AA Gifts & Baskets Idea Blog

Reading to your child everyday is one of the most important things you can do for your child – and it should start even when they’re a baby! A baby listens to everything that is said to them and stores it away.  You can broaden their vocabulary more quickly by reading stories and poetry . In fact reading to your child everyday can very easily develop into lifelong enjoyment of a fantastic hobby for your child.

You might think that your child is not interested in reading, but there are several ways to spark their interest with a little patience and injection of fun into the process. If kids feel like they are being forced to read, then they will dislike it. But if you start the process at an early age, reading can become second nature to your children.

Make sure you are aware of your child’s interest, and choose books accordingly. A field trip to the library is a great idea, then they can choose their own books. You may be surprised to find what your child wants to learn about!

Praise and compliment your child’s reading abilities, to build their confidence level and increase their enjoyment of reading. If reading makes your child feel good, they will continue to do it!

One of the most successful techniques for teaching your child to read is the show and read technique. This is where you read to your child while pointing at each word as you read so that your child can see the words and repeat them. Doing this on a daily basis will not only help your child learn to recognize words, but it helps with their memory skills as well!

When a child sees a word and hears it being pronounced at the same time, they will in time learn to recognize the word, how it is said, what it means and how to use it in a sentence. This can take many repetitions, but they will get there.

Remember – reading is one of the best gifts you can give your child, because that skill will help them develop into a successful student and adult!

If you’re looking to get out of the heat this summer and need a fun indoor activity, how about whipping up some play dough or clay in your own kitchen!  With a few ingredients you find around your home, you can create hours of fun!

Scented Kool-Aid Play Dough

Supplies:

2 1/2 C. Flour
1/2 C. Salt
2 packages of Kool-Aid®
2 C. Boiling Water
1/4 C. Oil

Directions:

1. Mix together the flour, salt, and Kool-aid®
2. Boil 2 Cups of Water
3. At the same time, mix the boiling water and oil into the dry mix.
4. Kneed the dough until it becomes the consistency you desire. (Lots of kneeding!)

Store in a zip-lock baggie.

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Cornstarch Clay

Supplies:

1 cup salt
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
Food coloring or tempera paints (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat the salt and 1/3 cup of water over medium-high heat for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. (An adult should prepare this mixture, which gets quite hot and bubbly.)
2. Remove from heat and add the cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water. The mixture should now look like thick mashed potatoes; stir until it thickens.
3. Let cool for a few minutes before kneading. If the dough feels too sticky at first, work in some extra cornstarch as you knead.
4. Add food coloring, if desired.

Great to make small bowls, a lasting impression of your child’s hand, or Christmas ornaments. Dries within 1-4 days (depending on size of item). Cornstarch Clay will keep unrefrigerated for up to 2 weeks when stored with a small bit of wet sponge in a plastic bag or sealed container.

Summer is here, that means the kids are ready for fun!  Here are some great homemade recipes that the kids can help make.

Ultimate Bubble Mixture

2 cups Joy® dish detergent
6 cups water
3/4 cups Karo® syrup

Combine all ingredients and let settle for 4 hours. Store covered in refrigerator to extend suds life. Warm to room temperature before using.

Rainbow Crayons

Broken crayon pieces
Muffin Tin

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Remove paper from broken crayons and place pieces in a muffin tin.
3. Place tin in preheated oven until crayons are melted.
*Do not move pan too much when removing, or colors will become muddy*
4. When slightly cooled, place in freezer until crayon becomes easy to remove.
5. Enjoy some rainbow coloring fun!

Finger Paints

1/2 Cup boiling water.
2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
6 Tablespoons Cold Water

Dissolve starch in cold water in a cup. Add this mixture to boiling water, stirring occasionally. Heat until it thickens and becomes glossy. Color water with food coloring. Store in air tight container. Use freezer paper as paper to paint on.

*The average American (every man, woman and child) consumes 54 quarts of popcorn annually which means that the U.S. eats about 17 million quarts of popcorn each and every year. Americans consume more popcorn than the citizens of any other country in the world.
*If you wanted to create a line of popped popcorn from LA to NY city, you’d need more than 352,028,160 pieces of popcorn.
* 70% of popcorn consumed in America is consumed at home.  The other 30% of popcorn is consumed outside the home at places like baseball games and movie theaters.

