Our local zoo had a light show every half hour where the lights blinked to the music. It was fun to watch (even for this adult). It had the kids ooohing and ahhhing.

Some of the indoor animal exhibits were open, and we even saw a couple of Santa’s reindeer taking a break before their wild ride on Christmas Eve.

If you’re looking for a fun holiday activity your kids will enjoy check with your local zoo to see if they have a Christmas, or winter light show. The Wildlight show at the Columbus Zoo continues through January 2nd.

Columbus Zoo Wildlights Images (c) L Gerlach

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Here are just a few of my favorites:

• Handprint Santa Claus here at Play Library
• Handprint reindeer here at Play Library
• Handprint reindeer treat jar from Amazing Moms
• Handprint angel craft from Party Animal
• Handprint Christmas tree from The Kids Birthday Fun Review

Handprint crafts make great gifts for grandparents, and excellent keepsake gifts, especially if you put the child’s age and the date on the back.

You can also photograph the craft and have it made into a mug, t-shirt or bag for grandparents. Then it’s something useful, created by their child or grandchild.

Do you have a favorite handprint craft that your child or grandchild made for you?

Image (c) L Gerlach

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I love making Christmas ornaments and other Christmas crafts with my son this time of year, so I thought I’d gather up some handmade Christmas ornament ideas you could do with your children.

Here are some of my favorites:

1. Sparkling Beaded Ornaments from AmazingMoms
2. Cookie Cutter Ornaments from here at Play Library
3. Salt Dough Ornaments from Kids Birthday Fun Review
4. Dangling Snowman from Disney’s Family Fun
5. Painted Pine Cones from Thrifty Mommy
6. Foam Sticker Ornaments from Little Fun Little Learning
7. Candy Cane Mouse from AmazingMoms
8. Pony Bead Christmas Tree from Kaboose
9. Retro Ornaments from Disney’s Family Fun

What’s your favorite handmade ornament?

Image istockphoto

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When I got to looking around there are several fun variations on the turkey treat, several use candy corn, many use Oreo cookies. I thought I’d put together a list of some of my favorite Thanksgiving turkey treat ideas, cupcakes and cookies just for the kids.

1. Thanksgiving turkey Rice Krispy treats
2. Turkey Pops
3. Oreo Cookie Turkeys
4. Turkey Cookie Treats
5. Pretzel Tailed Turkey Treats
6. Hand Print Cookie Turkeys
7. Turkey Cupcakes for Kids to make
8. Sweet Turkey Treats
9. Turkey Rice Krispy Treat Handprint
10. Fudge Stripe Cookie Turkeys

I love all of these fun Thanksgiving treats, I wish I had time to make them all! If you give any of them a try, stop back and let me know how it goes.

Image (c) L Gerlach

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We shop all day long, chatting away while we wait in the long lines, and taking a nice leisurely lunch break after we’ve hit all the morning door buster deals, and before we head back out for more shopping.

Of course we check out all the Black Friday ads before we head out, so we can plan our strategy, and make our list of stops. I usually get most of my toy shopping done.

Yesterday I shared the Toys R Us Black Friday deals. Today I have a few more Black Friday sales ads to share with you so you can make your own plans.

• Walmart has some great Black Friday deals on toys for the kids, including the Girl Gourmet Candy sweets factory for $15.00, Twilight New Moon Board Game for $5.00, Bakugan Collectors Tin for $9.00, FurReal Friends Tuggin Pup for $9.00 and many more great deals and door busters.
• Kohl’s has everything on sale.
• Kmart has Bakugan toys and Lego sets buy 2 get one free, Crayola Glow Dome for $18.99, the Uno Flash Game for $24.99 and many more great toy deals in their Black Friday ad.

Are you  a Black Friday shopper?

Image sxc.hu

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Over 300 merchants have already signed up to participate in this year’s Free Shipping Day, and founder Luke Knowles expects more than 500 merchants will be participating by the time the date gets here. Some of the merchants that have already confirmed they are participating include Toys R Us, JCPenney, Apple Store, Nike, Sears, Babies R Us, Eddie Bauer, PacSun, PetSmart, and Adidas. If you order on December 17th, participating stores will deliver by Christmas Eve, if items are in stock.

If you have gifts you need to order online, or gifts you’ll need to have delivered, keep December 17th in mind.

You can find more information, and find out all the merchants who are participating at the Free Shipping Day website.

Image:Sxc.hu

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“How To Build a Gingerbread House” is a great guide to help you along the way. The book contains step-by-step instructions, easy recipes and over 200 color photographs to help you complete your gingerbread house project from start to finish.

