With Spring almost here, and Easter around the corner, we thought we’d rustle up some rabbit cookies – or bunny biscuits as we’ve named them! It was a great introduction for 9yo to practice his royal icing piping, and ‘flooding in’ – we learnt a LOT about icing technique!
There are LOADS of bunny cookie cutters around at the moment, we had one which was my Mum’s and for the tail you could use a flower cutter, or a small circle…
We used up some royal icing which had been in the fridge for a couple of days, and we have some TOP TIPS for you about this…see below!
Heat the oven to 150 degrees C (300 F, Gas mark 2) Cream the caster sugar and the butter together, slowly adding the flour, mixing together to form a dough, I find we need to add a couple of drops of water, knead together to form a ball.
Roll out the dough, on a floured surface, to about 4mm thick. Using your bunny shaped cutter, cut the dough, and place your bunnies and tails on a lightly floured baking tray, and bake for about 20 minutes, until golden brown. (feel free to make some spare rabbit tails… to munch on whilst you’re icing the rabbit cookies!)
As they cool down, you can make your royal icing (recipe here). Or if you are using some icing which you have been keeping in the fridge, as we were, TOP TIP make sure you really really stir the royal icing to get ALL of the lumps out, otherwise it sticks in the piping bag – and clogs the nozzle so that when you are piping the outline it stutters out, and the line will be all wobbly… 9yo wanted a pale brown bunny, so we mixed in his favourite hot chocolate mix, into a portion of the white royal icing and some more Fairtrade icing sugar, so that it’s quite thick to pipe the outlines. When this outline is dry, you add a drop of water to the remaining brown mixture, so that you can spoon it into the outline, and using a cocktail stick, gently ‘flood’ the biscuit, and prick any little bubble that appear.
Pop the ‘tail’ into position whilst the ‘flood in’ icing on the rabbit cookie is still wet, and pipe on the remaining white royal icing to make a fluffy tail!
During the school year, weekends tend to be reserved for catching up on the laundry, running errands, and hosting family. You may also find that you spend your weekends trying to put your feet up a little bit as well. With that said, you do need to make sure that you don’t leave your kids out. You need to teach them the importance of being able to relax too, because if you don’t then you may find that their school performance suffers.
Encourage them to Go Outside
One thing you need to do to try and help your kids is to encourage them to go outside. You need to encourage outdoor play because it’s vital to your children’s wellbeing. You may also find that it is a good way for you to help them to engage more in school.
Kids do need fresh air, sunshine, and time outdoors, as it is a natural way for them to de-stress. You may also find that it is good for their mental and emotional health too. Whether it is playing on the swings, on a skateboard, or drawing on the pavement with a pack of chalk, you may find that your kids thrive when they can spend more time outside.
Listen to Them
A good way for you to encourage your kids to relax is to simply listen to them. Hear them out when they are talking about school, and friendships, or ask them how they are doing. It’s also important for you to take time out to listen to them talk about their hobbies. If you have an older child who’s in college, and they love console games like Call of Duty. Then enquire about what they are doing, and how they are levelling up their character. You could also perhaps set them up with a Call of Duty account, as this is a good way for them to level up (at your expense and within your control) without having to worry about all the hours they need to spend working towards milestones instead of doing their college work. Little things like this can help them to get the best result out of their gaming experience, and you would be surprised at how much it could help them to feel more connected to you.
Have a Meal Together
It’s also a good idea for you to try and have a meal together. The great thing about sitting down with your child and having a meal with them is that it helps to show them the importance of family time, and it also helps them to feel more at ease. If you want to help your child even more, then one thing you can do is take note of the food that they love and then try and plan your meals around this.
This will give them a boost, and it will also help them to feel like you are listening to them more, and that you care about them. Little things like this can make a major difference to their well-being if they have had a challenging week at work, so keep that in mind.
This is a collaborative post: It’s important to note that Call of Duty games are typically rated for mature audiences due to their content. The franchise began in 2003 with a World War II setting, and has since evolved to cover various historical and modern warfare scenarios. Parents and guardians should consider the game’s rating and content before allowing younger players to access it.
Life has a way of throwing you right into the deep end, doesn’t it? One minute, you’re handling school drop-offs and art projects (and pretty much anything related to the development of your child), and the next, you’re juggling doctor appointments for your ageing parents while trying to figure out what’s for dinner. Suddenly, you’re the go-to person for two generations with wildly different needs, and it can feel like you’re running on empty most of the time.
