FREE Preview of Kids Creative Chaos Cooks: Holiday Treats Cookbook

Fun Seasonal Games and Edible Holiday Craft Activities 

Our new kid's cookbook, "Kids Creative Chaos Cooks ~ Holiday Treats" offers holiday recipes and edible crafts for kids to make and mix. The easy instructions allow kids to surprise Mom and Dad with special treats from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day. Celebrate family get-togethers with cute group games that get everyone moving. 

Happy Holidays! 

COOKBOOK for KIDS ~ Kitchen Kids ~ RECIPES
Holiday Treats is a collection of easy mixing and making recipes made up of simple ingredients. Kids of all ages can follow the directions and make tasty holiday treats. In this issue enjoy Mini Snowball Treats, Peanut Butter Turkey Treats, Christmas Cranberry Muffins, indoor holiday games to get your family moving, and more.

Edible Crafts for kids to make.

Recommended Reading:

Holiday Games for your Family Party

Kids in the Holiday Kitchen: Making, Baking, Giving

Kids Creative Chaos Cooks: Kitchen Kids Series: Holiday Recipes

Creative Country Saying ~ A Day in the Country is Worth a Month in the City ~ Inspirational Quote

Recently we moved and this creative country saying about sums it up - what an inspirational quote!  Pack your bags!

A day in the country is worth a month in the city.

Tweet

My Favorite Part of the Circus was the Cats. No, Not Lions and Tigers, I'm Talking Kitty Cats.

The Circus Cats have turned House Kitty

Circus Cats

Ringling's Amazing Animals

So, the Circus was cool with all of the typical animals, daredevils, and princesses. The clowns were silly, of course, and the dragon was exciting with his real smoke breath. I've been to other imitations recently, but this brand is the best. I captured the usual photos. What I couldn't capture a photo of, due to the incredible live action, was the domestic house cats. Kitty Cats. There were dog and pony shows that included goats, donkeys, and llamas in the three ring show of Amazing Animals.

My six-year-old kept begging me to look at the cute dog or "Mommy, look a llama, you love llamas." That I do, but I couldn't look away from the cats.

Girly Lions, Tigers, and an Awesome King of the Jungle.

Adorable cuddly, fuzzy cats climbed ladders, ran on balls, and jumped from amazing heights at the request of their trainer. Impressive, but not impossible to believe. I had a blind cat. If you put her up she had to get down. If she wanted up on a bunk bed, she'd climb the ladder or stand on the bottom bunk and grab the top bunk's rung to pull herself up. Cats do these things out of curiosity or necessity. 

What had me on the edge of my seat was... when the trainer opened the cat carrier, the little critters popped out with tails held high and pranced straight to the podium to start their act. I oohed. I ahhed. It happened every time. Not once did the cat get side-tracked or stop to sniff the ground. AMAZING.

Baby Elephant at the Circus.

The Circus elephants came in second. I'm sure you'll find much more to ooh and ahh about. The daredevils were crazy- that's good, right? I refused to clap. I can't applaud insanity :-)

Look for the Circus coming to your area ~ don't forget to take a picture of the Kittys for me. I couldn't find one anywhere. Maybe I only sought a saw a puddy tat.

Feld Entertainment provided the tickets for my unpartial review and giveaway.

Recommended Reading:

A Circus Wish (Magic Kitten)

Cat Hats

ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Jake's Art - Homeschool Weaving Lesson - Make your own Loom - DIY Arts and Crafts

How to make a loom for weaving scrap fiber: A Homeschool Art Lesson

Jake's Journey in Art goes under the sea in this DIY weaving Homeschool Art Lesson we learned to Renew. Enjoy!

Our loom has both warp and weft framework to better illustrate 
the concept to young children.

To weave a textile, threads (or scrap fabric) are woven on a frame called a loom. The first vertical threads on the loom are called warp threads. Threads that are woven horizontally in and out of the warp threads are called weft threads.

Cut notches in the cardboard frame to keep yarn in place.

Recycle a piece of cardboard from a cereal box or a foam tray to make your loom. You might also like Native American Paper Bag Dress

Cut small notches into the top and bottom of your cardboard(ours are about 1/2", but 1" works well). Make them about 1/2" inch apart. Alex Toys has a great PDF on weaving here.

Spongebob Fabric for Toddler bed tent.

Warp your loom with yarn or string by taking the thread and taping one end to the back middle of your board.  Now, starting with your first notch on the left, begin wrapping through each top and bottom notch without skipping a notch until you get to the right side of the board.  Only the warp frame is required.

Now your are ready to weave your weft. Cut or tear scraps of fabric into strips. Your strips of fabric should be about 1" thick and at least 12"  long. You will need about 20 strips. 

The cat enjoyed the tearing of fabric strips so much 
he needed a nap after playing with them.

