Welcome Back To School!

I know some of you have already started, but here in MI we start the Tuesday after Labor Day! 

A big theme for many teachers is APPLES so I want to center my "kids in the kitchen & classroom" around that delicious and healthy fruit this month.  Apples are also really big in this part of MI.

One of my favorite books to introduce the alphabet is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  Story time is in the afternoon and is often followed by our snack, so sometimes it's fun if our snack also relates to what we are reading and/or studying.

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Sometimes I'll ask several parents to supply the ingredients to a snack-activity so that my Y5's can make or create their snack.  Click on the link to view/print the Chicka Boom snack letters home.

Making a Chicka Boom alphabet tree is a fun fine motor skill for your students.  I was hoping that all the letters of the alphabet were in a box of Alpha-Bits cereal, but to my dismay when I dumped out the box, I did not find a good enough representation of the alphabet to make it a worthwhile activity for my students to try and find the letters in their name. 

In fact, the letters G, J, M, S, U, & W were entirely missing from my box! 

Instead, give a cup of cereal to each child and have them pick out 8 letters.

Later, if you want, you can give your students a graphing sheet and have them sort and then count the letters in their cup and graph them, then make a class graph of the entire box.  Did you find any letters that were missing too?

Click on the link to print an Alpha-Bit letter graphing sheet.

You can also compare your results to mine if you want to do some more math extensions. Click on the link to view/print my results. TeachWithMe.com's Alpha-Bit graphing results

My husband came into the kitchen and wondered what on earth I was doing, as I had cereal spilled out all over the counter.  (Our puppy Chloe was anxious hoping for a mishap.) 

When I told him I was sorting cereal, he then wondered if anyone besides me even cared?  I thought sorting, counting and then graphing letters in a box of Alpha-Bits was a great math extension; besides I really wanted to know if every letter of the alphabet was in the box.  (The answer could not be found online.)

As you can see by my photo the ratio of letters in the box is way off, and the largest plate is the one with broken letters.  Perhaps that's where the missing letters ended up. 

Could the Alpha-Bit missing letter mystery be because those letters are fragile and simply break up in the package?  This could make for a great discussion or writing prompt!  Anyway, my husband thinks I'm crazy.  Are there any other creatively crazy teachers with me?  I'd enjoy a comment or two for back up.

I made two different kinds of Chicka Boom trees.  One with chocolate wafer cookies (palm trunk) and raisins (coconuts) and one with pretzel rods and red grapes.

You can have both sets of ingredients available, and let your students decide which kind of tree to make, or simply pick just a few ingredients.  I find with my Y5's, that usually 1/2 of them do not like raisins. 

If you do opt for raisins, you may want to soak them in water the night before. It was my grandma's "secret" for making the best oatmeal raisin cookies, as the raisins turned out really moist, plump and juicy instead of dried out.

Ingredients & Directions:

• Granny Smith apples. (Cut apple in 1/2 and then in 1/4ths.  One apple will be enough for 2 children's palm leaves. Each child needs 4 apple slices. 4 palm leaves.)
• Large bunch of washed red grapes.  Each child will need 3 grapes for their coconuts.
• Large box or bag of raisins.  Each child will need 9 plump raisins, 3 for each bunch of coconuts.
  

• 1-2 bags of long pretzel rods (Chicka boom coconut tree trunk) depending on class size. (I use 2 for each student because they LOVE them, but you could cut it down to 1.)
• 1-2 packages of chocolate wafer cookies depending on class size.  Each child will need 2 cookies for their Chicka boom coconut tree trunk. 
  
•  
• You could get a package of wafer cookies that has 1/2 chocolate and 1/2 vanilla and give your students a choice of flavors.  I find that my students will usually pick chocolate 3 to 1. 
• I try to include giving a choice in as many activities as I can, because I believe it is a wonderful life-skill my little ones need to learn; however, I almost always limit it to only 2, at most 3 choices, otherwise things get overwhelming for them and they can't make a decision, or waste too much time.

• 1 large box of Alpha-Bits cereal. Give each child a cup full so they can choose 8 letters to climb up the trunk.  This is a nice counting activity for them. They can simply eat the rest, or do the sort, count and graph activity above with them.
  
