Family Fun Page

  Kitchen Fun 

Keep kids busy and have fun in the kitchen with these activities.

Kitchen Chemistry: Rock Candy

Materials

• Clean 1 quart glass jar with wide mouth
• Kite string
• Paper clip
• Pencil
• Sugar
• Boiling water

Directions

1. Fill the jar with sugar.
2. Slowly pour the boiling water into the jar while stirring with a long-handled spoon until all the sugar is dissolved.
3. Tie the paper clip to one end of the string and measure the height of the jar plus a few inches.
4. Cut the string and tie the cut end to the pencil.
5. Place the pencil across the mouth of the jar and roll the string around the pencil until the paper clip is just above the bottom of the jar.
6. Place the jar on the kitchen window ledge.
7. Rock candy crystals will grow on the string.
8. The longer the string is in the jar, the larger the crystals will grow.
9. From time to time, break up crystal formation on the jar and on the surface.

Note: Crystals form by precipitation from a hot solution that cools slowly or by evaporation of a liquid. Mineral crystals can also form in these two ways.

Homemade Peanut Butter

Materials

• Peanuts in the shell
• Food processor
• Baby food jar (optional)
• Decorative fabric and ribbon (optional)

Directions

1. Shelling enough peanuts to make a little peanut butter is sure to keep your child busy.
2. Place the shelled peanuts in your food processor and grind until smooth.
3. Store in a covered container.
4. To give as a gift, place the peanut butter in a small baby food jar with lid.
5. Cover the lid with a circle of fabric, and tie a ribbon around the neck of the jar to keep the fabric in place

Edible Jewelry

Time

• 20 to 30 minutes

Materials

• Food items that can be strung, like black licorice shoestring, cereal pieces with holes, Lifesaver candies, and knotted pretzels

Directions

1. Measure the licorice and cut it in lengths for bracelets and necklaces making sure to allow enough length to tie a knot.
2. String on the other candies, cereal, and pretzels and wear until you get hungry.

Extensions

• Wrap the jewelry items and give them as gifts.
• Cover a small box with the items, using a glue of confectioners' sugar thinned with water to make an edible house with windows and doors.
• Use the same glue as above to stick items to a strip of cardboard that can be held in the hand or kept in the car for a snack. Package in sealable plastic bags.

Taste and Tell

Materials

1. Foods with a variety of tastes—sweet, salty, sour, bland, syrupy, sharp, bitter, rich, and tasteless

Directions

The purpose of this activity is to make your child more aware of the sense of taste. Gather a variety of foods in small amounts. If you like, your child can close her eyes while tasting each one. After each food, discuss the taste. Begin to distinguish between the main taste bud differentiations: sweet, sour, bitter and salty. Ask your child to say which are his favorite foods and why. Try combining foods of different tastes. How did the taste change when the foods were combined?