For extra ease for smaller children, we added a weft frame as well. Now the scraps of fabric can be pulled through the little squares for guidance. Pull your scrap fabric under the first warp, over the next, and so on. The yarn guide will help younger children see any mistakes made.

When you have completed your weaving tie off all scraps in groups of two at the edges of your cardboard loom, then you can cut your your thread/yarn framework.

Spongebob has his eye on you.

This is an easy way to get littles started in weaving. It is also helpful to cut a piece of cardboard about 1" by 3" with a notch in the end. Attach your scrap fabric by inserting it in the notch and use as a tool to weave the fabric through the loom, this is called a shuttle.

Alex Toys Native American Bead Loom Kit for weaving bracelets.

Once you advance your skills, you can weave many beautiful projects. Alex Toys has a Native American Loom for weaving bracelets.  It is a professional quality loom that makes incredibly authentic bracelets.  We are working on our patterns and will share them soon.

Kid's room cartoon character theme (that way we don't have to worry about matching or new fads).Check out the automobile sun visor we used as a headboard. 
It is simply nailed to the wall.

Jake loved the idea of using his toddler tent cover as scrap fabric for this project. We renewed an item that was dear to his heart. It had been ripped from rowdy play and was no good as a tent, but we saved it anyway in hopes to repair it or transform it into a pillow or some other creative endeavor. The SpongeBob fabric was the perfect accent for his room. 

Yep, we need a hanging stick, but the kids love it.  
Use favorite t-shirts, pillow cases, or doll clothes for your scrap fiber.

To display your beautiful work of art weave a "weft" stick horizontally through the top row and hang on a wall.  Jake loved his creation and couldn't wait for the stick. He wanted to see how it looked right away, so we hung it by a nail. A little droopy, yes, but he loves it.

Did he love the process?  Not so much.  Much patience is a necessary requirement of weaving. So, Mommy made the loom, got it started and Jake weaved the inner pieces to gain an understanding of the process.  Mommy tied and cut it off making sure Jake watched and understood. This is somewhat time consuming, but the end results are worth it.

Mayhem saw the weaving on his wall and wanted it for her room. Score! This project journey ended on a very happy note.   


Recommended Reading:


Learning How to Weave*

Party Time: SpongeBob SquarePants*






ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

The Kaleidoscope Kids Children's Picture Book Teaches Colors, Numbers, and Shapes

Learn Colors in a Fun, Creative Way

Now and again, I am asked to do book reviews.  I accept but rarely offer a sidebar button, because I don't feel the book is in line with our message.  The Kaleidoscope Kids by Terry P. O'Grady is an adorable story about ten little fairies who were born to teach colors, numbers, and shapes to children. The beautiful, colorful  illustrations are done by Rick Barrett. (I love the quirky fairy illustrations so much; I want to see if Rick will illustrate something for me!)

Colorful, Creative Characters teach Colors, Numbers, and Shapes.

The Kaleidoscope Kids is perfect for preschool curriculum, as well as, the perfect bedtime story.  Terry O'Grady has four grown children, six grand children, and  has worked with many youth organizations. The story is designed to teach children a creative way to learn colors, numbers, and shapes. Each fairy has their own unique color, number, and shape coordinated together to aid in the process of visual learning. This book  should be added to the library of anyone with a child in preschool or early elementary school.

Great News! We have been given a signed copy of the book for a giveaway.  To enter for your chance to win follow our Pinterest Pin it to Win it! Online Scavenger Hunt for Preschool Curriculum and leave a comment on the purple pin to join and begin pinning. Winner will be announced December 3, 2012.

Click to purchase the book on Amazon or Create Space or Kindle.

*Tip: When you purchase through Create Space the author receives a larger royalty.


Recommended Reading:


Our own Children's Cookbook with easy holiday recipes and activities is available now.

Easter Theme PE activities

What She's Wearing Mayhem Fashion: Things to do with a Paper Bag: Native American Indian Dress Tutorial

How to Make an Indian Costume from a Paper Bag

Paper Bag Indian Costume.

She's wearing a paper grocery bag. We turned it into a Native American Indian Dress, an easy costume for kids.


Hiding somewhere in my garage is a bag with a Pocahontas dress (I hope) or maybe some kid walked away wearing it one day. At any rate, I was short one little Indian costume for our "movie." What's a crazed mom to do? I've made a ton of those Indian Vests and Hula Skirts in after-school programs, so I decided a dress couldn't be too difficult. Right? I guess it depends on  your standards and mine are low.

Native American Shirt from Paper bag.

First, take a paper bag- and good luck finding one. Talk about a tangent. Why, in this day of recycling are plastic bags everywhere, but no one has paper any more? Remember when the sacker used to ask paper or plastic? Now it's plastic or bring your own.

