out of the faucet, and boiling water. We then observed how long it took for an ice cube to melt in each of these temperatures. Additionally, we melted one in our hands and one in a bowl sitting on the counter at room temperature.

Melting an ice cube in our hands. We took turns holding the ice cube, trading off as it got too cold.

This brought us to our little snack experiment based on the book. I mentioned that Joe-Joe had turned his homework into chocolate syrup (its liquid state). Later in the story his teacher turned it into a chocolate bar (its solid state) and then into chocolate gas (its gaseous state). Now, obviously we can't turn chocolate into a gas. However, we took solid chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and white chocolate chips and melted them in the microwave along with peanuts and raisins. We then made it into what we are calling Trail Mix Candy Bars. I will be sharing the full instructions Friday morning in my Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen post. Here is a sneak peek:

It was a yummy conclusion to this month's Poppins Book Nook.

Don't forget to check out what the other Poppins Book Nook co-hosts have been up to this month. Then don't forget to link up your own posts! Lastly, enter the Ultimate Gruffalo Giveaway.

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom ~ 3 Dinosaurs ~ To the Moon and Back ~ Planet Smarty Pants ~ Farm Fresh Adventures ~ Growing in God's Grace ~ Chestnut Grove Academy ~ Learning and Growing the Piwi Way ~ The Usual Mayhem~ Preschool Powol Packets ~ Monsters Ed Homeschool Academy ~ Adventures in Mommydom ~ Teach Beside Me ~ Life with Moore Babies ~ Kathy's Cluttered Mind ~ Are We There Yet? ~ Our Crafts N Things ~ Hopkins Homeschool ~ ABC Creative Learning ~ Joy Focused Learning ~ P is for Preschooler ~ Laugh and Learn ~ A Mommy's Adventures ~ Inspiring 2 New Hampshire Children ~ World for Learning ~ Ever After in the Woods ~ Golden Grasses ~ Our Simple Kinda Life ~ A glimpse of our life ~ Journey to Excellence ~ Happy Little Homemaker ~ Little Homeschool Blessings ~ Simplicity Breeds Happiness ~ Raventhreads ~ Water on the Floor ~ Learning Fundamentals ~ Tots and Me ~ As We Walk Along The Road ~ Stir the Wonder ~ For This Season ~ Where Imagination Grows ~ Lextin Academy ~ The Canadian Homeschooler ~ School Time Snippets ~ Peakle Pie ~ Mom's Heart ~ A Moment in our World ~ Every Bed of Roses ~ Finchnwren ~ At Home Where Life Happens ~ Suncoast Momma ~ The Library Adventure ~ Embracing Destiny ~ Day by Day in our World ~ Our Homeschool Studio ~ A "Peace" of Mind ~ Thou Shall Not Whine ~ SAHM I am ~ eLeMeNo-P Kids ~ Simple Living Mama

Ultimate Gruffalo Giveaway! Every month the Poppins Book Nook group willbe offering readers a chance to win a brand new storybook or product that tiesin with our theme for the month. This month one lucky entrant will win theUltimate Gruffalo Giveaway. The winner will enjoy twice the magical enchantmentin the double feature of The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child! The beautifullyanimated films based on the best-selling books are now together on DVD from NCircle Entertainment! And thefun doesn’t stop there as they will also win a storybook of the Gruffalo and Gruffalothemed plush too!

Entrants must be 18years or older and reside in a country that receives U.S. Postal mail. Thisgiveaway is brought to you by the company Enchanted Homeschooling Mom who isowner and founder of the Poppins Book Nook and this month’s prize bundle willbe sent to the winner directly from this month’s sponsor NCircle Entertainment. Byentering this giveaway you are also acknowledging that you have read and agreeto all of the Rafflecopter terms & conditions as well as EnchantedHomeschooling Mom's disclosuresfound here {http://enchantedhomeschoolingmom.org/disclosures/}. Just enter the Rafflecopterbelow to win:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Come and find out more information about Poppins Book Nook at Enchanted Homeschooling Mom, on Facebook and on Pinterest.

Clip Art by Melon Headz