• large paper plates
• Children arrange their Chicka Boom edible alphabet tree on their plate and then eat it.

Munch and crunch away at your Chicka Boom alphabet tree today!

Remember to take some pictures so you can post them in your newsletter.

Grapple Juice: If you've never mixed grapefruit juice and apple juice, give it a whirl for a yummy and healthy fall drink.

• 2 large apples (My personal favorite is Honeycrisp, but Gala is a close second, and then of course Granny Smith for it's sweet sourness.)
  
• 1 grapefruit

1. Wash the fruit.
2. Core and slice the apples to fit your juicer.
3. Peel and slice the grapefruit.
4. Juice and Enjoy.

Grama Lydia's Apple Crisp and Ice Cream

My sister and I were allergic to so many things that my grama was constantly trying to dream up things my twin and I could have as a dessert. 

Here's a delicious one that tastes wonderful hot out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Drizzle some caramel on the top for an extra special treat.  The cinnamon baking in the oven makes the entire kitchen smell yummy, and is one of my favorite fall fragrances to this day!

Ingredients:

• 2 large Honeycrisp or Gala apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1/3 Cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 Cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/4 Cup butter or margarine
• 1/3 Cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• Vanilla ice cream
• Caramel sauce
  

• Prepare apples by peeling, coring and slicing.
• Place in bottom of a small casserole dish.
• Add oats, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and butter in a medium-size mixing bowl


• Mix together until crumbly. Break up any clumps.
• Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.
• Serve hot out of the oven in small bowls with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
• Drizzle with caramel sauce. MMM MMM delicious!

Apple Smiles With Marshmallow Teeth:

Ingredients:

• White mini marshmallows
• Cream cheese
• Peanut butter
• Caramel sauce
  
• Red apples
• Plastic knives
• Small paper plates
  

Directions:

• Cut a red apple in half, then in 1/4th's then into 1/8th's.
  
• Each child needs 2 pieces. (1 apple will make enough slices for 8 children.)
  
• These become the 2 lips.
• Give each child a small paper plate, a plastic knife, and a dollop of "glue" (either peanut butter, cream cheese or caramel sauce.)
• I used caramel sauce in the photo.

• Children could also have one side where they use one of the spreads, and the other half where they use the other kind of spread.
• Spread "glue" with a plastic knife.
  
• Place mini white marshmallows on top of the "glue" on the bottom slice so they look like teeth.
  


• Spread "glue" on the remaining slice.
  
• Gently press this top slice on the top of the bottom "tooth" slice so the "mouth" is now shut.
• Carefully eat.  Mmmm Mmmm delicious!
  

Cinnamon Apple Rings:

For a yummy cinnamon apple recipe and adorable smile poem to go with it, click on the link. She made these for Valentine's Day, but I think her heart border still works for anytime.

I hope you enjoy these activities with your children/students.  Remember... "An apple a day keeps the doctor away!"

because they are such a healthy snack,

so eat up, and welcome back! 

Ice Cream Sandwiches:

In this crisis-time economy and to try and make better nutritious snacks than the packaged kind offers, have fun making ice cream sandwiches with your kids. 

This is an especially cool activity for June. {Pun intended :-) }  

Oatmeal cookies work well, but you can pick a large sugar cookie too, and if your kids really love peanut butter go with peanut butter cookies.

Sam's Club also sells a nice variety of M&M "monster" cookies, chocolate chip, oatmeal  and peanut butter cookies together if you want to make an assortment. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup vanilla frozen yogurt (Lowfat if you want to be heart-healthy).
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 8 large round cookies

1. Soften the yogurt and mix with the peanut butter.
2. Freeze until firm.
3. Spread on 4 of the cookies.
4. Put other 4 cookies on the top to make a sandwich.
5. Put each one into a Ziploc freezer Baggie.

Frozen Fruit Pops:

Quench your kids thirst in a fruity fun way by giving them chunks of frozen fruit on mini-Popsicle sticks.  You can buy a package of 100 at most craft and Dollar Stores.

Buy a watermelon, honeydew melon and/or cantaloupe and cut up nice size chunks of fruit.  Insert a mini-Popsicle stick.

