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Kate from Family Fever gives us 5 ways to keep the kids entertained during the holidays through baking!

One of our favourite activities, especially during the school holidays, is baking. The children enjoy making all sorts of treats, both sweet and savoury – and of course, they enjoy sampling them too!

Below I have listed my Top 5 ‘Baking with children recipes’

DOUBLE BERRY MUFFINS

Ingredients: 

300g plain flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

125g caster sugar

50g butter

3 eggs

4 tablespoons sunflower oil

1 teaspooon vanilla essence

150g natural yogurt

100g blueberries and 100g raspberries

 

Method

Preheat oven to 200*C/Gas mark 6. Mix together the flour, baking powder and sugar. Melt the butter, and then add this to the flour mixture. Add the eggs, oil, vanilla essence and yogurt and blend with a fork until just mixed. Stir in the berries.

Divide the mixture between 12 muffin cases and bake for 15 minutes.

APPLE SCONES

Ingredients:

1 apple

75g butter

375g self raising flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

75g caster sugar

1 egg

150ml milk

 

Method

Preheat the oven to 200*C/Gas Mark 6. Peel and dice the apple. Heat 25g of the butter in a saucepan and add the apple – cook gently for 5 minutes until the apple is soft.  Put the flour, cinnamon and 50g of the sugar into a bowl. Cut the remaining butter into small pieces and add to the flour mix, then rub together with your fingers to make crumbs.

Add the apple and the egg and stir to make a dough, adding the milk slowly to make the right consistency. Roll out and cut with cookie cutters. Place on a greased baking tray, brush with milk and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.

Bake for 12-15 minutes.

ANIMAL COOKIES

Ingredients:

175g butter

75g caster sugar

275g plain flour

 

Method

Preheat oven to 180*C/Gas mark 4. Cut the butter into small pieces, then put in a bowl with the flour and sugar. Rub between your fingers to make tiny crumbs. Squeeze the mixture together to make a dough.  Place the mixture between 2 sheets of non-stick baking paper then roll out thinly. Peel off the top piece of paper, and cut animal shapes with cookie cutters.

Place these on a greased baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes. You can then decorate with icing pens, sweets, sprinkles etc.

FRUIT SALAD PIZZA

Ingredients:

300g strong white flour

Pinch of salt

2 tablespoons caster sugar

1 teaspoon fast-action dried yeast

25g butter

1 egg

125ml warm water

Jam and fruit of your choice for topping

 

Method

Brush a flan tin with some oil. Put the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a bowl. Melt the butter, and add to the flour mix along with the egg. Slowly mix in the water until you have a soft but not sticky dough. Knead the dough for 5 minutes (kids love this bit!). Place the dough in the flan tin and press over the base. Spread the dough with jam (approx. 4 tablespoons).

Top with the chopped and peeled fruit – we like to use apples, plums and peaches but you can use whatever you fancy.

Leave in a warm place for about half an hour to allow dough to rise, then brush the top of the flan with some melted butter and sprinkle with some sugar. Bake for 15 minutes at 180*C/Gas mark 4 for 25 minutes.

CHEESY MUFFINS

Ingredients:

100g cheddar cheese

125g cornmeal (if you don’t have cornmeal, use the same quantity of plain flour instead)

175g self raising flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

150ml milk

2 eggs

2 teaspoonsDijonmustard

4 tablespoons sunflower oil

Salt and pepper

 

Method

Preheat oven to 200*C/Gas mark 6. Grate the cheese, and mix with the cornmeal, flour and baking powder. Add the milk, eggs, mustard and oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir together until just mixed.

Spoon into 12 muffin cases and bake for 15 minutes.

 

These are our all time family favourite baking recipes, and we make them over and over again. The only problem is, that they never last very long!

Hope you enjoy giving these a try, and let me know which is your favourite!

Read more from Kate on her blog, and follow Family Fever on twitter and facebook.

What is Sensory Play?

Sensory Play is a fairy new and exciting part of child development, allowing children to learn through experience.

The theory is that, whilst your child may be learning to talk, and their first words could happen at any time, all their senses have been developing constantly since birth.

These senses can be stimulated, and bonds built between child and parent, without the need for verbal communication. 

Your child may have developed a question, and have no way of communicating it verbally. Sensory play encourages your child to scratch, sniff, lick, grab, stare, rub etc. Investigating, using their senses, and answering the question themselves. 

Sensory play is also used to develop the neurological pathways associated with each sense. Motor skills also get a boost, as children manipulate whatever material or tools they have been given. Creative, Dramatic skills come in to play, as children use their imagination to find new ways to use these materials and tools.

Ideas for Sensory Play

The best way to control Sensory Play is to make sure all activity happens within a designated space. Use a plastic tray or box, and even introduce a lid to signal when playtime has started and finished.

Sticky - Take some left-over white bread and add your child's choice of food colouring. Green for example. Then pour on four dollops of PVA glue. This makes a sticky (and cheap) alternative to playdough, that will stimulate the smells and touch senses.

Shaving Foam - Mix straight from the can with food colouring to make bright and vibrant bath-paints. Just make it clear that you are in charge of the can and that no foam goes in their mouths.

