The Active Family

Another cold rainy day in Massachusetts, and I am faced with the task of entertaining 4 children from ages 13 to 18 months. I let them watch a inane cartoon, play a few games on the Wii, all the while racking my brain for a non-electronic based activity they all could enjoy.

Whenever I’m bored, I almost always head to the kitchen. While that may possibly explain my current waistline, what I meant was that I love to cook. Cooking always cheers me up! It requires mild concentration, and (usually) ends with a gratifying result. Cooking with my kids can have the potential for disaster, so I chose a simple project that even my 18 month old could join in on. What did we make?

Rice Crispy Treats!!!

They are simple, easy, and yummy! I had the two read and measure, my 5 year old helped to stir the butter/marshmellow mixture, and then all of them buttered up their wax paper and went to town designing their own Crispy treats. The 13 and 12 year olds had a sculpting contest, each recreating random video game characters (I guess…they just looked like little gnomes to me!) My daughter made fish and animal shapes with the help of mom and cookie cutters, and the baby made delicious looking blobs. Now that I think about it, he ate most of the blobs in progress.

This is a great rainy day activity, and it isn’t all that bad for the kids either. You can turn it into an educational experiance for the older ones, and the younger ones enjoy the textures. I’ve included the link to the original recipe below for anyone who may not have it.

http://www.ricekrispies.com/Display.aspx?recipe_id=1605&kic=1

 Enjoy!