Tea for Two and Two for Tea!

Difficulty:  *

Time Commitment: ***

Mess Potential:  **

So I may be cheating a little on this one, but I had the most wonderful treat this morning that I had to share!  My four year old made me a breakfast tea party (with assistance from another helpful adult).  She brought out her porcelain tea set, and decorated the table with flowers, candles (NOTE:  she used the Valentine Candle holder made in a previous blog) and other little decorations.  I got to "sleep in" while the preparations were being made.  That in and of itself is an AMAZING treat for a single mom!  It was a very simple project for her to put together with a little help, and she loved it! 

She was very proud of herself.  

What you need:

Whatever you have on hand for breakfast.

We had cut up fruit, simple Bisquik muffins with jam and butter, and of course, tea. 

A Tea Set

Table Decorations

We also were able to practice manners - and the correct way to pour a cup of tea (with two fingers on the lid of the teapot).  We tried to learn to drink tea with the pinkie extended, but the dexterity wasn't quite there for her yet. 

And we also finished the breakfast with a "tea cookie" we made in the previous blog posting.  A perfect morning!

Yummy...... Valentine's Cookies

Difficulty:  *

Time Commitment: ***

Mess Potential:  ****

This project was a ton of fun - and really yummy to eat too!  I did have to purchase the cookie dough and frosting, but the rest of the items that we used, we had on hand.  If you are more ambitious than I am you could also make cookies and frosting from scratch.  Here is a good receipe:  Sugar Cookies Recipe and frosting.  I keep a big tupperware container full of things like food coloring, sprinkles, etc, to make it easy to decorate cookies, spur of the moment!  What preschooler (or Mommy) doesn't like sugar cookies. 

What You Need

• Refrigerated Cookie Dough
• Container of Frosting
• Decorations Such as Sprinkles, Candy or Icing

Cut refrigerated cookie dough into circles and bake according to package directions.  Don't cut them too think, or it will be difficult for the child to decorate without breaking the cookie. 

We baked our cookies at 350 for about 10-12 minutes.  While waiting for cookies to bake, prepare the frosting.  We put a couple scoops of frosting in small bowls.  Add a couple of drops of the desired food coloring to the frosting and mix.  To get a darker color, add more food coloring, and to lighten it add more frosting.  We made four colors yellow, pink, red and purple (a mix of blue and red food coloring). 

Once cookies have baked, remove the cookies from the pan with a spatula.  Place on a plate or cooling rack.  Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes before frosting. 

We attempted to shape some of the cookies into hearts, with minimal success! 


Now the MESSY part!  Decorating the cookies.  I suggest giving the child a large plate or cookie sheet to decorate their cookie.  I also suggest providing the child with the amount of decorations that you are comfortable having her use for her cookie.  My experience has been that my daughter will continue to add decorations until they run out. 

Ta Da...... The finished masterpiece! 

Valentine Candle Holder

Difficulty:  **

Time Commitment: * 

Mess Potential:  **

So, Valentine's Day will be upon us in the next few weeks.  We have a lot of relatives who live across the country that we like to send gifts to, so we get started on our projects a little early.  This is one of the "gifts" that we will send to our long distance relatives.  This project is one that my daughter actually did at her preschool as a Christmas gift for me - and I love it.  It isn't often that I get a gift from my four year old that I can actually use!  And this project is super easy.  Below is what you will need to create one of these candle holders. 

Materials

• Glass votive candle holder (they are sold at any drug store for about a $1.00)
• Tissue paper
• Scissors
• Elmer's glue
• Sponge paint brush
• Ribbon
• Sparkles 

To get started, but your tissue paper into squares that are about 1 inch square (approximately).  If you child is old enough to use scissors, she can help cut the squares.  We used red tissue paper since we were going for a Valentine's Day theme, but you can use whatever colors you want - or even a mix of colors. 

Use the paint brush to "paint" the glue on the candle holder, and then cover with tissue paper.  Use paint brush to smooth the tissue paper into the glue. 

Once candle holder is fully covered with the tissue paper, apply another coat of glue.  Sprinkle the sparkles over the top of the tissue paper.  Allow glue to dry overnight. 

Tie ribbon around the lip of the container.  I also include one of the flameless candles with the gift - which makes this safe to have around children. 

Homemade “Edible” Playdough

Ingredients:

·        2 cups boiling water

·        2 ½ cups four

·        ½ cup salt

·        1 T cream of tartar

·        2 packages (.13oz) Cool-Aid or other colorful drink mix

·        2 T vegetable oil

1.       Boil 2 cups water.

2.      While water is boiling, mix flour, salt, cream of tartar and drink mix together in a large bowl using a wire whisk (or large spoon). 

3.      Combine dry mix with vegetable oil with large spoon or spatula.

4.      Add boiling water and mix until consistency is smooth and color fully blended. 

Wait for mix to cool.  Ensure mix is not too sticky (in which case add more flour) or dry (add a little water).  Let child play with playdough. If you have a plastic place mat, this makes a great surface for the playdough, and makes cleanup easier.  

  If you have playdough toys, great, if not, you can make do with kitchen items like a cup to cut out circles, or cookie cutters for various shapes.  A garlic press, butter knife or anything that will leave a pattern on the playdough are also big hits. 

***When done with playdough, store in an airtight container.****

Homemade Thank You Cards

So, our first craft is creating homemade thank you cards for the great Christmas gifts we received (yes, very belatedly, but it is the thought that counts, right?)  My daughter loves to send things she has created as a thank you - and her long distance Aunt and Grandma love to receive them.  Win - win! 

Here are the things that you might use for this project: 

I have a big package of assorted color card stock that I got at our local Fred Meyers which I keep on hand for Thank You notes.  It was under $10 and is great for other projects as well.  If you don't have this, you could just use regular construction paper. 

We used markers, crayons, colored pencils and glitter glue to make our cards. I put the supplies out and my daughter picked what she wanted to use.  

One side note.  When using glitter glue I squeeze it from the tube onto a paper plate and then let my daughter use a sponge or paint brush to spread it on her pictures.  If she squeezes it directly from the tube we end up with huge globs of glue that never dry or soaks through the paper.  The paint brust allows for much easier application - and seems to make a little less mess.  (BONUS!)

There are so many options of things that you could use!  Water colors, finger paints, even a glue stick and pictures cut out of a magazine would all work. 

Here is what our final product look like:  

Have fun!

So how do we get started??

I'll be the first person to tell you that I am no Martha Stewart, in fact, maybe she isn't even the appropriate reference to use when referring to children's crafts..... Hmmm, don't know who is, I'll have to look that up.  Great, homework for the next blog :-)

So, what do you need to do to get started on Monkey's Momma crafts, hopefully not a whole lot.  My hope is that most of the crafts that we will do, use only items that most parents would already have at home.  Some of the typical items I would assume you have on hand:

• Crayons/colored pencils/markers
• Construction Paper
• Ticssue Paper
• Paper Plates
• Lunch bags
• Glue of some sort
• Glitter (particularly if you have a little girl!)
• Pipe Cleaners
• Yarn

In addition, we will probably use some items that you can save from around the house, such as paper towel rolls or empty egg cartons.  And, for some of the holiday specific crafts, we may need a few specific purchases.  At the beginning of each post, I will list the materials required for that project. 

There are a few things that have made doing projects a little easier.  One of the things I have done is created a craft kit using a fishing box (or you could use a sewing box too.) 

This has allowed me to easily see what I have - and more importantly to put away the craft items easily when we are done with the project.  I've come to learn the hard way that it isn't a good thing for a preschooler to have unlimited access to glue, glitter and ink pads.  Take my word on this. 
You will have an abundance of "masterpieces" after following a few of these craft projects.  I try to hang some of the better projects in my daughter's playroom and alternate the art as new things are created.  I then save only the favorites.  The rest I photograph, and then.....toss. 
Yes, I admit I throw out my child's artwork.  If I didn't my house would be overcome with binoculars made from toilet paper rolls and very glittery princess crowns. 
So, I think that is it.  Have fun, enjoy the time with your child, and release your creative side - your child will love it!

Test, test, test....

This is my very first time blogging..... is this thing working???