The best part is, all you need to get started are everyday grocery store ingredients and basic kitchen equipment. The author, Christina Banner, was winner of the National Gingerbread House Competition and Food Network’s Gingerbread Challenge, so she knows her gingerbread!

You can find more information about gingerbread house building and her book at Christina’s website GingerbreadBuilding.com. She also has a recipe for a tree and greenery recipe for your gingerbread house, and gingerbread house making tips.

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I thought I’d put together a few fun Veterans Day activities for kids to help teach a little more about the importance of veterans, and what they do for our country.

• Veterans Day Word Ladder and Scramble Worksheets
• A Veterans Day Printable Coloring Sheet
• Make a handmade card to thank your favorite veteran
• Write a Veteran’s Day story
• Make a Patriotic Paper Wind Streamer
• A Veterans Day Word Search
• Make a camouflage friend
• A list of Childrens Songs for Veterans Day
• Make Veterans Day Door Hangers

What’s your favorite Veteran’s Day activity to help children learn the importance of honoring their Vets?

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This year we will be watching the 83rd edition of the Macy’s Parade. This year’s parade will be setting another new milestone, it’s marched down parts of Broadway for 82 years, the 2009 procession will be the first to bypass Broadway during the route.

Joining Macy’s parade favorites this year will be several new high flying giant balloons, including:

The Pillsbury Doughboy~ The Doughboy marches in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with his arms outstretched, with his bright blue eyes shining ready to ring in the holidays. At more than 63 times his traditional 8 3/4-inch size, the Doughboy balloon will measure 53.7 feet in length, 34.4 feet in width and will be 46.4 feet tall. This Doughboy will rise to the occasion filled with 12,280 cubic feet of helium.

Ronald McDonald~ This year, there’s a new Ronald McDonald. He’s in a playful mood and has strapped on the world’s largest pair of ice skates for some fun-filled holiday activity. This giant balloon is 76.4 feet long, 28.8 feet wide and 48.6 feet tall, Ronald will be inflated with 13,650 cubic feet of helium on Parade day. Wow!

Sailor Mickey~ Sporting his nautically inspired red, white and blue sailor gear, Mickey will salute the crowds as he rides down the Macy’s Parade route. Mickey measures 48.1-feet long, 33.6-feet wide and 60.9-feet tall. Sailor Mickey will be filled with 14,750 cubic feet of helium on his maiden voyage on Thanksgiving Day.

Spiderman~ After a decade, the legendary crime-fighting web-slinger returns to the Macy’s Parade line-up in celebration of Marvel’s 70th Anniversary. Spider-Man made his Macy’s Parade debut in 1987, becoming an instant classic. The new, more modern and muscular Spidey is in full crawling mode with one hand set to release his web. On Parade day, the Spider-Man balloon will measure 78-feet long, 37.8-feet wide and 29.1-feet tall and will be filled with 11,800 cubic feet of helium.

Other Macy’s parades highlights include Santa in his new sleigh, after 40 years, and the magical world of Yo Gabba Gabba Live! comes to life on the brand new There’s A Party in My City float.

Is the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade a tradition at your house?
Image: Newscom

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Today I have a great recipe for you to use for your party, and some cookie decorating party tips to share from the author of a new cooking with kids book Cindy Mushet. Her new book is called Baking Kids Love.

Send out the invitations a couple weeks ahead of time, letting the children and their parents know what to expect. You can make the dough ahead of time and have it ready for the party.

Don’t forget to pick up some cute little decorative boxes or tins to let the kids carry their cookies home in (if there are any left).

First up I have a great sugar cookie recipe for your cookie decorating party.

Be Creative Sugar Cookies
—From Baking Kids Love by Sur La Table with Cindy Mushet/Andrews McMeel Publishing

Makes 25 to 30 Fun Shapes

Ingredients
Cookies:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Icing:

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• ¼ cup meringue powder
• ½ cup water
• Food coloring, in various colors to decorate
• Sprinkles, sugar pearls, large crystal sugar, dragées, and/or candies

Cookie Making Tools:

• Measuring cups and spoons
• 2 baking sheets
• Parchment paper
• 2 large, 2 medium, and 2 to 4 small bowls
• Electric mixer
• Silicone spatula
• Whisk
• Plastic wrap
• Rolling pin
• 3-inch cookie cutters
• Oven mitts
• Cooling rack
• Sieve
• 1 or more small offset spatulas or small spoons
• Small disposable piping bags or other piping tools (optional)

Before you begin

• Position 1 oven rack in the top ¹⁄³ of the oven and 1 oven rack in the bottom ¹⁄³ of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the baking sheets with the parchment paper (see page 4).