Lay the fruit on a sheet of wax paper that's been put on a paper plate. Cover with freezer wrap and pop into the freezer. Freeze 'til firm; a frozen fruity - sweet treat so good for them to eat!

Banana Blast:

Ingredients:

• 6 bananas
• 4 tablespoons milk
• 1 drop of vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Peel bananas
2. Wrap in freezer wrap and freeze until firm.
3. Cut in half and put in blender.
4. Add milk and vanilla and blend until creamy.
5. Serve in ice cream dishes, custard cups or small bowls with spoons.

Diane's Shrimp Salad:

I just finished whipping some together this week.  My husband and I love eating this salad during the spring and summer months.  

It's great for a quick lunch as an entire meal and fun to take to a pot luck or picnic.

This one is copyrighted so if you use it please give TeachWithMe.com or Diane Henderson credit

Ingredients:

• 1bag of medium sized frozen cooked shrimp (30-40 in a bag).
• 1 pkg of celery
• 2 tbs parsley flakes
• 2 tbs dried Ranch Dressing
• 1/8th teaspoon celery seeds
• 1/8th teaspoon dill
  
• 1 tbs caraway seeds
  
• 2-3 tbs Helman's real mayo ( You can add more if you like it creamier.  We are trying to cut calories. )
• 1/2 teaspoon creamed horseradish if you like some kick.
• 1 can of large black pitted olives
• 1 cup shredded carrots
  
• 1/4 sunflower seeds
  

Directions:

1. Wash hands.
2. Wash and thaw out the shrimp.
3. Cut the shrimp into 1/3rds.
4. Put in a large bowl.
5. Sprinkle the dry Ranch dressing on the shrimp and blend with your fingers.
6. Add the celery seed, caraway seeds, dill and parsley flakes.
7. Add the mayo and horseradish. 
8. Add the sunflower seeds. 
9. Wash and dice up the stalks of celery.  ( I like to cut a stalk length wise and then dice so that the pieces are smaller.)
10. Add to the bowl. 
11. Drain olives. 
12. Slice into 1/3rds. 
13. Add to the bowl.
    
14. Add the carrots
    
15. Stir 'til blended well. 
16. Chill in fridge.
17. Serve in small bowls.
    

If you're eating this as a meal it's nice to have some Rye Crisp crackers with it. Yummy!

For a few more fun ideas be sure and check out the cute Beach Party snacks that Katja from the Netherlands sent in that were posted on the main blog! Click on the link to go there.

Whatever you're whipping up with your wee ones this June I hope it is summer-super cool!

As always, I'd enjoy hearing from you! diane@teachwithme.com  and if you use our recipes please be considerate and link to our page. Thanks!

February is all about sweethearts and sweet treats, and lip-smacking delights! I've got some crazy concoctions for you to whip up with your little ones, that will have their sweet tooth more than satisfied.  

Fizzy Sweet Treat: A Science Lesson For Young Students

Toss some "fizzies" in a plastic bag and dip a cherry or strawberry lollipop in it and you have one awesome treat for a little kid to experience.  I never really knew what was in my "Sweet Treats" as a child, nor why it sparkled and made my tongue all tingly, but it was great fun.  Your students/children can do this too and have a science lesson at the same time!

The basis of the sweet treat is confectioners' sugar.  50g will make enough for about 6 children.  For that amount you will also need a scant teaspoon each of bicarbonate of soda and citric acid.  You can buy the latter, in the form of white powder,  very cheaply, in small quantities, from the pharmacy.  Children will also enjoy having a lollipop to dip into the powdery confection.  I get the small "dum-dums" at The Dollar Store so that they don't last "forever". 

Ingredients: 

• 50g icing sugar 
• teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 
• teaspoon citric acid 
• lollipops

Directions: Mix all the powders together thoroughly.

