"Plant One On Me" Valentine

Let that special someone know he's really grown on you with this botanical Valentine.

Difficulty: Medium

You will need:
Cardstock (pinks, reds and one terracotta color)
Child-safe scissors or heart-shaped punches
Packets of flower seeds (one for each valentine)
Glue or double-sided tape
Markers
This pattern (click to view and print larger)
From terracotta-colored cardstock, cut and fold card shape. Take pink and red cardstocks and cut or punch heart shapes, decorate the seed packets with these. Write your message with the markers. Tape or glue the seed packet to the inside of the card, fold to close. If it won't stay closed, adhere one piece of double-sided tape to the seed packet. Pat the exposed side with your fingers a few times to make it less sticky, then fold card over.

Valentine Cookie Pops

These cookie lollipops will be a hit with your toddler... and slightly less messy to eat!

Difficulty: Medium

You will need:
1 (18 oz) Pillsbury® Ready To Bake!™ refrigerated sugar cookies
20 flat wooden sticks with round ends
1 1/4 cups vanilla creamy ready-to-spread frosting (from 1-lb container)
Assorted small candies, or candy decors or nonpareils, if desired
10 yards red curling ribbon

1. Heat oven to 350°F. On ungreased cookie sheets, place cookie dough pieces 2 inches apart. Into side of each piece of dough, insert wooden stick 1 inch, overlapping wooden sticks as necessary.
2. Bake 12 to 16 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely, about 10 minutes.
3. Spread frosting on one side of each cookie; decorate with candies. Tie 18 inches of red ribbon into bow around each stick next to cookie.

Recipe from Pillsbury.com

Painted Toast

This is a great way to combine snacktime and crafts.

Difficulty: easy

You will need:
Sliced Bread (white will show the color better but wheat is healthier... you decide)
New Paint Brush
Food Colorings
Milk
Small cups or bowls

Get a small cup for each color you plan to use. Put about 1/4 cup of milk in each cup. Using the food coloring, add a different color to each cup. Add the food coloring until you get a bright color. Now, use the paint brush and paint a picture on a piece of bread. Make sure that bread doesn't get too wet. When your picture is done, toast the bread. Now you have a master piece to eat!

Mini pizzas

Tempt your picky eater with child-size portions.

For this project, you can make this fabulous whole-wheat pizza crust, or just use a can of refrigerated biscuit dough for the mini pizzas. This makes a lot of crust so if you don't use it all, just freeze the extra to use later.

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 5 1/2 cups bread flour

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let sit until creamy; about 10 minutes.

Stir the olive oil, whole wheat flour, salt and 4 cups of the bread flour into the yeast mixture. Mix in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large mixing bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and put in a warm place to rise until doubled in volume; about 1 hour. (For the perfect "warm place", turn your oven on for 2 minutes, then turn it back off. Place the dough inside and keep the door closed to keep the little bit of heat in.)

Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into three equal pieces and form into rounds. Cover the rounds and let them rest for about 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into the desired shape, cover it with your favorite toppings and bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for about 20 minutes or until the crust and cheese are golden brown.

Or let one child cover it with her favorite toppings while the other eats all of his. Possible topping ideas: pepperoni, sliced olives, green peppers, Canadian bacon (or ham), pineapple, pre-cooked sausage bits, mushrooms, cooked/shredded chicken, spinach. For the sauce, a can of tomato sauce with a little Italian seasoning sprinkled in will work fine, or any jar of pizza or spaghetti sauce will do.

If you have any kid-friendly baking tools (rolling pins, cookie cutters, etc.) it's fun for the kids to shape their own pizza crust.

And it helps to have Calvin around to do the clean-up!

Halloween coloring pages

Stuck inside with the cold weather? Print out some special Halloween coloring pages for your little monsters.

Use this link or search the internet for "Halloween coloring pages". Alternately create your own coloring sheets by inserting clip art or the saved coloring page images into a Word document and adding your own text ("W is for Witch!") Just remember to select "outline" on your font properties.

Little Piggy Pies

Tempt your children to eat their veggies with these darling piggy pies (from recipes.howstuffworks.com)

Difficulty: Medium

You will need:
1 can refrigerated biscuit dough (10 biscuits)
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, potatoes, peas, celery, green beans, corn, onions and/or lima beans)
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) reduced-fat condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
8 oz. chopped cooked chicken
1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning or sage
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Remove 10 green peas from frozen mixed vegetables. Combine remaining vegetables, soup, chicken, yogurt, water, thyme, poultry seasoning and garlic powder in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.

Spoon hot chicken mixture into 5 (10-ounce) custard cups. Press five biscuits into 3-inch circles. Place one circle carefully on top of chicken mixture.

Cut each remaining biscuit into eight wedges. Place two wedges on top of each circle; fold points down to form ears. Roll one wedge into small ball. Use tip of spoon handle to make indents in snout for nostrils. Place in center of each circle to form pig's snout. Place 2 reserved green peas on each circle for eyes.

Place remaining biscuit wedges around each "pig" for legs. Twist one wedge into a "tail" for each. Place cups or mugs on a cookie sheet so that they are stable in the oven. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until biscuits are golden.

Kool-aid Playdough

This play dough is inexpensive, easy to make, non-toxic and smells wonderful!

Difficulty: Easy

You will need: 1 cup flour
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup salt
3 teaspoons Cream of Tartar
1 package Kool-Aid Mix (any flavor or color you want)
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 gallon-sized zip-lock bag (heavy duty if you have it)

In the zip-lock bag, mix together the dry ingredients, let your child squish them together. Add the boiling water and oil by yourself. If the bag is too hot to touch comfortably, let your child squish it together under a towel or inside a pillowcase. Mix well, until a dough forms. Add a bit more flour if it is too sticky.

Turn your child loose with the dough and fun things from your kitchen, like a rolling pin, cookie cutters, plastic knives and more. If you have a problem with your young toddler eating too much of the dough, increase the salt content to discourage them. Store in an airtight container in the fridge to keep the dough fresh.