Mix the dough

• Put the butter and sugar in 1 of the large bowls. Using the mixer, beat on low speed for 1 minute. Turn up the speed to medium and beat for another minute. The mixture should be blended and smooth. Turn off the mixer. Using the silicone spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on medium-low speed until well blended. Turn off the mixer. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Put the flour and salt into 1 of the medium bowls and whisk until blended. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat on low speed just until the ingredients are blended and no patches of flour are visible. The mixture will have the texture of gravel and pebbles. Scrape down the bowl one last time, and make sure no clumps of flour are hiding in the bottom. Dump the clumps of dough onto your work surface, and squeeze them together until they form a cohesive dough. Flatten the dough into a 9-inch circle, wrap in plastic or parchment, and chill for 30 minutes before continuing.

Roll the dough

• Place a large sheet of parchment paper on your work surface, about the size of a baking sheet. Have a second parchment sheet the same size ready. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it in the center of the first parchment sheet. Top with the second parchment sheet, and flatten the dough slightly. Using the rolling pin, and starting from the edge closest to you, roll gently but firmly to the edge opposite you and then back again twice. Be careful not to roll the pin off the edge of the dough, or the dough will stick to the paper. Turn the dough, between the parchment paper, a quarter turn and roll up and back again twice. Repeat rolling up and back and turning until the dough is ¼ inch thick.
• If the paper creases into the dough, gently peel back the paper, straighten it out, and smooth it back on top of the dough. You’ll need to do this several times during the rolling process. If the dough gets too soft and squishy while you are rolling, transfer it to a baking sheet (still between the parchment paper) and refrigerate for 10 to 15 minutes, until cool but flexible.

Cut out the shapes

• Peel off the top sheet of parchment. If the dough is soft and sticky, refrigerate for 15 minutes. Using the cookie cutters, press down firmly to cut out shapes (see photos). Cut them as close together as possible. Using a small offset spatula, lift the shapes off the parchment paper and transfer to the prepared pans, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Press all the dough scraps together, roll the dough out, and cut out more shapes.

Bake the cookies

• Place 1 baking sheet on each oven rack. Bake for 8 minutes, then, using the oven mitts, switch the pans between the oven racks. Bake for another 5 to 9 minutes, until the cookies are golden brown around the edges and lightly golden in the center. Using the oven mitts, transfer the pans to the cooling racks and let the cookies cool completely before decorating. You may need to reuse the pans to finish baking all the cookies. Let the pans cool before you put more dough on them for baking.

Make the icing

• Sift the powdered sugar into the other medium bowl (see page 11). Put the meringue powder and water in the other large bowl. Make sure the bowl and your mixer beaters are very clean so the icing will whip up nicely. Beat the meringue on medium speed for about 1 minute, then turn the mixer to high and continue to whip until the mixture looks like whipped cream and has formed soft peaks (see page 17).
• With the mixer on medium speed, add the sifted sugar, about ¼ cup at a time, shaking it gently over the bowl and letting it blend in slowly. Once all the sugar has been added, turn the mixer to high speed and continue to beat for 1 to 2 minutes, until the mixture is very fluffy and shiny and forms firm peaks. Turn off the mixer and check the peaks again. At this point, the slope should be nearly vertical.
• Divide the icing among the small bowls—the number depends on how many different colors of icing you want. Color each bowl of icing a different color by stirring in a few drops of food coloring. You can even make you own “custom” colors by combining food colorings. Cover each bowl with a damp, wrung-out paper towel and top with a piece of plastic wrap until you are ready to decorate, or a hard skin will form on top.

Decorate the cookies

• Using the small offset spatula, spread the icing over the cookies, wiping the spatula clean each time you switch to a different colored icing. You can also pipe icing: Spoon some icing into a small disposable piping bag, cut a tiny hole in the bottom, and squeeze the bag gently to create patterns and shapes on your cookies. Or fill another icing tool, such as a squeeze bottle, and frost the cookies. While the icing is wet, add sprinkles or other decorations as desired. Let the icing dry for 1 to 2 hours. It will harden. Once it is hard, you can stack the cookies in an airtight container and store them at room temperature for up to 3 weeks.

Baking Kids Love is loaded with 30 kid-tastic recipes for cooking with your child. The recipes have step by step instructions and photographs to help little bakers know what to do next.

The book was just released in October, so it would make a wonderful Christmas book for a child who loves to help out in the kitchen. Pair it with a chefs hat and apron to encourage your little baker in the kitchen. You can find Baking Kids Love at major book retailers, the Sir La Table website and Amazon.com.

Images: Baking Kids Love

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