Activities and recipes for healthy kids

Activity: Drifting and catching

What you’ll need: A lightweight, colorful scarf, non-toxic foam.

Throw the scarf in the air and it will flow down in front of your child. Encourage your child to catch the scarf or make the scarf fly. Also suitable for bubbles. Blow bubbles and encourage your child to move around and pop or blow on the bubbles.

Recipe: Frozen Yogurt Graham Crackers

What you need: Graham crackers (4 pieces), yogurt of your choice, parchment paper, wax/parchment paper

Help your child dip the graham crackers in the yogurt. Place on a cookie sheet and freeze.

Activity/Recipe: Rainbow Toast

What you need: sliced ​​bread, milk, food coloring (2-3 colors), clean/new paint brushes, 2-3 small bowls.

Add a little milk to each bowl. Add food coloring. Have your child dip a paintbrush into the bowl and “paint” the bread slices. Toast the sliced ​​bread. Voila! Rainbow toast for breakfast!

Recipe: Homemade Soft Pretzel Bites

• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 bag of active dry yeast
• 3 tablespoons butter (melted)
• 1.5 cups lukewarm water
• 3 teaspoons kosher salt
• 4.5 cups all-purpose flour
• canola oil
• 3 quarts water
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 1 beaten egg
• 1/2 cup course salt

Combine sugar, yeast, melted butter, and warm water in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.

Add salt and flour, mix with the dough and cook on low heat until well mixed. Mix for an additional 3 to 4 minutes, or until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time.

Grease a glass bowl with oil. Form the dough into a ball and place it in a bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let stand for about 1 hour (or until doubled in size).

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Boil 3 quarts of water in a stockpot and add baking soda. Separate the dough, roll into a “snake” shape, and cut into bite-sized pieces. Add the cut pieces to boiling water. Remove the pieces after about 30 seconds (the pieces will sink at first, but when they are ready they will start to float).

Place the pieces on a greased cookie sheet without touching each other. Repeat until all the dough is used up. It filled two large cookie sheets.

Brush the pretzel pieces with egg wash and sprinkle with the obvious sea salt. Bake at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes (or until a nice pretzel-like color).

Transfer to a wire rack to cool before serving.

Activity: 5 minute bubble painting to paint a hydrangea flower

What you need: 1 part non-toxic acrylic paint, 1 part non-toxic dish detergent.

Find a dish to mix the paint in and mix it. Use a straw to blow air into the bubble paint mixture. You can see air bubbles forming on the surface. Once the bubbles form, take the paper and gently press it into the bubbles. The goal is to have the paper touch the bubbles and not the paint mixed below.

Recipe: English muffin pizza

What you need: English muffins, pizza sauce, cheese, toppings

Lightly toast the English muffins. Add pizza sauce, cheese, and toppings on top of the muffins. Bake at 375 degrees until cheese is melted and bubbly, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Activity: Volcano Eruption

What you’ll need: balloons, torn newspaper (any paper can be substituted), paper mache (flour and water based can be used), paint, baking soda, vinegar (white or apple cider works), orange food coloring.

• Inflate the balloon.
• Completely cover the paper mache with soaked newspaper and attach it to the balloon. Make sure it’s a very thick layer that completely surrounds the balloon. Leave some space at the top so the balloon knot is visible.
• Let dry for at least 24 hours. If you use a mixture of flour and water, let it dry further.
• Once dry, pop the balloon and remove the balloon fragments from the volcano.
• Paint the volcano any way you like.
• Let dry for 3-4 hours.
• Add the vinegar to the volcano until it’s about 2/3 full, add the orange food coloring, then slowly add the baking soda, 1 teaspoon at a time. Watch the volcano explode.
• Repeatable!

You can put these away for a rainy day or use them to suit your child. It’s always fun to try new activities and work on healthy habits at the same time. Sometimes kids don’t realize we’re doing both.

Remember, here at YMCA-WEIU, we are committed to youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility.