We are eagerly awaiting the holidays, and counting down the days until we can spend time with love ones, while spreading some holiday cheer. As we wait, we have some very delicious days ahead of us. Today you guys are in for a treat. Happy national cupcake day! What is better than cupcakes? They can be fun, cute, bring out your creative side, and most of all tasty! In celebration of today, we have created a list of some sweet cupcake activities, as well as a list of really cool holiday cupcake recipes. We hope everyone takes a look and digs in.
1. Make your own rainbow cupcake
For this activity, children make their own cupcake out of rainbow parts.
Things you will need:
-scissors
-glue
-multi-colored construction paper
-colorful pom poms
-colorful tissue paper
-colorful pipe cleaners
Start by gathering all of your supplies, making sure you cut out cupcake shapes out of the construction paper. Next, come up with silly names for a list of made up cupcakes (ex:pretty in pink fairy cupcake). Once you have your list, write out the recipes to these cupcakes. This includes making sure to describe each part as colorful as possible. (ex: fuzzy purple pipe cleaner sprinkles, crunchy red tissue paper). When you are finished with the ingredients, have the children make the cupcakes. Your children can be as creative and experimental as they want, going over their list and ingredients to make the most colorful cupcake they can. This activity is not only fun, but helps your children recognize and remember their colors as they use them in their craft.
2. Make your own word cupcakes
In this activity children will make their own simple three letter words using cupcake parts.
Things you will need:
-Felt fabric sheets or construction paper (multi -colored)
-scissors
-tape
Start off by coming up with how you want to design your cupcakes. Go over the components of a cupcake with the children breaking it down into 3 main parts (cherry frosting/top, base). Next, practice cutting out the shapes for your cupcakes. After Each shape is cut out, write out one letter on each part. Once your letters are finished, it's time to mix and match. Ask your children how many words do they think they can come up with, by mixing and matching the cupcake parts. This activity helps with letter and shape recognition, as well as gives your children and opportunity to build on their vocabulary and spelling skills.
3. Matching cupcake shapes
For this activity children will make their own cupcake, by matching different shapes and patterns.
Things you will need:
-Tape
-markers
-Felt fabric sheets or multi-colored construction paper
-scissors
Start by making one basic cupcake outline, and asking how many shapes can you fit into the cupcake. You can draw an example, such as outlining a red circle within the cherry on top, or making green triangles in the bottom base. Once the children have an idea of the shapes, make multiple cupcake cutouts out of felt fabric or construction paper. Make sure each part of the cupcake is separate from each other. Once you have your parts, decorate each part with a different design or pattern. Have your children practice putting the parts and shapes together, and see what pattern they make. (Ex: polka-dot circle "cherry"-two triangle squiggle line "frosting"-one square smiley face "base"). This activity lets children form and recognize both patterns and shapes, as well as build on fine motor and muscle skills.
4. Addition and Subtraction cupcake sprinkles
With this activity, children will practice counting, adding and subtracting as they decorate their cupcakes.
Things you need:
-scissors
-colorful pom poms
-multi-colored fabric sheets or construction paper
-tape
-markers
-colorful pipe cleaners
First, start by making many colorful cupcake parts out of your fabric sheets or construction paper. Next, number each part. Once you have finished numbering your parts, have the children try to mix and match the parts, then create addition or subtraction problems out of what they have. (Ex: "2" cherry + "1" base=?).
Depending on the children's ages, you can make the math problems as simple or detailed as you like. (Ex: "2" cherry + "1" base + "3" sprinkles=?) (one full cupcake + 5 sprinkles=?).
Your children can build onto their math skills, and have a physical concept of addition and subtraction by moving and adding the cupcake parts.
5. Baking cupcakes
What's a better way to learn on national cupcake day, than to make your own cupcakes? This activity isn't just about baking, your children can learn many concepts as they help you bake, and gain a sense of accomplishment creating their own tasty treats! As you go to cook your cupcakes, you can keep in mind a list of questions and concepts to go over. Some of these things include:
Measuring: With each ingredient added, your children have an opportunity to learn different measurements, and how they come together to create your cupcakes.
Mixing:Help build fine and large motor skills by letting your children mix the ingredients together. They can develop better coordination as they crack eggs,squeeze food coloring and divide and pour the batter.
Observing reactions: Use baking time as an opportunity to demonstrate and explain basic reactions. This can include what happens when we mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients, and how batter can become thick or watery based on what we add.
Experimenting with food coloring: A fun way to mix things up is to experiment with color. Adding food coloring to your batter can help create cool funky cupcake designs, as well as let your children guess what colors they can mix and create.
Below is a list of some really tasty holiday cupcake recipes we found. We hope you enjoy!
1. "Snowman cupcakes" by Diana Alshakhanbeh - littlesunnykitchen.com
2. "Christmas Tree cupcakes" by John - preppykitchen.com
3. "Gingerbread cupcakes" by Chelsea - chelseasmessyapron.com
4. "Rudolph cupcakes" by Jody Arsenault - mommymoment.ca
5. "Blue and White velvet Hanukkah cupcakes" by James - cooklikejames.typepad.com