Nudge a Noodle!: Inspire your child to love learning!

Easy Bake Oven Fun

About four months ago, I fulfilled one of my childhood dreams. I got an Easy Bake Oven...for my daughter. I was never allowed to have one as a kid. (Apparently, I would have burned myself on the lightbulb.) So, I couldn't wait until my daughter was old enough to play with one. I mean, really...I couldn't wait. The recommended age for the Easy Bake Oven is 8 and up. She's only six. But, it's not like she wasn't going to be supervised, right? I mean, really. Think I was going to lose out on playing with the thing?

Now, I don't know if I should categorize this posting as math-related or chemistry-related. You see, when you take a look at the ingredients in the little cake and cookie mixes, you're playing with an odd assortment of ingredients. I'm not a big fan of packaged food that lists things like propylene esters in it's makeup. I mean, what IS that anyway? Plus, buying extra mystery packets of food for the oven can cost enough that you would swear they had to be all natural organic!

So, like most purchases made out of obsession, my daughter and I played with the thing a couple of times and then it sat on a shelf. But, it didn't sit quietly...no. The box looked down on me, laughing that I spent good money on something that churned out eight mini cookies and one frosted cake about the size of the bottom of a tea cup.

Recently, I googled, "What do I do with an Easy Bake Oven," and to my surprise, women my age...who, perhaps like me, were finally getting a chance to play with this thing (oh, and yes, their kids) didn't have to give up on this toy. And, we don't need to eat propylene esters, either! There are actually women out there who have taken the time to measure out recipes for the Easy Bake oven that include ingredients such as flour, sugar, and butter! I was soooo excited, that I don't even want to know how they have that much time on their hands!

So, Mandy and I got busy this weekend. We made peanut butter cookies...which, were rather yum! And, we tried baked apple. Next, on our list is pizza. And, you know what I found out? At 38, the best part of this oven is watching my daughter measure out small amounts of ingredients without being overwhelmed, all by herself. I do believe she understands the difference between a TBS and a tsp, now. And it's so much easier for her little hands to measure out 1/4 cup of flour, rather than 2-1/2 cups!

So, Easy Bake Oven purchasers, celebrate! Find cute mouthfuls of fun and opportunities to teach weights and measures to younger kids at http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?q[]=easy+bake+oven&ls=re and at http://www.budget101.com/kids.htm#Easy_Bake_Mixes.

By the way, those propylene esters? They are some sort of thickening agent derived from kelp. Hmmm...yeah. Yum.

Olympic Spirit

Where is Beijing? What's China like? The 2008 Olympics is a prime opportunity to introduce kids to another culture. There's a great article about China for kids at:
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080513/YAK01/805130315/1073/YAK

The Internet Public Library offers a fun site for getting to know other cultures at: http://www.ipl.org/youth/cquest/

To talk about the history of the Olympics, you can find lots of facts at http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/ancient/index_uk.asp.  Want to start a round of giggles? Tell the kids how the Ancient Greeks had to compete in the Olympics naked. I also got comments such as, "Cool!" and "You mean...like...no underwear?"

Aaawwwwwww!

For those of you with kids who are nature lovers, share this article with them about how scientists have found the world's smallest snake!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080803/ap_on_sc/barbados_tiny_snake

Wish I'd known about this little guy when my son was wanting a snake. Still, we love our Okeetee Corn Snake, Ricky(i). Although I imagine this quarter-size snake can eat something other than thawed out mice!  Sigh.

Bird. Plane. Super...novas!

When I was a kid, a supernova was the old blue car my dad drove around. What was so super about this Nova? The ever-surprising fact that it ran. Sometimes it sounded like a UFO, but it took a lickin' and kept on...well, sounding like a UFO. Although, I think I remember it ticking at times, too. Either way, the thing was built like a tank and we loved it. Incidently, (and I find this hysterical) did you know that the Chevy Nova didn't do too well in Latin countries when it came out? In Spanish, "No va" means, "it doesn't go." Isn't that great? Cracks me up every time I think about it! Yeah, I probably do need to watch a good comedy.

Whoops! It looks like I need to check out these legends a little more carefully. Apparently Snopes finds the "No Va" story false (http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp). Well, that's disappointing. You know I've gone over 20 years believing that story until now?

Anyway, recently, scientists were able to see a supernova (the celestial kind...an exploding star) actually starting to happen. You can read about it with your kids here: http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20080319/Note2.asp

The really cool thing about supernovas is how pretty they are. You can find a sampling of this here: http://chandra.harvard.edu/resources/ppt/chandra/by_category/snr.html?page=3

So, how do supernovas form? Find a kids' explanation here: http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/phonedrmarc/2003_november.shtml

And, in case anyone out there has a kid who is hopped up about cars, you can impart the history of the Chevy Nova via this site: http://novaresource.org/history.htm