Eating and Reading

I often try to mix our two very favorite things....eating and reading.  We really like Eric Carle books, with the beautiful watercolor illustrations and simple words. " Brown Bear, Brown Bear", "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", and on and on.  We were stuck on "The Grouchy Ladybug" one particular grouchy day, "Hey you...you wanna fight?" is what the ladybug asks all sorts of different animals throughout the book.

 So I thought it would be fun to make our own "ladybug" snack.  I put some cream cheese in a bowl and added a couple drops of red food coloring (science, observation, coloring recognition).  I let the kids stir it until the cream cheese turned the right color.  We used plastic knives to spread it on plain rice cakes and added raisins for the spots (math, counting, fine motor skills, life skills).  Then we ate up our "ladybugs".  My son wasn't too keen on the cream cheese and asked if he could make a brown ladybug with peanut butter. 

 I love "cooking" with the kids.  It is so empowering to them and they are more willing to try new foods if they prepare it themselves.