Once you've found the bag, turn it inside out and crumple it into a big paper wad. The more crumples the more it looks like leather. Next, unfold it and pop it open on the table, laying it on the side. Now, cut the sides all the way to the bottom of the bag. The center fold of each "arm" makes a perfect sleeve. Cut fringe about 3" at the end of each sleeve.

Native American Indian Dress.

At the bag's opening or the bottom of the shirt, cut out triangles/zigzags for a decorative edge. At the bag's base or the shirt's top, cut out a "u" or "v" for the neck. Decorate the shirt with Native American symbols. When done, insert kid and tape sleeves at wrists.

Paper bag fringe Indian Skirt.

For the dress skirt, turn bag inside out, wad and crumple, cut the bottom rectangle out, and cut down one seam. Now, cut fringe like a Hula Skirt. Wrap to fit and tape or staple.

We've also made these by punching holes in the waist and weaving yarn through to form a belt which can be tied for a perfect fit. If you want to get fancy, take another bag and cut the panels and then attach inside the sides of the shirt for full coverage.

Native American Indian Dress from Paper Bag.

This was good enough for our day of pretend play. Afterward, Mayhem gathered rocks and twigs to make a fire.


Recommended Reading:

Things to do with a Paper Bag

Sacajawea History Lesson

Native American History for Kids: With 21 Activities *

















ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Kitchen Kids: Rainbow Graham Cracker Sandwich Recipe

Fun Recipe for a Messy Preschool Class or After-school Snack

Enjoy a rainbow :-)

How to Make Rainbow Graham Cracker Sandwiches 

You need:

1 Box of Graham Crackers or make your own
2 Cups of Milk
Packages of Pudding Flavors in Red, Orange, Purple, Blue, Green, and Yellow.  (Or add food coloring to Vanilla Pudding)
Whipped Cream and Mini M and M's ~ Optional

To make:

Beat pudding mix and milk together until smooth.
Divide and add food coloring, mix together in individual bowls.
Spread one color onto 1/2 Graham Square
Add Graham Square for top cover, spread next color.
Repeat until you've used all colors.
Spread layer of whipped cream on sandwich and sprinkle with mini M and M's.

This is great for a Companion Color Theory Lesson Snack.

Recommended Reading:

Rainbow Color Wheel Lesson for Kids 

What Makes a Rainbow?

9 Easy Edible Winter Holiday Crafts for Kids

Here are 9 creative, fun ways to make edible, winter holiday crafts. 

These 9 Edible Holiday Crafts are perfect for a New Year Celebration. We just adore the Hot Chocolate Ornament idea below. These winter holiday crafts are fun ways to play with your food. Holiday creativity abounds in the blogosphere. Which one is your favorite? Enjoy!

 9 Easy Edible Winter Holiday Crafts for Kids. 

Edible Party Hat Craft for New Year's Eve Celebrations

Ice Cream Party Hats from One Charming Party.

New Year's Cupcake Countdown Clock

From Party Frosting

Hot Chocolate Ornament Gift

Hot Chocolate Ornament from Craft Berry Bush.

Star of David Cookies

Star of David Cookies from TheChocolateMaven.com.

Piped Icing Snowflake Ornaments

Edible Piped Icing Snowflake Ornament Craft.

Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments

From JimmieWriter on HubPages.

Holiday Treats for Animals: Bird Seed Ornaments

Bird Seed Ornaments from Garden.org.

Edible Marshmallow Dreidel Craft 

Edible Marshmallow Dreidel from Celebrations.com.

Edible Marshmallow Snowmen Pop Pals

Marshmallow Snowman from TheDecoratedCookie.com.

Recommended Reading:

More Edible Christmas Crafts

New Year's Eve Activities

Turkey Games

Kids Creative Chaos Cooks: Kitchen Kids Series: Holiday Recipes*

Hands-On Art Activities for the Elementary Classroom: Seasonal, Holiday, and Design Activities for Grades K-5*

ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Ringling Bros. Barnum Bailey DRAGONS at Banker's Life Fieldhouse Circus Trivia

Circus Trivia Questions: Cute Dragon Clipart Printable

Do you like Trivia? How about Circus Trivia? The Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus comes to Banker's Life Fieldhouse every year. We visited in the year of Dragons. Before we went, we caught up on some Circus Trivia. Scroll down to see how much you know about the Circus. Enjoy!

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.*

Circus Trivia Questions: Cute Dragon Clipart Printable.

Trivia Question from Previous Post:

So, how far away can a lion's roar be heard? 

Up to 5 Miles.

Click here for a DRAGON printable

RINGLING BROS. and BARNUM  and BAILEY DRAGONS

CIRCUS TRIVIA QUESTIONS

1) What four virtues are required to summon a dragon to Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey^® Circus?  
Answer: Strength, Courage, Wisdom and Heart.

2) How far away can a lion’s roar be heard?  
Answer:  5 miles away

3) Kung Fu movements are based on fighting tactics of what animals?  Answer:  Tiger, Snake and Dragon.

4) What Ringling Bros.^® animal has 4 teeth each weighing the same as a nine-pound bowling ball? Answer:  Asian Elephant.

5) What Ringling Bros. performer has an average shoe size of 28EEEEE?  Answer:  A Clown.

6) Shaolin Warriors performing in Ringling Bros. Presents DRAGONS practice how many hours a day?  
Answer:  7 hours a day.

7) What circus apparatus is most like a playground seesaw*?  Answer:  A Teeterboard.

8) What are considered BIG CATS?  
Answer:  Lions and Tigers.

9) How many bags of popcorn are consumed in each city that Ringling Bros. visits?  Answer:  Over 1,000 pounds of Popcorn.

10) What is the average span of a tiger’s swipe?  
Answer:  Five feet.

Recommended:

Glitter Dragon Head Pattern Printable

Circus Crafts

Circus History*





ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

How to Make Salt Dough Recipe: Self-Portrait Ornaments

How to make Salt Dough Self-portraits as Ornaments

Did you ever wonder how to make salt dough? We made self portraits for a homeschool art project. I included how to make homemade clay and a few salt dough recipes. These mini-mes are a great companion project for a preschool or kindergarten learning body parts lesson. You can also make Christmas Tree Ornaments from Salt Dough. We played around with a variety of themes during our homeschool art lesson. Enjoy!

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.*

Salt Dough Holiday Ornament Recipe.

Make a Halloween Tree with Homemade Dough Ornaments.

Self portraits from homemade clay and salt dough.

Make Christmas and Holiday ornaments by inserting straw to form a hole.

This recipe is for  how to make clay without cream of tar tar.

Salt Dough Recipe:

1 C. flour

1 C. salt

1/2 C. water

Mix together and knead.

When ready to cook, put on a baking sheet in 

oven at 100 degrees C/ 200 F for 2-3 hours.


Cooking is not necessary, leave your creations 

in a safe place to dry. We left these in a table drawer

and forgot about them.


When cool, paint or decorate with beads or candy.

Salt dough cookie faces.

You might also like how to make Homemade Clay with cream of tar tar.

Info on the History of Clay

We made these self-portraits about four years ago and forgot about them. They've sat in the end drawer of our dining room table ever since. They were never cooked nor painted.

Jake was about four years old and he hadn't met his elementary art teacher yet, but he still had an aversion to art. It was a sensory issue. He didn't like getting his hands dirty. He also worried about getting things on his clothes. If either of these happened, he would get very upset. I suppose this is where my love  of messy crafts was born.

I liked to be tidy as a small child too. I didn't play like the other kids on the playground, because I didn't want to ruin my leotards (today we call them tights) or get grass stains on my clothes. These things troubled me a great deal. So, I'd walk around the perimeter of the playground until the teacher blew the whistle. Little did I know, it was OCD. I've recovered, but some people don't appreciate it. The only way for me to stay sane is to embrace messy things. 

Yep, I didn't want Jake to struggle with the same wacky demons, so I encouraged sensory play.

Even now, he wants to hurry and complete the project so he can wash his hands. If we are mixing dough, he can't let it dry. You know, that crumbly, crackly feeling  on your hands? Mayhem and I like it. It's fun to let the dough dry and then scrape it off similar to letting school glue dry on your hands. I like seeing the fingerprints in the glue peelings. 

Jake? No way. I think this has a lot to do with his hatred of art, and then the teacher came along and made art a boring chore. 

He strives for self-inflicted perfection. He doesn't like the learning curve. He knows a lot. He is a gifted child. When he has to learn something new he is disappointed he didn't already know it. You can see the shame and the disappointment in his face. 

Recently, he had to take a Scantron test online, the test was smart. The more correct answers, the harder the questions. We told him to guess, but he refused. He labored over each question and made a very educated guess. In the end, he scored above average, but the test was torture. He cried with each question  for the first time aware he didn't have all the answers. 

Jake beginning his journey in art.

If only he could realize art works the same way, but it's better because there are no real answers in art. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I am the beholder here. I like his salt dough self-portrait the wavy hair and round face remind me so much of my happy, bouncy, little four year old.

Next week's journey, Animal Printmaking, proved very difficult for a neat freak. Smudges are a perfectionist's nemesis. Start here for Jake's Journey in Art 


Recommended Reading:

Air Dry Clay Projects

Minecraft Creeper Wood Carving Project

Christmas Dough Crafts

Salt Dough: More than 100 Projects! (American Girl Library)