Why does it fizz? It's a reaction between the citric acid (the same acid as in lemons) and the bicarbonate of soda, which is an alkali.  In this case the chemical reaction happens on your tongue, as the two dry ingredients mix with water (saliva) they create a gas in the form of lots of tiny little bubbles.  The bubbles provide the tingle in your mouth.  You are creating the same chemical reaction when you drop a bath fizzy bomb into your bath water.  The active dry ingredients-which again include bicarbonate of soda and citric acid-react when they meet the bath water.   Try doing this with vinegar as the liquid and get a real fizzy, bubbling result.  The reaction happens immediately because the vinegar is the liquid.  Combining vinegar and bicarbonate of soda is actually an old-fashioned cleaning recipe, used to help remove suborn stains in the kitchen,  I use this chemical reaction in September during my dinosaur unit and add red food coloring to the vinegar so that it looks like lava.  I put all these ingredients in my students' baby food-jar volcanoes and they have fun watching them erupt!  Keep your "Fizzy Sweet Treats" dry.  Store in little re-sealable plastic bags ready to dip your lollipop in,  or in a plastic food container.  You could also add some red Kool-Aid for a splash of color for Valentine's Day.  

Shake It & Make It - Ice Cream In A Bag

If you've got a few minutes, you can make another Sweet Treat with your students and have more science fun in the classroom.

Ingredients: 

• Tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup milk
• 6 tablespoons rock salt
• 1 gallon-sized Ziplock baggie
• 1 pint-sized Ziplock baggie
• 1 bag of ice
• plastic spoons
• Optional: Red, Pink & White sprinkles

Directions: 

• Fill the gallon-sized bag 1/2 full with ice. 
• Add rock salt to the bag and seal.
• Pour sugar, milk, and vanilla into the small baggie and seal.
• Place the pint-sized bag into the large bag and seal.
• Shake the bag for 5-7 minutes. 
• I put on a zippy dance CD and my students "shake it up" and dance with their bags.
• Take the small bag out of the large bag.
• Open the small zip bag and enjoy your ice cream with a spoon!
• Put the other students' small bags into the other large bags and repeat, 'til everyone has made a bag of ice cream. 
• Because it's close to Valentine's Day when I'm doing this, I buy some sprinkles and we add this to our ice cream too. 

Cinnamon Heart Ornaments:

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon all spice
• 1 tablespoon nutmeg
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1 ½ tablespoons white glue
• 1 drop cinnamon oil added to the white glue to make them really fragrant.

Directions:

• In a bowl, mix ¾ cup of cinnamon, 1 tablespoon all spice, and 1 tablespoon of nutmeg together. 
• Slowly stir in 1 cup of applesauce. 
• Pour in 1½ tablespoons of white glue. 
• Mix well until mixture is stiff.
• Pour the mixture onto some wax paper.
• Press another sheet of wax paper over it and roll it out to ¼-inch thickness. 
• Cut out hearts with a cookie cutter. 
• (I use a mini copper heart cutter so that I can make more hearts with some to spare in case a child breaks one.  
• How many you get out of a batch will entirely depend on how big your cookie cutter is. 
• Use the scraps and roll out the "dough" to make more. 
• Poke a hole near the top of each heart with a toothpick.  
• If you are doing this with only one or two children, use a bigger heart cookie cutter, and poke a hole with a straw. 
• Just an FYI don't do this on Valentine’s Day, because it takes about a week to dry (at room temperature).
• When dry, string with a ribbon. These make wonderful Valentine's Day gifts and your home or classroom will smell absolutely fantastic while you're making them!  

Valentine Strawberry-Chocolate Swirl Half 'n Half's 

A room mommy brought these cupcakes in for her daughter's February birthday treat. She got the recipe from the Internet and shared it with me.  Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 package strawberry cake mix (plus ingredients on the box to prepare mix)
• 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1 cup strawberry frosting
• 1 cup chocolate frosting

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Grease or use paper baking cups in a 24 muffin pan.
3. Melt chocolate chips in microwave for 30 seconds. Let child stir, and microwave for 10 second intervals until melted.
4. Prepare cake mix according to directions, letting your child help with each step depending on age and skill level. Separate half the batter in a different bowl. 
5. Combine melted chocolate chips and cream cheese to one batter. 
6. Beat with mixer at medium speed until blended.
7. Using chocolate batter first, spoon chocolate and strawberry batter’s side by side in muffin cups about two-thirds full.
8. Bake for 16 minutes or until tooth pick that you insert, comes out clean. 
9. Cool cupcakes in pan for 10 minutes before placing them individually on wire wracks to cool completely.
10. Let your child pick which frosting he wants to be in charge of . They spread the frosting on one half of each cupcake. 
11. You spread the opposite frosting on the other half.
12. If you want to get fancy, take a Popsicle stick and swirl the center, making a little peak in the middle. 

