Planes, Pilots, Propellers and Parachutes, Please!
This week we looked at Things That Go in the sky. We talked about how God is always with us no matter where we go....even if we fly way up in the sky, or even if we sink deep into the ocean like Jonah. He is even with us when we don't listen (something we are working on in our home, how about yours?) The girls really got into our music this week. They would ask for me to sing all three songs (listed below) over and over again, which is why they probably learned the words so well! We live near a base where military plans are often flown. It was quite ironic, but this week almost every day two fighter jets flew overhead. I will admit it was rather annoying when it happened during nap time, but the girls were super excited about it when they saw them while playing outside. June Bug's response was, "Whoa, Mama!" with her big, blue eyes bugging out.
"I can't hide from you, Jesus. Wherever I go, You go!
Even if I fly high up in the sky, Jesus, you are there..."
The pilot on the plane says fasten your belts.
The signs on the plane go ding, ding, ding.
The children on the plane go bumpity, bump.
The babies on the plane go waa, waa, waa.
The mommies on the plane go shh, shh, shh.
The daddies on the plane go snore, snore, snore.
1. Let your tot paint a piece of construction paper any why she likes.
2. When dry, fold it into a paper airplane.
This idea was taken from Bright Hub Education, a collection of lesson plans on various subjects and for various age groups.
cotton balls that can be glued on.
This game is played similar to 'Red Light, Green Light.' Have your tot fly around the room or outside. When you say 'Land!' she stops where she is and pretends to land. She can move again when you say 'Fly!' You could also do this to music and when the music stops, your tot has to pretend to land the plane.
Help your tot make paper airplanes (Paper Airplanes Worksheet). Using the airplanes, let your tot experiment flying them. Try having airplane races, or see how far your child can fly their airplane and marking where it lands. We had quite a few extra painted sheets from our mobile project- I guess June Bug and I got a little carried away with our painting time- so we just used these to create a few extra folded planes to take outside and put into flight!
Pre-heat your oven to 425ºF. In a bowl, dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Add the honey and the salt and mix thoroughly. Stir in the flour until ingredients are mixed, then turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead until it's smooth. Cut pieces of the dough and roll them into long thin cylinders, then twist them into a shape. The traditional pretzel shape is the obvious choice here, but you can twist them into any design your imagination can come up with.
Beat the egg with a little water to make an egg wash. Put the twisted pretzels on a lightly greased or non-stick baking sheet, brush the tops lightly with the egg wash, then sprinkle with coarse salt. You could also put sesame or sunflower seeds on top, too.
Bake the pretzels for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool a few minutes before eating, but a hot pretzel right out of the oven is a real treat!
This recipe makes anywhere from 6 to 8 pretzels.
1 Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and pulse again.
2 Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape the dough mixture into two disks. Work the dough just enough to form the disks, do not over-knead. Sprinkle a little flour around the disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.
3 Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
4 Stir together flour, 1 cup sugar, and cinnamon and set aside. Wash, peel, and slice fresh peaches. Mix together peaches with the combined dry ingredients.
5 Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.
7 Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Gently place onto the top of the filling in the pie. Pinch top and bottom of dough rounds firmly together. Trim excess dough with kitchen shears, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork. Score the top of the pie with four 2-inch long cuts, so that steam from the cooking pie can escape.
8 Cover the edges with foil to prevent over browning; remove foil for the last 15 minutes of baking. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through the slits in the crust.
Ok...so I was really pumped to try this out. I just knew the girls would be stoked about it! Let's just say they really like planes. I got bunches of bananas at our local Trader Jo's in preparation for this snack. I was thinking we could even do it every morning; it's fun,easy, healthy and on theme! Look at these bananas! Seriously, it's been two weeks and they are still totally GREEN. Yes, I bought them this way, but that is how all the bananas were at the store and I figured they would just last longer. Well, they certainly are lasing a long time, but we can't eat them! Every morning June Bug asks for a banana and then looks at the counter and says, "Oops. Still green, Mama. Not yellow yet. Not yet." I could have bought more bananas...yes...but I just really thought these would come around....any suggestions?
But...you should try this snack at home! Let me know how your kiddos like it! We will still most likely be waiting for our bananas to turn yellow!