They call it the “sandwich generation,” but honestly, that makes it sound way too neat. Seriosuly, in rarer, it’s messy, exhausting, and more than a little overwhelming. But here’s the thing: you’re not alone in this balancing act. It is definitely possible to manage both roles without completely losing your sanity.
Now, by all means, it sounds way too good to be true, right, well, it can be true. But when it comes to something as messy as this, where do you even begin?
Start Talking, Not Guessing
If you’re feeling like everyone wants a piece of you, it’s probably because they do. Your parents need help as they adjust to ageing, and your kids need guidance, attention, and probably snacks. But what’s the first step? Well, realistically speaking, you need to start having real conversations with both generations.
Talk with your parents about what they need and how they’re feeling about their independence. They might be too proud to say they need help, or they might already feel smothered by too much of it. Getting on the same page helps avoid misunderstandings and lets you focus on what actually matters. But of course, be sure to explain the situation to your kids too, and yes, kids are smarter than what parents give them credit for.
Stop Trying to Be Everything to Everyone
Read this out loud, and then repeat it: it’s okay to say no. Say it again now. Seriously, trying to do it all is the fastest way to burn out. Now, setting boundaries doesn’t mean you don’t care, it means you’re human.
You need to prioritise what absolutely has to be done and learn to delegate. Siblings, other family members, or even trusted friends can step in to share the load. If your mum needs a lift to her doctor’s appointment, maybe your sibling can step up this time. Or if the kids have football practice, maybe a fellow parent can carpool (most really won’t mind chipping in).
Really, it’s also okay to set limits at home. Maybe your parents don’t need you to cook every single meal if they can still handle breakfast or lunch on their own. Or maybe your kids don’t need you micromanaging their homework every night. Small adjustments go a long way in protecting your sanity.
Tech Will Make Your Life So Much Easier
When life feels like a never-ending list of things to do, technology can be a lifesaver. Currently, we’re living in a time where a phone is just as powerful as a computer, where you have the whole world at the touch of a button.
So, just use tech, for example, shared calendars can help you keep track of everyone’s schedules, like Grandpa’s dentist appointment to your kid’s school recital. There are even meal-planning apps that make grocery shopping less of a headache.
Now, it’s not just about appointments (or buying food), so shared apps might not be enough (or the only thing either). Ideally, you might want to look into other pieces of tech. For example, something like a personal medical alert system, you really need peace of mind during the times you’re not around them. But at the same time, they need their independence, so it’s a good middle ground.
Create Routines That Actually Work
So here’s the thing, routines aren’t just for toddlers. They can be the glue that holds everything together when life gets chaotic. For example, you might want to start by carving out specific times for each group’s needs. Maybe mornings are spent helping your parents with breakfast, medications, or errands, and afternoons are focused on your kids’ activities and homework.
Even simple things like designating a family dinner time can create a sense of structure and connection. But the thing is, you need to be flexible, you can’t have a rigid routine, it just won’t work.
Get the Kids Involved
Okay, sure, your kids might not be able to run errands or balance the books, but they can help more than you think. Depending on their age, this could be for the best. Just think about it; getting them involved in caring for their grandparents not only lightens your load but also creates opportunities for them to bond in meaningful ways.
For example, younger kids can help with simple tasks like reading a story, fetching a glass of water, or organising board games. Older kids might be able to run errands, cook a meal, or keep their grandparents company while you tackle other responsibilities.
Now, this really can’t be stressed enough, but this isn’t about turning your kids into caretakers, it’s about showing them the importance of family and letting them feel like part of the team. Plus, grandparents often have the best stories, and those moments can create memories your kids will treasure forever.
Find Your Own Breathing Room
Here’s the reality: you can’t pour from an empty cup. Yes, really! Taking care of everyone else means you need to take care of yourself too, even if it feels impossible some days. Just remember that your well-being is just as important as everyone else’s. And when you’re feeling your best, you’re better equipped to handle the demands of caregiving.
Ask for Help and Accept It
There’s no trophy for doing it all by yourself. In fact, trying to shoulder everything alone is a fast track to exhaustion. But at the same time, asking for help doesn’t mean you’re failing, it means you’re smart enough to recognize that caregiving is a team effort. Why not ask other family members to chip in?
Chances are, even your cousins might not mind helping (or close friends). Even small gestures, like someone running an errand or watching the kids for an hour, can make a huge difference.
Creating a productive, fun and educational environment in your home has never been more important to you. Making sure that your children always have a go-to activity to exercise their mind, body or soul is always at the top of your priority list.When it comes to feeling happy in your life, you are always at the top of your game when you’re spending time with the people you love the most. With that being said, you need some activities in your backpocket, so that you always have a good idea. Consider some of the following ideas, and you’ll soon have a whole host of fun activities to do with your children at home.
Board Games
Board games are such a valuable tool when you have children of any age. Getting them involved in classic games such as chess or pucket will not only teach them about strategy, but it can also help to improve their concentration. Getting your youngsters into the competitive spirit with a good board game will always be successful, as someone will always learn a valuable lesson as a result of the game they’ve played with you.
Cooking
Cooking is one of the most valuable skills you can teach your little ones, especially if they are getting older. Teaching your children how to read a recipe, cook basic meals and be proud of the finishing product is so important. At home you can encourage your kids to get busy in the kitchen, whether they’re baking lemon drizzle cake for guests or helping you cook a full dinner, you can gradually introduce them to the idea of cooking.
Exercise
This is one activity that will never go out of style when it comes to quality family time. Encouraging your youngsters to stay active and move their bodies in a way that feels enjoyable to them is so important. Exercise can come in all sorts of forms, from walking in the park to going swimming with friends. Leading by example with exercise will teach your children healthy habits and it will also allow everyone in the family to get into a good routine when it comes to physical activity.
Watch Documentaries
Parents often feel guilty about giving their kids too much screen time, but sometimes that’s all you need to relax, unwind and learn something new. There are so many fun and educational documentaries that you can enjoy with your child, and it won’t give you any guilt for putting them in front of the television for an hour or two! This is something you can do as a family, and it will spark conversations afterwards too.
It doesn’t matter how old or young your children are, you can get them involved in all of the healthy, fun and educational activities mentioned above. Whether you’re teaching them how to play chess from the comfort of your own home, or you’re cooking up a delicious recipe in the kitchen, there is so much you can do to spend quality time with the little ones you love.
The family dining room is more than just a place to sit down and eat; it’s where everyone comes together, builds memories, and shares stories. Designing a dining room that is both family-friendly and stylish can transform the experience of gathering for meals.
From choosing the right furniture to creating an inviting atmosphere, let’s explore how you can design a family dining room that combines durability, style, and functionality.
Choose a Durable Dining Table
The dining table is the heart of the room, so it’s important to select one that meets both your family’s needs and your personal style. Since the table will endure daily use, consider investing in a durable, high-quality piece. A marble dining table is a fantastic choice for families looking for something elegant yet resilient. Not only is marble a timeless material with a luxurious appeal, but it is also sturdy and easy to maintain with proper care. Check out various marble dining tables available in different styles that can elevate your dining room while withstanding the daily wear and tear of family life.
Choose Comfortable, Child-Friendly Seating
When selecting seating for a family dining room, prioritize comfort and durability. Look for chairs with supportive cushions that encourage everyone to gather around the table. Family-friendly materials, such as microfiber or leather, can resist stains and are easier to clean, making them ideal for households with young children. If you have very young kids, consider chairs with armrests or high backs to provide them with extra support while eating. Benches are also a space-efficient option for families with multiple children, offering plenty of seating and the ability to easily slide under the table when not in use.
Include Ample Storage for Easy Organisation
Family dining rooms often serve multiple purposes. They are spaces where family members work on crafts, complete homework, and share meals. Therefore, it is essential to have plenty of storage to keep things organized. Buffets, sideboards, or wall-mounted shelves can be used to store everything from tableware to board games and art supplies. By ensuring that you have ample storage within reach, you can quickly tidy up before meals or after activities, helping to maintain a functional dining room.
Choose Family-Friendly Decor and Accessories
Creating a warm and inviting dining room doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice style. Choose decor that reflects your family’s personality, whether through centerpieces, artwork, or decorative rugs. However, for a family dining room, opt for items that are easy to clean in case of spills. When selecting table decor, choose items that can withstand a bit of rough handling, especially if you have young children.
Conclusion
By creating a family dining room that blends functionality with style, every meal can feel like a special occasion. With the right choices—ranging from durable dining tables to appropriate storage solutions—you can design a space that is always ready for your family to connect and spend time together.
This is a collaborative post, enabling me to continue to create unique content for Kids Chaos. com
So… what does one do with cereal boxes, if you can’t bear to stick them in the recycling, how about cooking up some cute little Papier–mâché seedling pots.
We ripped the cardboard cereal boxes and rice cake boxes into small pieces, and gave them a good soaking. Then pulped the pieces with water, in the blender (sssh, don’t tell Daddy).