I hope you enjoy these sweet treats with your little sweeties!  

May you have a love-filled February! 

Let’s trim the Christmas Cone! This is relatively inexpensive so that you could do it with your students at your Christmas party for a fun snack that they would create. Or do it during your Christmas Tree theme day.

 Ingredients:

• Sugar cones
• Green frosting (I bought a pre-colored tube. You could buy a can of white frosting and then color it with green food coloring.
• Green food coloring
• Sprinkles, I used two different kinds. (You could also use red hots)
• Popsicle sticks
• Waxed paper

 Directions:

• Make sure everyone has washed their hands.
• Give each child a sheet of waxed paper to place their cone on.
• Give each child a dollop of frosting, Popsicle stick and cone.
• Children frost their cone with the Popsicle stick.
• Give them some sprinkles, or red hots.
• Children decorate their tree by pushing the red hots into the frosting.
• If they are using little sprinkles they can roll their tree onto them.
• When they are done, take a group picture and then the children can eat their trees.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 6-ounce package Ocean Spray® Craisins® original dried cranberries
• 2/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips
  
  

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375ºF.
• Using an electric mixer, beat butter or margarine and sugar together in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy.
• Add eggs, mixing well.
• Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate mixing bowl.
• Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition.
• Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks.
• Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
• Cool on wire rack.
• Makes approximately 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

My two favorite cookies to eat that my grama Lydia used to make were her oatmeal raisin cookies and her sugar cookies that we put our thumbs in and filled with a dollop of jelly.  During December tho' the most fun cookie we made were her gingerbreaad cookies.  She made them with black strap molasses which she believed was a cure-all for all sorts of ailments.  I don't think our cookies tasted all that fine because of all the gobbledy gook we loaded them with, but oh what fun we had making them, licking our frosting spoons and then decorating them.  I carried the tradition on with my children when they were really little, and plan to do it with my grandchildren too.  Click here for grandma Lydia's gingerbread recipe from my heart to yours.  There are two; one with molasses, and one without. Gingerbread Recipes

Gingerbread Play-dough Recipe: Now is a great time to mix up a batch of gingerbread play dough! Put it in your kitchen center or have a 15-minute whole-group gingerbread play dough center and give each child a cookie cutter and a small ball of gingerbread play dough to make their very own gingerbread play dough boy!  Click on the link for this delicious smelling recipe. This is a fun activity to do after you've read the story.   Gingerbread Play-dough recipe

Christmas Greetings-Christmas Blessings Snack

Ingredients:

• Bugles® brand corn snacks
• Small pretzel twists
• Chex Mix
• Craisins
• Peanuts/Cashews
• Red and green M&Ms®
• Hershey's® chocolate kisses

Directions:

• Use even amounts of all the ingredients.

• Mix together in a large bowl.
• Each ingredient in the snack symbolizes something associated with Christmas.

Bugles : Symbolize trumpets reminding us that the world is heralding the news that Jesus is born

Pretzels : Symbolize arms folded in prayer thanking God for the reason for the season; LOVE the greatest gift of all.

Chex Mix:  Symbolize a blanket of warmth, comfort and joy

Craisens : Symbolize the holly berries that decorate our homes

Peanuts or cashews: Symbolize the planting of seeds of thanksgiving and peace on Earth.

M&Ms:  Symbolize sweet Memories and the Magic of Christmas

Hershey Kisses: Symbolize the love of family and friends.

If you'd like to make this snack as a gift and put it in a tin along with a note, click on the link to print a copy.   

Christmas Blessings Snack Note

To make this adorable Hershey Kiss Mouse click on the link. His tail is the stem from a cherry that's dipped in chocolate. His ears are almonds. MMMMM-MMMM delicious!

