Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Rainbow Popsicles- Made by an almost 3 Yr Old

You know what bugs me about a lot of kid-recipes I see online? The fact that they don't necessarily have much kid involvement. I mean so many times it just seems the only step a little one can really help with is the stirring. Now I'm 100% guilty of this shortsightedness myself.  But for the past few months I've been telling myself that I needed to get my oldest son more involved in the kitchen beyond just mixing. You know, I mean really INVOLVED! This week we had the opportunity to get that ball rolling with this Rainbow Pudding Popsicle activity. I've seen it done all over the web including herehere & here just to name a few. We followed the basics of those instructions and then just winged it from there.

So here's how my almost 3 year old made his very own popsicles: 


Materials Needed:
1 Box Vanilla Pudding
Milk
Food Coloring
1 Large Bowl
4 or more Small Bowls
Spoons
A Fork (or Whisk)
Clean, Empty Water Bottles
Plastic Baby Spoons
Scissors (not pictured)
A Scoop or Measuring Cup (not pictured)



First you'll need to cut the tops off your water bottles.
Due to sharp edges, this should be done by an adult.



Next follow the directions for making the pudding. Ours called for 2 cups of milk. Dude did all the pouring here, although I did make sure the milk jug I gave him had only slightly more milk than we needed so that it wouldn't be too heavy for him to pour.



He did a good job, but did spill a little. Never a problem as long as we cleanup after ourselves ;)



Add pudding mix.



And stir.
The box called for a whisk or hand mixer, but we didn't have either, so I helped him to mix it with just a fork, which worked fine.



Scoop the pudding out into the small bowls.



Add a few drops of food coloring.
I'll be honest letting him do this step by himself scared me, but he did great. We counted out 5ish drops together. 



Mix color into each bowl.




Spoon pudding into the bottom part of the water bottles. I just let my son do it however he wanted instead of trying to explain how to make neat layers. It'll taste good either way, I promise!





Stick a plastic baby spoon into the middle of each "cup" and pop them into the freezer overnight.



Once they're fully set, run the outer plastic under warm water for a couple seconds to help release the popsicle. Then cut/rip the plastic off.  Mine tore easily after an initial cut.



Enjoy!



Yummy!
Our water bottles & baby spoons actually worked very well, but if you're not into up-cycling you could cheat and still make these using something like this.



Both boys approved!


(This picture just makes my heart smile!) 

And yes, our day did get even messier ~
Just try mixing your rainbow stickiness with a little dirt for even more fun!

And if you have any tips or recipes for getting kids more involved in the kitchen, I'd love to hear them! Please feel free to leave a comment or link below. I need more ideas! Thanks!


I'm sharing this post over at:

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  We Play   Classified: Mom

12 comments:

  1. Thanks for linking up with Fun for Kids Friday. It looks like the kids LOVED those!!
    Heather @ www.localfunforkids.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. yummy! totally going to do this !

    new follower! i hope you come to check out my blog as well. have a great weekend!
    http://mamaspassions.blogspot.com/2011/06/blog-hop-friday-weekend.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow! Great pics and a great idea. I'm going to try this with Isabella...she's about the same age. I'm a new follower from Friday Blog Hop. http://www.grandmasguidetolife.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. OH YUMMY!!!!!!!

    I love this book! :)

    New Follower from Fridays Blog Hop!
    Hope you have a chance to follow back... It is my birthday and I am having giveaways threw out the weekend! Over 10 of them! Thanks and have a beautiful Friday!
    Mommy2Nanny3Doggy1.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. What fun! Hi! I'm your newest GFC follower and email subscriber via Feed Me Friday!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hopped over here to follow! Follow me too?
    http://Weidknecht.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow these look awesome!! I was obsessed with Jello Pudding pops when i was a kid and these look like they may be just as good, yum!!

    New follower from the hop, hope you can follow me back!
    http://anirishitalianblessing.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is amazing! Gotta try this with my bambinos! New follower from the Friday hop! Will be coming back for more fun ideas!
    Miriam
    http://productjunkiemama.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. I can't agree more. Getting them in the kitchen and actually making something is really wonderful. Such a sense of accomplishment and so much learning taking place.

    I'm going to share this with our Kids' Eat group on our network, TEN: The Education Network

    Thanks for sharing with our Outdoor Play Friday link-up. Hope to see you again next week.

    ReplyDelete
  10. My kids would be all over that! Made. Thanks for sharing with us at The SUnday SHowcase!
    Aimee
    Classified: Mom

    ReplyDelete
  11. ha ha... awesome!!!! What a fabulous post! I am sharing this with my friends on facebook. Thanks so much for sharing at For the Kids Friday! I can't wait to see what you have to share this week! Next party will be posted tonight!

    :)rachel at http://SunScholars.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. What an awesome project! Definitely book marking for later. Also, if you want an idea on how to get your kids involved in recipes, check out my blog; I have a fun idea that includes some yummy pear bread!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comments!