Draining the pulp in a colander, squeezing the excess water. Flour the work surface, and mix, knead in some flour {SECRET INGREDIENT ALERT!}. And take small quantities, pushing into the silicone muffin cases to mold the little pots. We air-dried the pots over-night, however, for speed, you could pop them into the oven, if you were baking spuds, or home-made pizza anyway!
We DID try to make a batch of these seedling pots in conventional metal cake trays… FAIL!, they set solid, glued in… so yes, silicone rules!
First Published April 12 2013.
Updated September 2024 to include a link to a recent post from incredibusy about paper clay… here
Click this image below to watch the youtube video of our Google+ hangout – and watch Maggy from Red Ted Art sharing her shadow puppet theatre and her ‘everlasting’ picture frame, Playful Learners made another gorgeous puppet theatre Aly at Plus 2 Point 4 showed us how to use a box as a weaving loom, and my fave, Me and My Shadow and her vintage style secret book…
To read more on our gardening adventures click here to see where we got our delicious compost for our seedlings.
Making a Dream Catcher using natural, found objects and at the same time ticking the boxes of three STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and the Arts) practices:
The Science (making dough with salt, water and flour for the beads)
The Arts (designing and sculpting the salt dough leaves, and assembling your dream catcher)
The Maths (geometry of weaving a pattern with a single length of twine)
dream catchers, with natural cotton yarn and handmade salt dough beads
This is such a fun project. And one that you could do either indoors or outside in the warmer weather – we really love a craft that all ages can enjoy – and this three sides dream catcher can be a bit of a challenge when it comes to the weaving, so we will link some YouTube tutorials at the foot of this article so that you can get acquainted with the dream catcher weaving geometry at your leisure.
Before you get started, make sure you have everything you need for your beautiful natural dream catcher – go on a nature hunt, look for feathers, acorns, pine cones, and lots of sticks!
You’ll need some cotton string, or strong yarn, and we also made some colourful salt dough beads and ‘leaves’ so that everything is biodegradable – this means you can eventually hang your dream catchers outside in the garden or the woods, for them to let nature decay them – hey, that may even be a bit of a science lesson right there too!
Salt dough leaves and beads recipe
1 part salt
2 parts plain flour
half to one part water
optional – some natural food colouring (if you are feeling ambitious – you could go as far as making your own dough dye with beetroot! hey – experiment, have some fun)
We mixed the dough into three bowls, and added three colours – subtle so that they would blend well with nature – and rolled small balls, pushing a skewer through to make a bead, we dried the beads by ‘stringing’ them onto metal skewers and propping up off the baking tray to harden in the oven on a very low 100 degrees temperature, checking on the beads after about fifteen minutes, and turning them on the skewers so that they didn’t stick.
The leaves we made by rolling the dough out to about 5mm thick, and used a leaf shaped cookie cutter and a knife to score the marks on the ‘leaves’ and push a hole at the top of the leaf to allow it to be attached to the dreamcatcher. Again, we allowed these leaves to harden, baking them at the bottom of the oven, for about half an hour to an hour, using a cooling rack from the kitchen. We made these beads and salt dough leaves in advance of our dream catcher construction to allow them to harden – word of warning – don’t let them get damp, they will go soggy!
The assembly of your dream catcher
Now you have everything you need, start to pull it all together. Make a triangle from three sticks of the same length, tying them tight in each of the three corners.
Make a ‘bobbin’ with one short stick, about 4cm long, wrap the yarn around and around until it’s full of yarn – (you’ll have to experiment, but you’ll need enough yarn to create the geometrical pattern on the dream catcher ‘web’).
Using the yarn on this bobbin, start by tying a knot next to one of the three corners of the triangle frame.
Get weaving that web
As you start to ‘weave’ your web the first row can be quite loose. Evenly spaced, start to work the yarn around the triangle:
Pass the end of your yarn around a stick.
Bring the end under the straight part of the yarn.
Bring the end up and pass it through the eye of the loop you just made.
Pull it tighter to complete a half hitch.
Tie the hitch the same at each intersection of the yarn.
Continue around the triangle, to ‘row two’ in the same way, see diagram (and the video links below)
The next hitch is made at the midpoint of the first loop in the first row.
As you tie these hitches you start to pull each stitch in the web a little tighter. Continue around the web tying a hitch and pulling tighter on each row until you are down to a small centre hole in your web. Tie it off in a knot.