Cinnamon Ornaments  

Are something fun you can do with your entire class.  They make a nice gift that is relatively easy to make, incorporates math extensions, and is inexpensive.  If you had parents sign up at your Open House to bring things in when needed, draw from that list for your ingredients, or tie it in with your snack time and ask that parent to donate bulk size jars of applesauce.    A bonus of this activitiy is that  your room smells fantastic!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cinnamon (The Dollar Store sells a large bottle. Wal-Mart has 2 for a dollar.)
• 1 tablespoon cloves
• 1 tablespoon nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons white glue
• 3/4 cup applesauce (Let drain in a strainer for several hours)
• Optional: cinnamon oil

1. Mix cinnamon, cloves & nutmeg together
2. Add applesauce & glue.
3. Work mixture with hands until smooth and well mixed.
4. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness cut with cookies cutters. (I use small hearts )
5. Use a coffee straw to make hole for hanging.
6. Put on wire rack to dry at room temperature for several days.
7. Turn twice daily so they don't curl.
8. Use ribbon to hang.
9. So they smell extra strong of cinnamon I spritz with cinnamon oil, and then let dry again.
   
10. How many you get from one recipe depends on how big your cookie cutter is. 
    
11. Wrap gently in tissue to send home.
    
12. Remind students that they will break if they are not careful.
    

Well that's it for Dishin' Up With Diane for this month. I'd love to hear from you if you have a favorite December recipe or holiday tradition, or if you tried one of my recipes and had fun with it.  Drop me a line at diane@teachwithme.com   In the meantime, I hope you have a simply wonderful time with your kid in the kitchen!

You will LOVE LOVE LOVE these adorable "Kids In The Kitchen" fun activities this month  They are some of my favorite family traditions and recipes.  They also make a nice food-craft for your students if you're looking for something fun to include for your Thanksgiving Feast Day Celebrations at school, or just a nice treat for your children the day before the big holiday weekend to wish them a Happy Thanksgiving.

Grama Karis’ Gum Drop Apple Turkeys 

• 5 tooth picks
• 1 apple (body)
• 10 multi-colored gumdrops (1 has to be red for the wattle.) (feathers)
• 1 raisin (eyes)
• 1 Hershey kiss (head)

Background: Every Thanksgiving the guys would go deer hunting and the women would putz in the kitchen getting dinner ready. One of the things we’d do with the children while we were “watching” the turkey was make these adorable Gumdrop Apple Turkeys. Grama Flohr would bring all the supplies and each child would design their own gumdrop feathers so they could have a darling turkey sitting next to their plate.  At about the time we were getting finished with our creations the men would come home all red-faced, orange-clad and exuberant with tales of a near miss or a bull’s eye. After they’d shower it was time to eat, drink and be merry around a very thankful table.  I sure miss Grama K and those special memories. I hope you can make a gumdrop turkey and start some memory making of your own. It’s a wonderful family tradition.

Directions:

• Put two gumdrops on a tooth pick and put it in the back of the apple.
• I put 4 feathers on the turkey, but 5 also looks nice.
• You can make each feather have the same color gumdrops or you can have different colored gumdrops on each feather as shown in the picture.
• Put one gumdrop on a tooth pick (neck) + a Hershey kiss (head) and put this tooth pick on the front of the apple.
• Cut a red gumdrop in half and stick it tot eh kiss.
• Cut a raisin in half, and then in half again and stick these to the kiss for eyes.

Tootie Frootie Turkey 

• If you’d like to make this affordable to do with your class, as well as a cool math extension, do it with cereal. Children can sort the Tootie Frootie’s and make their feathers and neck all one color, like mine in the photo, or they can make all sorts of color patterns AB ABC or even ABCDEF as there are 6 different colors of Tootie Frooties! Tootie Frooties are made by Malto Meal. They are only $1.99 a bag as opposed to a more expensive box of Fruit Loops.  Send a note home asking parents to have their child bring in an apple. You could also ask 3 parents to donate a bag of Hershey kisses, Tootie Frooties, and candy corn.

Ingredients for ONE turkey.

• 6 tooth picks
• 34 Tootie Frooties  (feathers & neck) (6 for each feather.)
• 1 apple (body)
• 1 raisin (or yellow frosting) (eyes)
• 1 red jelly bean or gum drop (wattle)
• 5 pieces of candy corn (To hold feathers on toothpicks)
• 1 Hershey kiss. (head)
• Optional: Yellow frosting in a tube (For eyes.)