Mud - Again, using a tray, set up a mud bath kitchen in the garden. This allows for sensory play with Mud with a quarter of the mess!

Jelly - Make a batch of jelly. Whatever flavour, it doesn't matter as this is for playing with and not eating. If it can fill your play tray even better. Encourage your child to mix into the slimy jelly some alphabet magnets from the fridge. This will combine the idea of touch, colours and shapes. 

Sand box - A classic. Introduce any of your child's toys you don't mind getting a little mucky to introduce the concept of sand with something more familiar.

Touchy Feely Runway - Lay down a number of different, flat surfaces on the floor and secure if needed. These could include a cork board, some bubble wrap, cling film or a place mat from the table. Allow your child to walk, roll or craw along the runway and experience each texture.

Do you have your own sensory play ideas? Let us know in the comments, via twitter or facebook.

1. Select an artificial tree 
Run your hands across the branches to make sure large clumps of needles do not fall off. These are choking hazards for toddlers.

 

2. Display your tree in a base that is either secured to the wall or is wide, heavy and stable.

 

3. Select toddler-friendly ornaments for the bottom of the tree while keeping breakable ornaments toward the top. 
Ornaments at the bottom of the tree should not be glass or ceramic and should be large enough that they can't be swallowed. Make sure any painted ornaments are hung high on the tree, since the paint can be toxic if your toddler puts them in her mouth.

 

4. Apply minimal decorations. 
The more ornamentation on your tree, the more tempting it will be for your toddler. Avoid overusing strands of lights, garland, tinsel, icicles and ribbon. 
Tinsel is a choking hazard, so if you choose to use it only apply it to the part of the tree your toddler cannot reach.

 

5. Hang ornaments with short strands of ribbon instead of hooks to prevent your toddler from poking himself or swallowing a sharp hook.

 

6. If you have trouble finding ornaments that are safe to be placed toward the bottom of the tree, craft homemade ornaments with your toddler's help and allow her to help trim the tree.

 

7. Look for low-voltage LED lights, as these are less likely to become hot to the touch. Also try to find lights that are labeled "lead free." If you cannot find lead-free lights, string them high enough that your toddler cannot touch them or put them in her mouth.

 

8. Instruct your toddler not to touch the tree. 
If your toddler does not understand, or chooses not to obey your request, you may decide to place a baby gate around your tree or position furniture in a way that blocks access.

 

9. Avoid displaying authentic mistletoe, holly or poinsettias on the tree or in other areas of the home. These can cause poisoning or irritation if ingested by a toddler.

 

 

If you have your own toddler proofing tips, let us know in the comments or via twitter or facebook!

Picture the scene... beautifully immaculate house (ok, that may be a slight exaggeration!); late Edwardian property with period features, stripped floorboards.  In comes Shyloh.  And she’s hungry. 

For some reason I thought I’d go down the baby led weaning route.  To those who have no idea what that means, it roughly translates to, ‘let your baby fling food all over the walls, floor, cat, etc’.  Ok, it causes far more mess than fat kids in a pie eating contest, but in all honesty I think it’s been worth it.

I knew that Shyloh was ready to start eating solids when she stole a strawberry off my plate and shoved it in her mouth.  She’s lucky I didn’t try to take it back, as I’m usually very precious over my strawberries, but it was just too entertaining watching her suck the hell out of the fruit, drooling red slobber down her front.

From that point on, I became the puree queen – I was pretty anal about it, and made sure she started off on bland savoury foods, working her way up to flavoursome fruits.  Me and Thom had previously spent £400 on a blender (we were sucked in at a food festival, but the man said it’s the best blender in the world so it must be true!), so I was making sure I got my money’s worth. 

I started out pureeing things, as in all honestly, I was too scared to do baby led weaning – even though I had read up on it, I was terrified she’d choke on something.  But I didn’t really need to be concerned.  A baby’s gag reflex, unlike ours, is only halfway down their tongue, so if she attempted something that was too big for her, it soon came flying back in my general direction. 

Shyloh has been wonderful with her food, and continues to amaze me.  From about seven months old, she has been able to feed herself at meal times, she eats everything we eat, from coconut and chilli thai curry, to salmon and cous cous.  You can tell she really enjoys her food – I generally gauge this from how far the food has spread around her face. 

I must say though, not everyone is a fan of my method of teaching Shyloh enjoyment in eating.  My mum thinks, and I quote, that I’m, ‘bringing her up like a savage’.  I do try explaining the benefits but I’ve given up now.  I now just find secret fulfilment when Shy flings her food across mum’s freshly hovered floor. 

For anyone looking to try baby led weaning, I’d say go for it. I can give Shyloh a whole pear and she’ll work her way through it, leaving the core, or she’ll eat melon off the rind.  She’s learning to enjoy different flavours, textures and shapes at her own pace, whilst being part of family meals and eating healthily.  She’s awesome and I’m so proud of her, even if she does wreck my dining room three times a day!

