Kitchen Cut-Ups

Kitchen Cut-Ups







Here are some recipes popular with preschoolers. Things
always seem to taste better when you make them yourself!


What you'll need


Knife
For applewiches: 1 apple, cheese slices
For funny-face sandwich: 1 piece of bread; peanut butter,
cream cheese, or egg salad; green pepper, celery,
radishes, carrot curls; olives; nuts; hard-boiled egg
slices; tiny shapes of cheese; apples and raisins
For fruit Popsicles: fruit juice (any kind), an ice cube
tray or small paper cups, yogurt, mashed or crushed fruit,
Popsicle sticks
For bumps on a log: celery, peanut butter, raisins


What to do


1. Choose a safe spot to cook where you won't have to worry
about making a mess.

2. Tell your child what the ingredients are. Talk about what
you are doing as you go along. Ask and answer questions.

3. Let him smell, taste, and touch as you go. Let him (with
your help) pour, stir, measure, and help clean up.

4. Applewiches. Core an apple. Cut the apple crosswise into
thick slices. Put cheese slices between the slices.
Cheddar cheese is particularly good. Eat like a sandwich.

5. Funny-face sandwich. Cut the bread into a circle. Spread
with cream cheese, peanut butter, or egg salad. Decorate
using green pepper, celery, radishes, carrot curls,
olives, nuts, hard-boiled egg slices, tiny shapes of
cheese, apples, or raisins for eyes, ears, nose, and
mouth.

6. Fruit Popsicles. Pour the fruit juice into small paper
cups or an ice cube tray. Place a Popsicle stick in each
cup or compartment before the juice is completely frozen.
Return to the freezer until frozen solid. For variations,
mix yogurt with the juice before freezing for a creamier
Popsicle, or add mashed or crushed fruit such as
strawberries, pineapple, or banana.

7. Bumps on a log. Spread peanut butter on the celery stalks.
Decorate with raisins. Great snacks!





Cooking helps children learn new words, measuring and
number skills, what foods are healthy and what ones aren't, and
the importance of completing what they begin. It also teaches
about how things change, and it can teach children to reason
better. ("If I want a cold fruit juice Popsicle, then I'll have
to put it in the freezer.")


Scribble, Paint, and Paste







Young children are natural artists. Here are some
activities that introduce preschoolers to scribbling, painting,
and pasting.


What you'll need


For scribbling: crayons, water-soluble felt-tipped markers,
different kinds of paper (including construction
paper, butcher paper), and tape

For fingerpainting: storebought fingerpaint or homemade
fingerpaint made with soap flakes, water, food coloring or
powdered tempera; an eggbeater or fork; a bowl; a spoon;
an apron or smock; newspapers or a large piece of plastic
to cover the floor or table; butcher paper; and tape

For collages: paper, paste, blunt-tipped scissors, fabric scraps
or objects that can be glued to paper (string, cottonballs,
sticks, yarn)


What to do


1. Scribbling. Give your child different kinds of paper and
different writing materials to scribble with. Coloring
books are not needed. Fat crayons are good to begin with.
Water-soluble felt-tipped marking pens are fun because
your child doesn't have to use much pressure to get a
bright color. Tape a large piece of butcher paper onto a
table top and let your preschooler scribble to her heart's
content!

2. Fingerpainting. Use store-bought fingerpaint, or make your
own by mixing soap flakes (not detergent) in a bowl with a
small amount of water. Beat the mixture with a fork or
eggbeater. Add powdered tempera paint or food coloring.
Spread out newspapers or a large piece of plastic over a
table or on the floor and tape a big piece of construction
paper or butcher paper on top. Cover your child with a
large smock or apron, and let her fingerpaint.

3. Collages. Have your child paste fabric scraps or other
objects such as yarn, string, or cottonballs to the paper
(in any pattern). Let her feel the different textures and
tell you about them.

Here are a few tips about introducing your preschoolers to
art:

* Supervise carefully. Some children would rather color your
walls than the paper. Some also like to chew on crayons
and markers or try to drink the paint.

* Don't tell them what to draw or paint.

* Don't fix up their pictures. It will take lots of practice
before you can recognize their pictures--and that often
doesn't happen until after they are in kindergarten.

* Give them lots of different materials to work with.
Parents can demonstrate new types of art materials.

* Find an art activity that's at the right level for your
child, then let him do as much of the project as possible.

* Ask your preschooler to talk about his picture.

* Display your child's art prominently in your home.





Art projects can spark young imaginations and help
children to express themselves. These projects also help
children to develop the eye and hand coordination they will
later need to learn to write.