Now tie three strands of yarn from the ‘bottom’ of the triangle and attach the beads, feathers, leaves – And tie a hanging loop at the top of the triangle and you are ready to decorate the trees by hanging your wonderful dream catchers in the forest – or, if you REALLY want to catch those dreams in your web, hang your natural dream catcher up in your bedroom for a real conversation starter!
Sleep well, and sweet dreams.
We would love to see what you create – do tag us on Instagram where you will find our new account https://www.instagram.com/kidschaos_blog/ use the hashtag #31DaysofLearning as we are joining in with KiddyCharts creative STEAM project this month.
The carrot cake is a classic, and this carrot cake recipe’s a super-simple variation on that delicious theme. Just add grated carrots to the dry ingredients, which include both plain and wholemeal flour for extra texture.
Once you’ve beaten in free range eggs and some butter, you’re away – just pop it in the oven. The tangy lemon icing on this carrot cake recipe contrasts with the sweet, cinnamon-flavoured cake to really bring the flavours to life.
Ingredients
200 g (7oz) self raising flour
115 g (4oz) wholemeal flour
350 g (12oz) caster sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
250 ml (9fl oz) butter
3 Large carrots, peeled and grated
4 organic free range eggs Icing
2 unwaxed lemons, zested
225 g (8oz) Fairtrade icing sugar
Method
Mix together all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Mix in carrot and gradually beat in Flora Cuisine and eggs. Pour into a greased and bottom lined 20cm (8-inch) square cake tin.
Bake in preheated oven 180°C, 160°C fan, gas mark 4 for 45–55 minutes. Cool on a wire cooling rack. Icing – Zest the lemons. Squeeze out the juice and add to icing sugar in a bowl with the segments. Mix gently and spread over the cake. Sprinkle with the zest.
Note – make sure your icing is not too runny – we had lots of fun scraping the icing off the board as it dripped through the cooling rack!!
What’s your favourite cake in your house? Ours has to be lemon drizzle cake…
we’ve have the recipe scribbled down on a piece of paper, shoved in the cake section of Delia’s cookbook, for years… Quite fortunate it’s our favourite cake really, as we sort of OVER-ORDERED the lemons on our Ocado delivery on Friday, and ended up with 12 lemons, yes, TWELVE lemons… oops!
So we wanted to share the recipe with you, and tbh, it makes it easier to find if we write it up on KidsChaos, as we just google ourselves ‘ kids chaos lemon drizzle’… 🙂
Admittedly this recipe doesn’t use all twelve lemons, however we make two lemon drizzle cakes at the same time as it disappears pretty quickly here, and we like to have it in our packed lunches in the week, in place of shop-bought snack bars (so just half the quantities if you only have a 1 litre loaf tin)
Lemon Drizzle Cake Ingredients:
350g caster sugar
350g butter, softened
4 unwaxed lemons
6 eggs
200g self-raising flour
150g ground almonds
A drop or two of milk
200g demerara sugar
Lemon Drizzle Cake Instructions:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/160C fan. Grease and line two loaf tins with greaseproof paper. Beat together the caster sugar, butter, and the finely grated zest of two lemons until light and fluffy. Add a pinch of salt and beat in the eggs, one at a time.
2. Sieve the flour and fold in, then add the ground almonds (not essential, particularly if anyone has a nut allergy!). Add a tiny amount of milk to ensure the mixture has a dropping consistency, then pour into your lined tins. Bake in the oven for about 50-55 minutes, until your knife pulls out dry when you test it. Leave it in the tin for now….
3. Mix together the lemon zest, and juice of the lemons with your demerara sugar, then prod holes all over the top of the lemon drizzle cakes and pour over the lemon drizzle, so that it runs into all of the little holes.
4. Allow the lemon drizzle cakes to cool in the loaf tins before turning out.
We have always been big ‘bird’ fans (no, not BIGBird, as in the Sesame Street character, although that has always quite amused…) – As a child we fed the birds in the garden at home, with various bird houses, structures and fat and seed balls, watching to see if the naughty squirrels had somehow managed to nab the grub before the bluetits could get to it!
So we wanted to share this easy birdfeeder with you –
you will need:
half an orange
some peanut butter
some bird seed…
string – (we love the baker’s twine!)
Scoop out the content of the orange (we have a smoothie every day, so we added the orange to that).
Spread some peanut butter into the orange skin, and add the seeds.
Pierce holes in the side of the orange skin ‘cup’ – actually do this BEFORE you add the peanut butter and seeds!
Ingredients
Method