Directions:

• Stick 6 toothpicks in the back of the turkey a Tootie Frootie space apart from each other.
• Slide Tootie Frooties on the toothpicks.
• You can sort them and put one color on each toothpick, or choose to make a pattern.
• Put a toothpick in the front of the apple in the center.
• Put 4 Tootie Frooties on this toothpick.
• Slide a Hershey kiss on top of the Tootie Frooties.
• Cut a red gumdrop or red jelly bean in half and stick it to the kiss.
• Cut a raisin in half, and then in half again and stick these to the kiss for eyes.
• Or, using a toothpick, dot on two eyes with yellow frosting.

Pilgrim Hat Cookies

• 1 Round cookie  ( I use the kind that are chocolate on one side and vanilla on the other and have frosting in the middle.)
• 1 Large marshmallow
• Chocolate frosting
• 1 Cheerio or 1 yellow Tootie Frootie (buckle)
• Popsicle sticks.

Directions:

• Frost the chocolate side of the cookie with the chocolate frosting. I have my students use Popsicle sticks.
• Put some frosting on the bottom of the marshmallow.
• Press it down on the frosted cookie.
• Frost the marshmallow so it is completely covered.
• Press a Cheerio or Tootie Frootie into the bottom center of the Pilgrim hat, so it looks like a buckle.

Cornucopia Thanksgiving Snack Mix:  Buy sugar cones (The kind you put ice cream in, and fill them with this mix. They make nice party favors at your Thanksgiving table, or you could ask several room moms to make them as a treat for your students.) I tie my cones with a sheer fall colored ribbon. You can buy a bolt for a Dollar at Michaels or JoAnn Fabrics. I put the mix in a baggie then rubber band it shut and tie with curling ribbon.

• Sugar Cones
• Pretzels
• Candy corn
• Chex Mix
• Raisins
• Sunflower seeds
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Goldfish Crackers  
• Reese’s Pieces

Diane’s Indian Corn Cookies (My very own invention)  If you want to do these as a class snack activity, ask parents to send in the ingredients.

Ingredients:

• Cookies that are oval shaped. I used Keebler’s new Vienna Fingers. They are $2.99 for a package of 30.
• Yellow frosting. $1.69 a can
• A bag of Reese’s Pieces or Fall-colored M&M’s  $2.59 a bag (on sale)
• A can of LaChoy rice noodles. $1.35 a can

Directions:

• Students spread frosting on cookie with a Popsicle stick.
• Children press candy pieces into the frosting.  Each child needs 10 pieces. (5 different colors).
• Students press rice noodles in the top to look like corn husks.

Turkey Treats

Ingredients:

• 2 round cookies (I use cookies that are chocolate on one side and vanilla on the other and have frosting in the middle.) (I’ve also seen these done with Oreo cookies where they take them apart and use this frosting or Nila Wafer cookies.)
• 1 malted milk ball (head)
• 1 Rolo (body)
• 5 pieces of Candy Corn (feathers)
• 1 red jelly bean (wattle)
• chocolate frosting
• 1 raisin (beak)
• Yellow frosting in a tube
• Toothpick

Directions:

• Frost the bottom cookie, chocolate side up.
• Press the Rolo into the frosting so that it is towards the front of the cookie.
• Put a dab of frosting on top of the Rolo.
• Press the malted milk ball onto the frosting so that it sits on top of the Rolo.
• Cut the jelly bean in half and stick it to the malted milk ball.
• Cut the raisin (beak) in half and stick it above the jelly bean. (wattle)
• Using a toothpick dab on two yellow frosting eyes.
• Frost the bottom of the second cookie.
• Press the 5 candy corns on the outside edge of the cookie in a fan shape.
  
• The candy corn should have the pointed end pointing down.
• Press this cookie up against the Rolo and down into the frosted bottom cookie.
  
• An easier version of this is to skip the Rolo and the malted milk ball and use a Hershey Kiss instead.  The Kiss is the head of the turkey.  I like this version better.

Background: When I was an aide helping teach 2^nd grade at Grand View school in Grandville, a room mom, Sheila, made these for tour students as a pre-Thanksgiving treat.  They LOVED them!