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Easter treats have always revolved around chocolate, so why not make a healthy swap this Easter and try out our edible garden!
Why we love this recipe:
This is a fun and simple recipe to make with children. Adults can handle the blending prep, whilst the children can help lay out the vegetables across the board, to turn it into a yummy edible Easter garden. Use vegetables that you and your child love to eat raw. Your child helping choose their favourite veggies at the supermarket is a good way to ensure that they feel connected to the activity and will enjoy eating it once prepared! This Easter activity is also a good way of trying some new veggies that your child might not have tasted or seen before. Let them have fun by exploring the veg with all their senses - sight, touch, smell, taste, and listening to all the different noises as you chop, and crunch.
Ingredients:
Method:
This week (14th - 20th November 2022) is World Nursery Rhyme Week. And of course, we absolutely love nursery rhymes about food! One of our all time favourites is, Oats and Beans and Barley Grow - here's how it goes:
Oats and beans and barley grow,
Oats and beans and barley grow,
Not you, nor I, nor anyone know,
How oats and beans and barley grow.
First the farmer sows the seed,
Then he stands and takes his ease,
Stamps his feet and claps his hand,
And turns around to view the land.
Oats and beans and barley grow,
Oats and beans and barley grow,
Not you, nor I, nor anyone know,
How oats and beans and barley grow.
First the farmer sows the seed,
Then he stands and takes his ease,
Stamps his feet and claps his hand,
And turns around to view the land.
Did you know that nursery rhymes play an important role in early childhood development and education?
As well as being fun, nursery rhymes are excellent teaching tools:
Another classic nursery rhyme about food and great for learning counting skills is, One Potato, Two Potatoes - here's how it goes:
One potato, two potatoes, three potatoes - four
Five potatoes, six potatoes, seven potatoes - more
Eight potatoes, nine potatoes, ten potatoes - all
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten
One potato, two potatoes, three potatoes - four
Five potatoes, six potatoes, seven potatoes - more
Eight potatoes, nine potatoes, ten potatoes - all
Our last but certainly not least favourite nursery rhyme about food is Five Fat Sausages. This one is so much fun for children to join in with and it can open discussions about sausages and why they're not such a healthy option. Here's how it goes:
Five fat sausages sizzling in a pan
The grease got hot - and one went "BANG"!
Four fat sausages sizzling in a pan
The grease got hot - and one went "BANG"!
Three fat sausages sizzling in a pan
The grease got hot - and one went "BANG"!
Two fat sausages sizzling in a pan
The grease got hot - and one went "BANG"!
One fat sausage sizzling in a pan
The grease got hot - and it went "BANG"!
Autumn is a beautiful season for discovery and exploration with children. There are so many colourful sights with green leaves turning to vivid reds, warm oranges and golden yellows before they fall to the ground creating a crunchy blanket. So, with so much to see and discuss, wrap up warm and head outdoors to try out one of our suggested learning ideas focusing on the natural world around us.
Scavenger hunts are a great way to connect with the natural environment whilst developing your child's vocabulary. Challenge your child to focus on the sights around them, looking out for an acorn, a pine cone, 1 green leaf, 2 brown leaves, 3 red leaves, a conker, a flat stone, or a twig, for example. Why not take your autumn collection home to create funny nature faces with your child or use your collected pine cones to make bird cakes for your outdoor space (see bird cake recipe below!).
Help your child to create a colourful leaf kebab! Simply find a straight twig, choose a fallen leaf, and gently thread the leaf onto the stick. Support your child to continue to layer lots of different colour leaves until you have made your very own leaf kebab. Challenge older children to explore different patterns, for example, if you thread 2 red leaves, then 1 green leaf, are they able to repeat the pattern?
With bugs and berries scarce in autumn, why not help feed the birds by making a bird cake. You will need:
*The RSPB recommends using seed mixtures that include flaked maize, sunflower seeds, and peanut granules, but do be mindful of safety if your child has allergies.
Before making the bird cake place the pine cone in a sunny spot or somewhere warm like in an airing cupboard or near a radiator for a few days to make it open out.
Allocate a few minutes each day to watch from afar to see how many birds visit the feeder. Older children might like to look up the names of the different types of birds that visit and keep a tally.
We hope you have lots of autumnal fun!