*Fall and winter are the seasons when the most popcorn is consumed. This timing coincides perfectly with the annual popcorn harvest in the Midwest. In fact, October is officially National Popcorn Poppin’ Month.

*Not surprisingly, the U.S. is the largest agricultural grower of popcorn in the world – mostly in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska and Ohio. There are many midwest cities that claim to be the popcorn capital of the world.

*According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the world’s largest popcorn ball was unveiled in September 2006 in Lake Forest, Illinois. It weighed a whopping 3,423 pounds and measured 8 feet in diameter. The total circumference of the popcorn ball was 24.5 feet. It took employees of a local popcorn tin company 2 days to make the giant-sized snack.

*Popcorn is one of the healthiest snacks you can eat with only 31 calories per air-popped cup or only 55 calories per oil-popped cup. It contains no sodium and is naturally sugar free and high in fiber.

*Popcorn is a member of the maize/corn family, but it is the only one of the 6 types that pops. This is because it has a thicker hull than other types of corn. This hull allows pressure to build inside the kernel enabling it to pop.

*Want to do a fun little experiment the next time you are popping corn? Leave the lid off then just stand back and watch because popcorn is said to be able to pop up to 3 feet up in the air.

So how exactly does a small hard kernel transform into a big, fluffy delicious snack?

Each kernel of popcorn contains a small drop of water stored inside a circle of soft starch which is surrounded by the kernel’s hard outer surface. Unlike most other types of grain, this hard outer surface is resistant to moisture. For the corn to be ‘popcorn’, it needs to contain at 13.5 to 14% moisture inside the hard outer surface.

As the kernel heats up, the water begins to expand turning it into superheated pressurized steam. The pressure builds against the hard hull until it gives way, causing the popcorn to explode. The hull rupture usually occurs at about 135 psi and a temperature of 180 degrees Celsius.

As it explodes, the soft starch inside the popcorn becomes inflated and bursts into an airy foam, turning the kernel inside out. As the foam cools, the starch and protein polymers set yielding the crispy popcorn puff that we all know and love.

Those unpopped kernels of corn that are left at the bottom of popcorn bowls are generally the result of either kernels that don’t have the proper moisture content or they have a cracked outer hull which means that the expanding steam can’t build enough pressure to cause the kernel to pop.

The next few weeks I’ll be exploring the wonderful world of popcorn.  Who doesn’t love a good bowl of these delicious, crunchy kernels?  But how did Popcorn come to be?  Who would of thought of heating the kernels up to make them pop?

The History of Popcorn

Popcorn has been grown and eaten as a snack in the United States for thousands of years.  It is believed that the popping of corn was first discovered by Native Americans who threw the corn into the fire causing it to pop. They also used popped corn to make garlands that the women wore during wedding ceremonies and other celebration dances. Likely the native Americans introduced popcorn to the American colonists who actually ground it up mixing it with milk for breakfast.

Popping corn became quite popular as a recreational activity by the 1840s. In the 1870s popcorn was commonly sold at carnivals and circuses as well as in grocery stores.

With the introduction of the movies or ‘talking pictures’, popcorn solidified its place in America’s movie theaters. Although theater owners initially refused to sell popcorn because it was too messy, many theater patrons brought the popcorn to the theater with them by purchasing it from street vendors on the way in. Of course, theater owners finally caught on and introduced the snack selling it at their own concession counters. This introduction of popcorn to movie theaters enabled the popcorn industry to keep growing even during the great depression of the 1930s. In addition, popcorn was a relatively affordable luxury even for struggling families as they could buy it for just 5 to 10 cents a bag.

Because of the sugar shortage during World War II, candy was not readily available as a snack item. Thanks to the lack of candy snacks, Americans turned to popcorn to fill their snack needs, eating 3 times as much popcorn as usual. World War II also induced a baking flour shortage which the popcorn industry capitalized on. Bread makers were forced to substitute 25% ground popcorn for their wheat flour.

After many years riding the popcorn popularity wave, the industry actually had a slump in the 1950s when TV was introduced. People stopped going to the theaters in lieu of staying home watching TV. The lack of theater goers created a huge drop in popcorn consumption. Up to that point, people didn’t really eat popcorn at home. However, Americans missed their popcorn so they started popping it at home and the introduction of the microwave made home popping even easier. So the love affair has continued ever since. These days, popcorn is one of America’s most popular and enduring snacks.

Check out our Popcorn Gifts and fall in love with popcorn all over again!