I'm going to tell you all about my labour now... and I think at this point 98% of you will probably stop reading.  But for those of you with strong stomachs and balls of steel, here it is.  God knows why I'm actually telling you this, and I really hope it doesn't put you off having children of your own someday, but I think I'm also doing it to try and make sense of everything that happened in what felt like 16 hours of madness.  Trust me, I've asked Thom and he can't quite put it to words either.  

I'd been to the hospital for the 58th time with reduced movements.  Ok, it wasn't actually the 58th time, but it felt like it - when it's your first pregnancy you're not really sure what to expect, but they'd told me to keep and eye on the little one's jiggling so here I was again.  Turned out it was a good job I had gone; the fluid around her had reduced drastically, so they said I needed to be induced.  That was my whole birthing plan out the window - I had intended to do it all in the birthing centre, with low lighting, me in the pool relaxed, transcending to another plain of inner calm, Thom in the corner singing Kum Ba Yah while our darling angel entered this world... but no.  I wasn't best pleased, but the only thing on my mind was ensuring she was safe and well.  

Thom lovingly brought me a curry for my last meal as a non-parent and I was the envy of the ward.  I would have happily shared it with the midwife if she could have got Shyloh out that night as I was sick of waiting and getting impatient, but there were a load of other women also there to be induced.  The woman next to me said she was having to wait until Friday (it was now Tuesday), so I wasn't holding my breath, but after nine months of puking, diarrhoea and looking like a whale I just wanted to meet my baby. 

The next morning I was sent down to be induced, and I can honestly say it was the most painful thing I have ever experienced (sorry to those who have got this coming) and was then told the contractions you feel when induced are far more painful than if it were to occur naturally, as your body is being thrust into labour.  Great.  They started coming an hour after induction, starting from a scale of 'ooooh that was uncomfortable' increasing to 'get the sodding doctor in here noooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!' (think the girl from the Exorcist and you've pretty much got the picture).  I was left like that for SEVEN hours, and it was the longest seven hours of my life - not even a paracetamol to ease the pain (they wouldn't give me one!), and was even told not to use my TENS machine yet, as I couldn't possibly be in labour.  It wasn't until a very anxious Thom rushed for a doctor before I went on a mental rampage through the hospital to find one, that he came in, took one look and said 'oh yes, she's definitely in labour!'.  

I was then moved into my labour room and after that my memory starts to get a little patchy... I think I remember pretty much all of it, but then bits come back, like flashbacks of a freaky dream had the night before.  I wont tell you everything, I don't want to bore you by telling you how, once high on gas and air, I spent the next two hours going 'I loooovvveee this song' to every song that came on my ipod, grinning insanely like a tipsy Cheshire Cat and telling Thom I loved him every five seconds.  And, lets face it, I also don't want to scare the hell out of you either.  I feel like everything went wrong - the woman who put the drip into my hand somehow managed to make the needle go in one part and come out the other (it looked pretty horrific, and I think Thom was about to chunder) then had the audacity to ask if she could break my waters!  Thom relishes in telling me they looked like knitting needles, but I stop him from divulging further.  The guy who put in my epidural managed to hit a nerve which was excruciating and had to be removed and done again (try being told not to move when you're having contractions every few minutes!).  Shyloh kept on wriggling and they couldn't locate her heartbeat, so I had to have an internal monitor put in (don't ask).  I basically had a million wires coming out of me.  Thom, in the meantime, had fallen asleep on a beanbag on the floor... bless, it must have been so exhausting for him (that's sarcasm by the way!).  

I couldn't tell you how much time had passed, but I did know I'd been doing this for a very long time (I gauged this by the volume of drool coming from Thom's mouth as he slept!).  I was keen to see it through and get her out as naturally as possible, especially as my labour was now differing so much from my original plan, but soon, the doctors came rushing in as her heart rate had dropped - that was pretty scary.  They had to do a procedure where they went in and took blood from her head to test the oxygen levels (they didn't take enough and had to do it again - told you everything went wrong!).  They then let me carry on, but it quickly dropped again, and it was at this point they informed me that they would have to perform an emergency c section.  I didn't care any more, all I wanted was for Shy to be safe and well.  

I can't remember much of being moved and prepped for surgery, I just remember lights, lots of people around, being numbed up to my arms (very weird sensation).  I do however remember feeling very nervous - not because of the c section, but because this was it, I was finally going to meet my daughter.  From the moment of being taking into surgery it only took them four minutes to get her out; I still find this pretty incredible that they can work so quickly, but they made me feel like I was in safe hands.  I heard her cry and that was it, I was in tears, Thom was in tears.  It was by far the best moment of my life.  I can't possibly explain what it felt like to see her the first time (I'm even welling up as I write this) as the only emotion that I can describe from that moment was an overwhelming, unconditional love.  She from that second became everything to me.  Although she looked like a miniature version of Phil Mitchell I thought she was the most beautiful thing in the world.  

Reading back I realise that a lot of the labour sounds like a horror story, and believe me, I've given you the 12 rated theatrical version (not the 18 rated directors cut with all the gory bits left in!).  But one thing I can say is that I would do it a million times over; Shyloh was unequivocally worth it.   And yes, I would go through it all again for another, but much to Thom's dismay, we are NOT having enough for a five-a-side game!