Toddling with Fractions

Our 3-year-old loves her bathtub crayons! Not only are they great for making bathtime masterpieces and for painting fingernails (and yes, she really has done that!), but they are also wonderful for helping her to learn fractions! Our little one sometimes has trouble remembering how much of her milk she is allowed to drink while she is waiting for Mommy to finish preparing a meal, so I use one of the bathtub crayons to incrementally mark the side of her cup. I then let her know which marking she is to drink to. She is not only learning fractions along the way, but she's leaving a little room in her tummy for dinner!

All Things Scissors

The number one crafting item at our house these days (and many days before that!) is scissors. Our three-year-old, who is wonderfully responsible with these, will cut just about anything! And fortunately, she is quite good at asking for permission prior to cutting something new, so I am thankful to report that, to date, we have avoided any serious mishaps. With a snip here and a snip there, she will add her special touch on anything from paper and plastic to cardboard and thread. And as she has been quite diligent about her habit these days, I have observed how her fine motor abilities have really increased in this area.

If you have any young children who are ready for some fun with scissors,

you might consider a few things that we have learned along the way:

Provide a pair of child's scissors that are appropriate for her hand size and are a comfortable fit when considering her hand preference.

Make the scissors readily available if you think your child is ready for this step. Right now, we have her scissors in a decorative pail that we keep either at her easel or in her play area in the kitchen. This would also be a good time to lay some ground rules for the use of scissors.

Provide a variety of scissors. I purchased a number of Fiskars scissors years ago, but I noticed that a number of sets are available on Amazon, such as these Kraft Edger scissors sold by Wayfair. Our little one has such fun trimming the edges of her crafts with a variety of decorative edges!

Provide plenty of material for cutting. Try to think outside the box on this one. A stack of white paper is not terribly exciting, but a small assortment of colored sheets is much more interesting! Also, try writing things on some of the papers for your little one, or draw interesting lines and shapes for them to cut out. And, of course, you can prepare a craft ahead of time that would allow for more structured cutting.

Offer some instruction on cutting, but try to allow for a little room to get comfortable with these new crafting tools in their hands. They may not do it perfectly at first, but they'll get better with lots of fun practice!

Enlist the help of your little one as soon as you think they can safely cut things for you. For instance, tonight I left a new puzzle for our little ones to discover in the morning. Instead of removing the packaging, as I would normally have done, I left it on there and will let her open it for us!

Encourage your little one to clean up after herself. This is a tricky one. I definitely think that little ones need to learn to clean up after themselves, but if you have had any experience with a budding scissor user, then you know that tiny little scraps will end up all over your kitchen floor! I encourage her to clean as it's appropriate, but I definitely help out with this one. I want to make sure to encourage her craftiness, not to discourage it by making her do more than she's able. We have also started keeping a scrap box nearby to aid in clean-up. 

And needless to say, make sure to supervise your little one . Safety (and the avoidance of a hair styling mishap) comes first!

Baking with Sweethearts

We love to bake at our house. I do enjoy cooking, yes, but baking is truly delightful. I love everything about it, except perhaps the tidying up afterwards. But the measuring of ingredients and the simultaneous estimations of a few things here and there, the anticipation that comes from tweaking the recipe a bit--does sour cream really work in carrot cake? (yes! try adding a dollop or two!)... I delight in using my Kitchen Aid mixer, and I love getting out my cookie scoop and remembering that my dear friend gave it to me as a birthday gift several years ago. I love tasting the batter for my mom's delicious poppy seed bread and remembering that this is what she has made as Christmas gifts for friends and neighbors for as long as I can remember. I love the aroma that fills the house as the sweet confections bake to perfection. And the first nibble of the cake that is now ready... carefully pulling at a few crumbs to see if that extra ingredient was really worth it. And the beauty of baked desserts: truly difficult to surpass! Shall I use my lovely fluted cake stand given to me fromby my dear sister-in-law several years ago, or shall I use that special Fostoria pattern that my mother-in-law saved for me...

Baking has long been a treasured pasttime of mine, and I hope to pass this delightful endeavor on to our little girls. But even more than that, I hope to make sweet memories with them that they will enjoy for years to come. Our three-year-old has truly become my "baking buddy," as I have often called her. What fun it will be when our youngest can join us as well!

We have spent many wonderful afternoons baking together and have learned a bit about what makes the memory truly lovely. Here are few tips to follow to make the most of your baking time and to ensure that it is truly sweet for both Mommy and Little Ones!

1. Find a way to bring your little one right up to the counter. We use a kitchen chair, but the specially made stools with siderails would be wonderful too.
2. Place a large towel under your child's chair. This will save a great deal of cleanup afterwards!
3. With that being said, relax a bit, and let your little one have fun! Prepare for flour-dusted noses, sugar-laden countertops, and a spill here and there.
4. Get all of your ingredients out before you begin. And make sure to grab the items that are stored farthest away from your baking area, so you don't have to walk away from your little one if possible.
5. Allow your little one to have a bowl of her own to freely mix her ingredients.
6. Provide some extra kitchen untensils, and try to include a few that are seemingly unrelated to your current preparations, just for fun!
7. Encourage your little one to help measure the actual ingredients. Teach her the technique for leveling flour and packing brown sugar.
8. Speaking of brown sugar, prepare for a little taste testing! This particular ingredient is quite a favorite at our house!
9. And, of course, savor the sweetness of the moment. Make sure to turn on some music, snap a picture or two, and have lots of fun!