Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in silicon valley, CA

The Great Indoors: Fun With Marshmallows

by bonggamom

March 09, 2009

It's white and fluffy, and it ain't snow.  Soft, squishy and sweet, marshmallows as are fun to play with as they are to eat.  We were making marshmallow structures the other day, and that got me to thinking of some other ways kids can have fun with the fluffy stuff on a cold, wintry day:

1) Spice up our basic marshmallow architecture craft when friends come to play.  Give each child (or form teams, and give each team) a set number of marshmallows and toothpicks, and see who can build the highest tower. 

2) Get the grownups to involved:  give kids a set amount of time to build whatever marshmallow structure strikes their fancy.  After they're done, the kids step back and let the grownups try to guess which child built what (tip:  if sharp toothpick ends make you nervous, use uncooked spaghetti noodles instead)

3) Bob for marshmallows instead of apples.  Float jumbo marshmallows in a large tub of water and have your little one put his hands behind his back as he tries to catch the marshmallows in his mouth.  Or tie the marshmallows to a string and hang it off a clothesline.

4) Go beyond S'mores and Rice Krispy treats, and try making chocolate-dipped marshmallows.  Just microwave 1 cup of chocolate chips and 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil in a bowl for about 1 minute, or until melted.  Skewer jumbo marshmallows on sticks and have your child dip each marshmallow into the chocolate.  They can also dip and roll it in a bowl of candy sprinkles, colored sugar or crushed nuts before the chocolate hardens.

5) For a special treat, head over to Sprinkles cupcakes at the Stanford Shopping Center and indulge in a chocolate marshmallow cupcake.  And make sure you snap a photo of your little one with marshmallow fluff on his nose.

One Last Weekend Outlook: January 30th-February 1st

by Shawn Burns

January 28, 2009

This is Resolution month at Savvy Source, and it's become obvious in the past couple of weeks that I need to make one myself, and follow-through on it. I need to step back from the site and spend time working on my "About Me" page. See where it says "is in the middle of his PhD"? Yeah, turns out the middle is a churning mess and I need to dog-paddle a little bit. So this is a  Read more...

Indoor Christmas Activities

by Bonggamom

December 11, 2008

The weather outside may be frightful, but the fire is so delightful, you may not want to stay snug and cozy. Until your kids start to drive you crazy with their bored whining or their crazy, cooped-up antics. Here are some of my favorite ways to keep the kids occupied during the holidays: 1) Bake cookies Because ya gotta have holiday cookies, right? Make it easier on yourself by setting up a  Read more...

Weekend Outlook: December 5th-7th

by Shawn Burns

December 03, 2008

Even if you aren't going to be participating in or enjoying any of the activities and events I talked about yesterday you can still have a great time with your kid(s) this weekend around the Peninsula. And for the sake of variety this will be a concert/theater-free Weekend Outlook. I know you must be played out (that's kind of a pun). This Friday from 3-4pm is the first in Hidden  Read more...

The Children's Discovery Museum: The Wonder Cabinet

by Shawn Burns

July 09, 2008

I took Erin to the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose on Tuesday. We've been before, but I wanted to bring her back now that she's a toddling walker instead of a mostly-stationary crawler. We explored both the downstairs area and the Wonder Cabinet, the special area for children under 4 upstairs. This post will be about the Wonder Cabinet. We happened to get there just as the art studio in  Read more...