Top of the muffin to you!

This recipe is for even the pickiest of eaters! Instead of making a snack that no one eats or making different snacks for each of your kids, how about you let them make their own! You provide the basic muffin and they create a masterpiece with all the toppings they want!

1. Make a basic plain muffin batter. You can find a good basic muffin recipe here, here, and here.



2. Pour muffin batter into greased muffin tin.





3. Supply the toppings (blueberries, strawberries, bananas, peaches, cinnamon, nuts, chocolate chips, brown sugar, raisins, etc.)





4. Let your children make their own muffin creations by topping their muffin with items of their choice.

*Some of the toppings can get a little hard if baked on top of the muffin so you can take a utensil and stir the toppings into the base of the muffin.




5. Bake according to muffin recipe directions. (Usually at 375 degrees for 20 minutes)



6. Enjoy!

And your muffin creations would not be complete without reading a muffin book:

*And I couldn't help but post this Link to Seinfield's "Top of the Muffin" episode. Classic!!

"Top of the Muffin" Seinfield

Pinterest PASS or FAIL: Kid Activities

With SO MUCH on Pinterest, it's hard to know what works and what doesn't. This summer we tried out some kid activities we found through Pinterest with a 4, 5, and 6-year old boy and they let us know what activities PASSED and which ones FAILED!

Bike Wash

Source: Instructables

Connect PVC, drill holes, insert water misters and hook up to hose. Worked like a champ until the little ones turned the water up and the pressure blew out the misting posts. D'oh! Pass anyway. The boys LOVED it!

 Permanent Marker Dishes

FAIL.

Color dish with permanent marker. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Wash by hand.

I skipped the last step and went straight to the dishwasher and all their art washed away. Oops. Should have seen their sad faces when I opened the dishwasher.

*Make sure to WASH BY HAND

* Use a porcelain 150 pen instead of permanent marker

 Snack names

Write your name on a paper. Trace name with glue. Glue snacks on to your name.

PASS!

 Symmetry experiment with faces
Source: Dee Construction

The 5 and 6 year old passed but the 4 year old needs intervention!

Painter tape web game

Fail. 

Except the boys loved tearing it down.

 Marshmallow Launcher
Source: The Giggling Green Bean

PASS.

This was a cinch to make and the little people loved it. Instructions suggested that we launch mini marshmallows, but we found smarties left a nice welt on our moving targets!

 Tornado in a Jar

FAIL. Fill jar with water, add a drop of soap and swirl. 

Luckily the ice cream truck drove by just then and the kids could stop shaking the jars of disappointment.

 Jello Worms
Source: all over Pinterest!

Pass!

If you haven't tried these Jello worms, your boys are missing out on part of their childhood. 

Watermelon on a stick

Source: A Pretty Life in the Suburbs

PASS for kids

FAIL for mom (trying to stab a dull stick into an inch of rind is not the easiest thing!)

Outside water bed

Source: Utah County Mom

Duck tape tarps together. Fill with water. Add kids. Enjoy!

It was incredible to watch the boys find countless ways to enjoy this waterbed. Hours of fun!! 

Mini Peach Dream Desserts

Peaches... I love peaches! I wait all year for peach season...and my family waits all year for peach dream dessert!

This recipe can be made in a cake pan but today I made it in individual mini cups. The individual desserts are great for parties, get-togethers, and are a little more kid friendly. 

Ingredients: 10 large peaches, one box of vanilla wafers, 1/2 cube butter (softened), 3/4 cup sugar, whipping cream (whipped and sweetened), one egg (I usually don't use the egg and just throw in a little more butter. I know the egg is okay in there with the sugar and I have no problem eating raw cookie dough but I usually don't use it in this recipe. Make sure to add more butter if you don't use the egg cause the crust will need a little more liquid), clear plastic cups (or little mason jars).




1. Crush the vanilla wafers in blender or food processor. (It's easiest to do just a couple cups of wafers at a time)



2. Mix together softened butter, sugar, vanilla wafers, (and egg if using)

3. Cut up your peaches into bite size pieces.

4. Put a layer of vanilla wafer crust on the bottom of your cup. Then put a good layer of cut peaches, add a layer of whipped cream, then sprinkle a little of the vanilla wafer crust on top.







5. Enjoy your peach dream dessert and the last rays of summer!








*You can make the crust ahead of time and store in the fridge until you are ready to assemble. Also, if you have extra crust you can store that in the fridge for a few days until you are ready for more of this dessert!

*And you can top your peach season off with a peachy classic

Colorful Halloween Potions

What a better way to explore colors around Halloween time then with Potions!

There's not really a how-to for this activity, just some ideas...and free printables!

*You can use water and food coloring- be sure to mix some colors (ie: instead of using the green food coloring, mix blue and yellow and watch it turn green, etc). Have your kids drink one of the potions with their dinner. Bwah ha ha!!

*Instead of just using water, you could use Invisible Kool-Aid to give your potions more of a punch!

*You could also make little Jello's for snack time and use these fun printables to make the jello look like potion!

*If your kids are in the color-learning stage have them match the potion label to the correct color of potion. 

*If your kids can read, have them read the labels then match to the correct color.

*If you really want some potion-making fun- mix your food coloring into vinegar instead of water. Then pour in some baking soda and watch it fizzle away!

POTION LABELS: Right click and save or copy. (Then paste or insert into Word and print away!)

Rainbow Swirl Sugar Cookies

I found this recipe over at Sounders Cookery. What a fun cookie to bake with the kiddos!

Supplies: Favorite sugar cookie dough recipe (or mix!), food coloring (I used McCormick Neon Food coloring to get these fun bright colors), rainbow sprinkles

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Divide dough evenly into five bowls.

3. Color each with a different color of food coloring. (I learned that the only way to get the color truly mixed into the dough is to knead it with your hands)

4. Roll each color of dough into grape-sized balls.

5. Combine a ball of each color and quickly roll into a larger ball that looks like a beach ball!

6. Roll that ball between your hands and the counter until you have a cylinder about 12 inches long. (This was the hardest step for me. My cylinder kept wanting to break. I had to flatten and turn it, flatten it and turn it.)

7. Starting from one end, roll the dough into a coil, twisting the cylinder as you go (it's very important to twist the cylinder as you go to get the swirl look!)

8. Roll edges of the cookie in sprinkles.

9. Bake the cookies for 10-11 minutes or until done (or whatever your sugar cookie recipe calls for).

While your kids are busy eating these beautiful cookies, take the time to read them a book about cookies or rainbows. Here are some good ones:

Rainbow Marshmallow Kebobs

I've seen these rainbow kebobs all over online and they are BEAUTIFUL and a HUGE success with the kids... but probably not with the dentist! These are ooey gooey sugary fun that the kids can help assemble or you can surprise them with the finished product! I got the fun colors in my kebobs from using Mccormick Neon Food coloring.




Supplies needed: sugar, food coloring, marshmallows, water, shortening, skewers, toothpicks





1. Make your colored sugar by mixing food coloring with sugar.







2. Put your marshmallow on a toothpick. Dip it in water then roll in the desired color of sugar

3. Rub shortening on your skewer to make it easier to slide on the marshmallows.






4. When you have all your marshmallows ready, slide them onto the skewer!






5. Enjoy! (outside cause they are pretty messy!)

*The tall white lollipop sticks can be a little hard to find. Click on the following image for online purchasing options