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I’ve been wanting to share this video on YouTube for awhile now. It’s by one of my editors at Citizen Mom’s Family Journal, Elyse Orecchio. Elyse blogs at How’s Theo? Her son was diagnosed with PDD or pervasive developmental disorder, a form of autism. As you can see, they don’t let his diagnosis prevent them from having fun and being creative with a wonderful fairy tale.

The Frog Prince is hugely popular with the first graders at Nathan’s school. When I read the Usborne version to them, they loved it. Probably because it’s one of the stories in the Core Knowledge sequence, so they’re familiar with it.

So besides making videos and posting them on YouTube (after all we’re not near as talented like Elyse) what other activities could you do after reading the Frog Prince? Try making Frog Prince cookies using this cool frog prince cookie cutter from CopperGifts.com. Or try some of the frog activities at the ChildFun Family website.

Or you could make Toad in the Hole, a traditional British dish (credit goes to Wikipedia for the photo). While not the most healthy of recipes, I bet it would make a terrific SuperBowl party dish. You could call it Footballs in the Hole or Sausages in the Bowl.

The recipes I’ve found on the internet are basically the same, but the challenge is finding it in farenheit and ounces (it’s British after all). You could try this recipe from the UK’s Greasy Spoon Cafe. Or this 1936 version from Retro Food Recipes.

I like Meg’s version at Too Many Chefs because she gives good tips, like letting the batter rest and using bacon grease instead of oil. Also see the comments section regarding using mustard, mustard seed, and trying to find proper English sausages.

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According to Entrepreneur.com, kid’s cooking is a hot trend this year. Places like Batter Up Kids Culinary Center in Austin, TX, Le Petit Cookery in Irvine, CA, and Home Cooking in NYC are opening up all around the country. These places cater to parents who believe that cooking can be an educational experience that also promotes family togetherness.

This sounds like a great like a wonderful way to spend time together. If there are no culinary schools near you, look for cooking classes at community colleges, free universities, learning annexes, or through your town’s recreational district. Craft stores like Michael’s and Hobby Lobby have cookie and cake decorating classes on occasion.

Or you can DIY it. Get a bunch of friends and kids together, and start cooking. You could do a culinary theme, like homemade pasta and sauces. Or each family could take turns hosting a cooking party at their house. One week you could create appetizers, the next week a main course, and so on. Kidsfoods.com even has cooking party kits so each child can have their own chef hat, bandanda and apron.

One of other big trends in children’s cooking are healthy cookbooks. With the rise in obesity and the desire for more nutritional fare, these cookbooks are ignoring the usual cupcake, ants on a log, and mini pizza recipes. Once such example is California Squisine: Healthy Food That’s Fast, Fun And Squeezable for Kids:

(From their press release)
This cookbook for kids offers a unique tool in America’s battle with poor eating habits – fun. It encourages children to eat well by consuming squeezable recipes. It’s really simple. Kids have fun squeezing tasty, nutritious sauces, dips and dressings over fruits and vegetables. Then they eat their creations. No cooking is required! Children can prepare the recipes themselves or with an adult. It’s a great way for the whole family to have fun spending time together, while developing a healthy attitude toward food.

"Many kids today think a balanced diet means a cookie in each hand," says Malcolm Kushner, the cookbook’s author. "I want them to have a fruit or vegetable in each hand."

Other healthy cookbooks to consider are:

• The Healthy Start Kids’ Cookbook: Fun and Healthful Recipes That Kids Can Make Themselves
• I Made It Myself!: Mud Cups, Pizza Puffs, and Over 100 Other Fun and Healthy Recipes for Kids to Make
• The Healthy Body Cookbook: Over 50 Fun Activities and Delicious Recipes for Kids

A bunch of us ClubMom bloggers received a T.J. Bearytales doll to review at the ClubMom site. It’s a nice toy and Nathan and Lucie liked it very much. For a few days. Then they ignored it. Had I spent the $50 to buy it plus $20 more for extra stories, I would have been very upset. Now it’s just taking up space until I sneak it into the Goodwill bag.

T.J. Bearytales is designed to encourage reading, but there are cheaper ways to do this. If you have a Kohl’s near you, check out the special Kohl’s Cares for Kids merchandise. 100% of your purchase supports programs designed to meet the needs of children in your community. Plus they had a great literary tie in this year with Dr. Seuss books.

We were shopping for sneakers for Nathan and came across the Dr. Seuss plush toys, marked down 50% to $2.50 each. We bought the Grinch, Sam-I-Am, the Big Fish, and the Sneech (they didn’t have any Max dolls in stock) for Lucie. The stuffed dolls are large, very soft, cuddly, and of nice quality.

As soon as we got home, Lucie got out her One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish vinyl bath book, and our old copy of The Sneetches and Other Stories. She looked through the books while she sat with her new "buddies" (that’s what we call her stuffed animal friends). Afterwards, she took all four of them to bed with her.

Today, she’s been watching the Read With Me - Green Eggs and Ham interactive video. It’s one of the few electronic toys I like because 1) my kids continue to play with it, and 2) I got it and the videos on sale.

The buddies are tagging along in the car as well. They’ll probably go to preschool with Lucie tomorrow if I can figure out how to get them all into her backpack.

Expensive electronic toys are lovely, and if you can afford them, knock yourself out. But wouldn’t that money have been better spent if you put it in your child’s college fund? After all for a little over $10, I was able to get the kids excited about re-reading their Dr. Seuss books.

With the recent snow storms, the Denver Post writes that Coloradans are suffering from a rare condition:

"Snow fatique syndrome" is what therapist Libby Bortz of Littleton calls it. It’s breaking out all over the metro area.

"People are depressed, angry, irritable," Bortz said. "They’ve had to change plans. Commutes are hard, so they feel displaced. There is disappointment, sadness and even rage."

"The first storm was novel," said Bortz, a clinical social worker in private therapy practice. "But we didn’t get back to normal, so the psychological stress escalates rapidly."

All I know is that my trash hasn’t been picked up in over two weeks, all four recycling bins are full, and there’s a dozen garbage bags that I can’t fit into the trash bin. It’s beginning to look like Sanford & Son around here.

So what to do when your snow bound? How about some chilly reading and a little Snow Cream?

In Arctic Waters is another terrific book from Sylvan Dell Publishing. Available in February 2007, the story is an arctic variation of “This is the House that Jack Built” that follows polar bears, walruses, seals, narwhals and beluga whales as they chase each other around the artic waters. The rhythmic, cumulative prose is perfect for early readers ages 3-7. The “For Creative Minds” section gives information about artic animals.

And Snow Cream? Why that’s something my mother made us every time it snowed. A recipe comes from Jean Brandau at About.com.

Snow Cream
Now, some people think this is unsanitary but if you’re adventuresome, give it a try.

Ingredients:

1. 1-3 C. snow (make sure it’s clean!)
2. 1/2 C. whipping cream or other cream of choice (you can use milk in a pinch)
3. 1 T. sugar
4. 2-3 drops vanilla flavoring (or more to taste)

Directions:

1. In a separate bowl, mix cream, sugar and vanilla.
2. Slowly add snow to desired consistency.
3. Eat (slowly–it’s cold) and enjoy!

All ingredients can be adjusted to suit your particular preferences. You might want to try some other flavorings: cinnamon, butterscotch, almond, or eggnog mix.