Yeast Experiment

Today we decided to do a Yeast experiment for the letter Yy. We made two batches of rolls, one had yeast and the other did not, other than that they were exactly the same. When Aidman added yeast to the clear bowl, he bent down and said "Yum, that smells like bread".

From the start you could tell there was a difference. The one without was very sticky.

This is after the first rising. The one on the left has yeast.

Lyssy and Ab thought it was so much fun to play in the flour.

Ab was not interested in the rolls because she just wanted to play with flour, so Lyssy and I did all the work. Lyssy kneaded it.

Lyssy cut the rolls into circles.

Here are the rolls getting ready to rise again. The yeast rolls are on the left.

Here they are after the rising.

Now the yeast rolls are on the right. The non yeast rolls spent an extra 5 minutes in the oven and are dark on the bottom and very light on the top.

Visibly, yeast made a BIG difference. Tastefully, yeast made an even BIGGER difference. I wish I would have gotten a picture of Aidman's face when he bit into the non yeast rolls, he was disgusted.

We all LOVED this experiment!! Cooking is one thing, but figuring out why you should add a certain ingredient adds so much to the already awesome cooking experience.

BTW, the yeast rolls were wonderful! Here is the recipe.

2 1/2 cups bread flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons shortening

1 pack active dry yeast

1 cup water

1 egg

Dissolve yeast in water. Mix dry ingredients, crumble shortening into dry mix. Add egg and yeast water, mix. Place a damp cloth over and rise for 45 minutes. Knead dough, flatten out and cut into circles. Lay on buttered pan touching, lay damp cloth over and rise for another 30- 45 minutes. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

Yy Work

I got both of these ideas from Mozi Esme and my kiddos loved them so much that I just had to post about them.

I've actually seen this yo-yo painting on many blogs. I knew the very first time I saw it that I would use it during the letter Yy week.

It really was alot of fun.

The yo-yo's are made of knee highs and beans, that's it.

Today we stuck tooth picks into yams. My kids LOVED doing this and it's such a simple thing to do! It was GREAT for their fine motor skills.

Aidman named his yam several different names, but he's in bed now and I forget what they were, opps.

Art

We went to the Library today and got a BUNCH of really great books! Since I LOVE book projects, you'll probably see several over the next several days.

Today we read Art by Patrick McDonnell. It is a cute picture book about a boy named Art who likes to do art. What art book would be complete without some open ended art?? Since it is SO beautiful outside, we decided to take it to the Yard.

I got the idea of sidewalk chalk paint from FrugalFamilyFun. All it is is 1 part cornstarch to 1 part water plus a couple drops of food coloring.


The kiddos really enjoyed painting with this.

Once dried, it really does look like sidewalk chalk. Best part is that it washes right off of everything (children included!).

Imagination at Work

My kids have nap time every day, but they don't always sleep. As long as they are quiet in their rooms, I really don't care what they do (both of their rooms are completely childproof, plus I can hear everything they are doing). Today Aidman came out of the room and really wanted to show me something. I came in the room to see this...

an apple tree

a motorcycle ramp

a motorcycle garage

a soft monster

and a pointy monster.

What a nice surprise!! Aidman had been in his room quietly working on this masterpiece!!

Muffin Tin Monday

WOOHOO! It's that time again for Muffin Tin Monday. Today's theme is Under the Sea. I had alot of fun with this one. We had shells and sand (mac and cheese with breadcrumbs), ocean water with plankton (blue jello with crushed pineapple), seaweed (lettuce and dip), fish eggs (sunflower seeds), and tuna fish sandwich.

Lyssy thought the whole thing was just funny and laughed alot. They only called the items what I had named them so that was cute.

Why is it that I always get a picture of Aidman putting food in his mouth?

Yellow Yarn Yy and Unplugged

I have been wanting to do an Unplugged Project for awhile now. Today when I saw that the theme was yellow, I thought it was just perfect because we did several yellow things for the letter Yy today.

We cut yellow yarn. It was kinda hard with kiddie scissors, so mommy did most of the cutting.

Then we glued Yellow Yarn to a Yy.

YAY, a Yellow Yy!

For our Table Top Toys this week I put out water transfer. Because it is Yy week, I added yellow food coloring the the water.

The kiddos are really enjoying squeezing out the sponge.

