Bread Making Thursdays

Every Thursday we make bread at school, and it is a crowd pleasure so I thought I would share the recipe.

To make it easier when working with a lot of little hands at one time, I make sure to have everything available. I warm up the water before the children arrive.  I also have a large bowl for the bread set out, a smaller bowl for the water and yeast, several measuring spoons and cups.

They are all use to making bread at this point and so it goes smoothly, but when we started we talked

alot about keeping the flour in the cups and bowls and not making it snow on the floor, as well as using the palms of our hands to knead the dough instead of squiching our little fingers deep into it and getting stuck:) 

This is an adaptation of recipes I found on google while searching for Waldorf bread recipes. 

 It is really tasty and easy!

Ingredients:

4 cups of flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 cups of warm water

*1 tablespoon of honey and 1 teaspoon of brown sugar

OR

3 teaspoons of brown sugar (we have had better results with this)

We start by taking turns sprinkling the yeast in the water.  As we wait for it to bubble we then take turns adding flour with small measuring cups to the bowl.  This way everyone gets several turns scooping up the flour and adding it to the measureing cup.  Likewise we take turns pouring a little bit of the flour from the measuring cup into the bowl so everyone gets a turn doing that as well.  Then again, taking turns we add the salt and brown sugar.  ( if you are using honey, add that to the 2 cups of water before adding your yeast and then only add 1 teaspoon of brown sugar to your flour)  I mix the flour a little bit at this point making sure everything is sifted in. Next, everyone takes turns adding the yeast after they have watched it bubble.  They then get spoons and start mixing! 

For a final mixing I take over while they wash their hands, and I do a quick kneading of the dough.  we let it sit for 15-45 minuutes while we play.  After the dough rises each child gets a small piece to knead and shape as they wish.  I cook the bread at 390 degrees (my oven is a little off so 375 degrees should work in most ovens)  for 25 minute or until it is has a nice golden brown top.  Enjoy!!!

Flower Petal Sun Catchers

Everyday at Art and Soul we journey through the wonderful world of art and art making.  Sometimes it is just a sensory exploration of paint on paper at an easel, on a rock, in the snow, or on our hands.  Other times we find ourselves involved in printmaking, collaging, candle making or simply cutting paper for the fun and skill of using scissors and seeing how they deconstruct and manipulate paper.

I would like this blog to offer parents at home some projects that they can try out with their own children, or for parent's of the children at Art and Soul to see their children in the act of making the art they bring home or place in their school art books.   Enjoy the process.

Flower Petal Sun Catchers

Materials:
A heavy card stock or cardboard...in this case a pizza box worked well. 
Contact paper
Paints
Flower petals, feather, pictures, whatever flat object you would like to use.

The Process:
I cut the the card board into circles, but any frame shape will work.  I also cut two pieces of contact paper into circles, one the size of the cardboard frame and one the size of the opening. 

The children then get their paint palettes, which at the school are little trays that have deep sections in them so that they can experiment with mixing colors.  I also have the kids pick their colors, they know what they like and get very excited about having the option to pick the color paints they would like to work with.  We spend sometime before painting just letting them mix paints and explore.

Next, they were given their circles and they started painting right away.

After they finish their paintings we let them dry as we walk into the garden to get some flower petals to use.
As the children pluck the petals from the flowers, I attach the large circle of contact paper so that the sticky side is facing out. and then the fun of sticking the flower petals to the clear circle begins.

The next step is to place the smaller circle of contact paper on top of the flower petals face down.

Have the children smooth out the bubbles so that the  flowers preserve themselves better.

After the sun catchers are finished, the kids beaded wire hanger attachments.  As a jeweler I of course love seeing them bead, but it is a great way for them to work on hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills and concentration.