Mother Goose Time - Making Flapjacks/Pancakes with Preschoolers

Play Cooking Breakfast Pan

Look at this adorable little craft/toy pan, eggs, bacon and pancakes! Mother Goose Time included it in our Day 13 bag, Paul Bunyan and the Flapjacks.

You could also make this craft/toy pan at home or school with your preschooler.

Supplies:

FOR EACH CHILD

• Paper lid (or you could use a lid from just about anything, as long as it's small.)
• Jumbo craft stick
• Paper (To draw the food.)
• Breakfast food pieces (Create these pieces by using a black marker to make eggs, pancakes and bacon. The child colors the food with crayons.)

YOUR SUPPLIES

• Tape
• Glue
• Scissors
• Plates (optional)
• Forks (optional)
• Black Marker
• Pencil (For you to draw the food before tracing over with the black marker.)
• Crayons (For the children to color the food.)
• Stuffed animals or dolls (optional)

First, we talked about what you can make in the frying pan.

The girls glued the stick to the lid to make a frying pan.

Then, they created the food (eggs, bacon and pancakes).

"Look mom, the eggs, bacon and pancakes are so little!"

The girls loved making these little toys. They ended up getting out their stuffed animals and making a pretend breakfast with them.

Making Real Pancakes/Flapjacks without Eggs!

For lunch, I decided to make them pancakes, since it was already part of their lesson for the day and they were so happy about it.

I looked in the refrigerator... And there were no eggs!

I just couldn't let them down. I had to think of something. I thought, "I know there is a way without running to the store. They are so hungry and that will take forever."

So, I thought about a no egg cake recipe I knew of and decided to give it a try with pancakes.

Will, it work?

Yes, they loved it! Yeah!

So, here it is...

Ginger Ale Pancake Recipe

• Pancake Mix
• 1 Can of ginger ale!

Follow the recipe as instructed on the box, but you don't need butter/oil, eggs, milk or water!
(See everything else pictured above: Maple syrup, coconut oil to spray pan, pancake mix, ginger ale, Earth Balance dairy-free butter.)

As you mix the pancake batter, you will see carbonation bubbling. Don't  worry, as it settles the batter

will thicken. This is fun for the kids to see. The girls enjoy stirring the batter as the carbonation bubbles and then settles.

Pour the batter on the warm pan after you spray it with coconut oil (low to medium heat.) It may take one or two practice pancakes to get it right. Sometimes, you need to adjust the temperature.

After you see bubbles on one side, flip it over. Use your spatula to peek underneath, and flip it over when it is a very light brown color.

The girls put a dab of butter and some maple syrup on top of their pancakes. Yum!

The girls told me it was the best pancakes they ever had. Amazingly, I like them better this way, too. I was thinking that it would be fun for a camping trip, so you don't have to keep the eggs cold and they won't break. For some reason, these pancakes don't feel totally filling. They seem lighter than normal pancakes. I guess if you used seltzer water, they would have no calories either, except for what's in the dry ingredients, so they would have less calories. They were really good. This maple syrup is so good, too. It's from Trader Joe's and it's the real maple syrup, not mixed with corn syrup.

So, next time you realize you don't have eggs, don't worry! You can still make yummy pancakes.

Proper Table Manners

When cooking and eating with preschoolers, it's nice to teach and review manners. We practiced putting our napkins in our lap, eating with mouth closed, and not talking and eating at the same time. (Ha! Ha! How many adults do you know that still need help with this.)

We also practiced passing the food while saying, "May I please have the _____?"
"Thank you."

Our New September Focus Will Be on Friends and Feelings

We started the Mother Goose Time Friends and Feelings activities for this month, and there are so many fun things for the kids to do! We have a new bulletin board for the year, and Mother Goose Time even include everything preschool teachers need for a parent visit. I'm homeschooling (former  teacher), but I am so impressed with all the extra tools they provide for preschool teachers. Be sure to check back soon to hear about a free, fun, friends puppet lesson plan, and how to help the kids role play ways of saying "hello".