Yy Week

I LOVE Monday mornings. Weird huh? I look forward to all the fun things we do on Mondays, letter introduction is ALOT of fun, showing the kiddos the new table tops toys for the week, and of course Muffin Tin Monday. To get ready for Monday mornings can be work, but I enjoy it.

Art:
-Glue Yellow Yarn to Yy
-Yo-yo painting

Science:
-Yeast- make 2 batches of rolls, 1 with yeast and 1 without, and see what happens

Math:
-Yams, (fine motor activity) stick toothpicks in
-Measure Yard with our footprints

Cooking:
-Yeast rolls
-Yogurt parfaits
-Yorkshire pudding

Movement/Outside:
-Yoga
-Yodel in the Yard

Social Studies:
-watch youtube of Yellowstone National Park and locate it on our map (Aidman is really into the map lately)

Table Top Toys:
-Yellow water transfer with sponge
-counting shells
-flower garden

Books: (going to the library tomorrow)
Yertle the Turtle

More Yy words: (not listed above)
Yell
Yes
Yawn
You
Yak
yuck
yardstick
Yankee
yippie
yank
yacht
year

Oobleck

Today we made Oobleck for the letter Oo. Aidman decided he didn't want to participate, so we didn't make him. Laneybug and Lyssy made it by themselves.

They wanted purple so they mixed blue and red food coloring together.

I LOVED that Lyssy called it "Gooey Gooey".

They had a really good time playing with it. Again Aidman didn't even touch it, don't know why.

Here's the recipe.

In a small bowl mix 3/4 cup water and 1 cup glue (2- 4 oz bottles)- add food coloring if you want it colored. In a larger bowl mix 1 teaspoon 20 mule team borax (got it at Wal-mart) and 1/2 cup hot water. Pour the glue into the borax solution and let it sit for a few minutes. Stir together- the more you mix the water will absorb- we used our hands once most of the water was gone just to get a good consistency. Pour off any remaining water and enjoy!!

Beautiful Butterflies!

Today was a Special Day! My sister SherryBerry and niece Laneybug came to visit. They live an hour and half away so we don't see them too often. First we took Laneybug to this great new park to play. When we got home I asked the kiddos what they wanted to do and of course they wanted to do a project. I then asked Laneybug what kind of craft she wanted and she said "beautiful butterflies". After making a few butterflies, they also wanted to make caterpillars to go with the butterflies.

First Laneybug drew the caterpillars for everyone. I drew the butterflies, had I know that Laneybug could do it I would have had her make them too.

Then each of the kiddos cut out their own butterfly and caterpillar.

Then they painted using Pepperell Crafts Rollitt paint. It reminds of of the old roll on deodorant and they really like using it.

Then they added dots using Do A Dot. We also love these, we call them bingo dabbers.

Then we added another texture buy squeezing on glue that's had food coloring added to it. I love this because it dries on bumped up and shiny. All kids LOVE squeezing out glue and they are allowed to this way. I think using cardboard (like cereal box) would be best for younger kids who would pour alot in one area.

Look how pretty they turned out!

70's Night!!

Tonight I went to a 70's Party Mom's Night Out! It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH FUN!!! It was mandatory to dress up. I was a hippie flower child. I found that dress at Goodwill for $5!
There was food cooked like and served 70's style. There was a mellow hippie room, it had low lighting with black lights and lava lamps, incense burning, mellow music, brownies and a bag of oregano to look like ya know... sitting on the table. There was a disco dance room, it had strobe lights and a disco ball with all the disco music. There was a game of twister, an old record player playing, and a movie of Starsky and Hutch. The party was a GIANT hit and there were over 20 mama's attending. I think dressing up was the best part of all!


My friend T looked totally Hot!

You can't even tell that S is 5 months preggo!

MY friend C is wearing a handmade dress! The detail was BEAUTIFUL! And next to her is E, yes she is a WOMAN!! We should have known that E would come dressed up like a man, she had us DYING laughing!! The best part is her attention to detail, take a look at the pants!!!

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil.

We had a TERRIFIC time!! If you don't have a group of women to get together occasionally with without the kiddos, I HIGHLY encourage you to find one!! I have so much fun with my friends and it really refreshes me and helps me to be a Great mom because I have a chance to relax and just have fun.

This is week 4 of 52 of my challenge to get of picture of me every week. Visit Forever in Blue Jeans to see all the other great pictures.