Paper Crafts at Flickr Monkey!

Flickr Bird,
originally uploaded by flickr monkey.

Many of you are trying to find summer activities for children that will keep them occupied and maybe...just maybe even quiet! My children love making paper models. Making models is good for brains and after building several models my daughter started creating her own. There are some good beginner models over at Flickr Monkey. These can be downloaded and printed on regular paper or card stock. You can create mobiles or just playmates. Either way this activity is most praiseworthy!

Praiseworthy Review: Honest Pretzels

My children both love to cook as I do. They started learning early, pulling stools up next to me while I cooked from the time they were toddlers. So I'm always interested in resources that teach them more about cooking. Honest Pretzels is one of three cookbooks written by one of my favorite authors Mollie Katzen. These cookbooks are Pretend Soup (for preschoolers), Salad People (for children 8 and up) and the aforementioned Honest Pretzels (also for 8 and up).

The recipes in this book are in a sort of "story board" fashion. You can see an example of a recipe from Pretend Soup here. The cookbooks are referred to as vegetarian but are not vegan although there are many vegan recipes.

Both my children (9 and 6) love the cookbooks and we all enjoy what has been made from them. My daughter most recently made Button Cupcakes from Honest Pretzels which is a simple vanilla cupcake with a chocolate kiss pushed into the center before baking. Her 6 year old brother helped her with that last part. And they were delicious. As was the Mix in the Pan Chocolate cake she made last week from the same cookbook. So give these books a try. I think you and your children will love them.