Sensory Trays and "Frosty" Recipe Review

This is definitely another oldie but a goodie...something I fall back on like days like today when this mom is exhausted and outdoor time is cut short due to the rain (they played in it for a little while!)  Using a tray helps keep the mess "somewhat" contained.  But the main purpose I use it today was so each kiddo would work independently.  Today...that was needed, for whatever the reason.  Perhaps because of the overcast day...that does effect us all.

Good ol' baking soda and vinegar reactions.  :-)  They never tire of this.  They make clay volcanoes, bottle volcanoes, sandbox volcanoes...but this type of exploration tend to last just a bit longer so I personally like it. 

  Something about those two pictures above that I love.  :-)  
C. doesn't often show a lot of expression so that neat to see!

I often provide the 3 primary colors.  That last bowl was yellow, for the first 30 seconds.  A little tidbit for you, discourage them from putting the baking soda in the bowl at the beginning.  Tends to cause the "reaction" to disperse more quickly and then the vinegar in the bowl will not work on the baking soda of the tray.

They tend to get a kick out of the "end product".  Every kiddo that has done this with me has always ended their "work" by using ALL the vinegar...it tends to make a very colorful island.  Neat in itself!  I think I'll remember that when we are doing landforms.  :-)

 A. tends to spend a bit more time with exploring the materials with a plan, as you can see here.  He's 10 years old and loves this kind of play.  Never make the mistake of considering something a preschooler would get a kick out of "too young" for a 10 year old to be interested in.  I find that they love it just as much!  What I really liked this year was being able to do things like this with a mixed group.  A., being older, brought so much "to the table" and really sparked conversations!  
 
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Something else we did today....

C.'s turn to help me
 
YUM!!!!  Definitely a keeper! 

This came across on Facebook.  However, when I clicked on it, it didn't take me to an actual site so I can't really "give credit" where it belongs.  So if you know the original site of this recipe, comment!  

This was suppose to turn out like the Wendy's Frosty.  To be truthful, even though we made it this morning, it's still not completely frozen because we put the whole bowl in the freezer.  I thought about putting it in cups but then we had to move on with our morning errands and it didn't get done until afternoon.  However...partially frozen is very yummy too!  :-)

Here you go...
8 C. milk and enough chocolate syrup to make it taste like chocolate milk.  (We didn't measure.)  Or you can purchase your own chocolate milk...1/2 Gal.  

14 oz Sweetened Condensed Milk

8 oz. of Cool Whip.

Mix together.  Preferably put in individual serving dishes and freeze.  We just mixed with a spatula...but next time we are going to see what happens if we mix it with a hand mixer.  I bet it will be frothy and freeze accordingly.

These cups are a bit big for child servings, FYI.  Next time, and yes, there will be a next time...we'll do smaller cups.  That'll freeze quicker also!  However, this mixture made 10 to 12 fourteen ounce cups.  The reason why it looks like there is actually cool whip on top is because the mixture had frozen on the top of the bowl and I divided it into the cups and poured the rest of the liquid into it.  There is not extra Cool Whip.

Like I said...yum (and a kid friendly recipe...we got some mental math going on while we were combining the ingredients)!
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Of course, we need to get at least one picture of Mr. T, 'tis only fair!

 He was my supper helper.   Crunching up French Fried Onions for our baked chicken.  :-)  He's my expert fruit salad maker also.  The key to not going crazy with Mr. here is to make sure he is busy busy busy!  He loves to help in the kitchen, I would say it's his very favorite thing to do.  Hope it stays that way!  It's actually to the point now, 4 years old, that he's actually helpful!

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On the note of helping in the kitchen....

They were very pleased when I bought a ham for supper one night.  :-)  And very willing to help chop up the left over...especially A. because he knew that Mac 'n' Cheese with ham was the next thing on the menu.  His (and his daddy's) favorite!  So, he got to help make the mac 'n' cheese for supper.  Really needs another couple inches on him so I don't have to stress about the gas stovetop's flames.  He still needs a stool.  So, of course there was just enough left over for the next day's lunch.  This is one of their favorite types of lunches.  Mine too!  EASY!

 
Those blueberries and strawberries were delicious!  I believe they were MI blueberries . Picked them up at Jay's Meat Market :-D  We made a trip there to see what it was all about...thinking maybe I could save some gas/mileage by not going to Meijer every week.  Not sure that will happen but...it was worth the thought.  

Snap/sugar peas were what the boys wanted from Jay's.  :-D  It's the one thing I miss about not having "Grandma's" garden this year...the looking forward to the fresh peas.  I never had trouble getting the kiddos to help weeding the garden during the time that the peas were on!  I'm not a big fan of peas in any other form.  :-D