CrystalandComp.com

Letter of the Week Snacks: T is for Tree

By Crystal VanTassel-Lopez 21 Comments

When you do letter of the week crafts with your preschooler aren’t snacks just as fun too?

We love fun snacks that encourage learning and the kids can help create, my kids LOVE them too!

What better craft that to create a tree out of bananas and grapes for our snack!

This is super easy. I am going to show you how you and your preschooler can create one of these as well.

You Will Need:

1 banana
a handful of green grapes
1/4 of a cup of your favorite yogurt
a ziplock bag so you can pipe the yogurt onto the plate
scissors for cutting the ziplock bag
a knife (use your discretion here)

Here are all of the supplies together.

I used a blue sectional plate that we have from years ago when my oldest was a preschooler.

Slice the grapes in half long-wise.

This helps them lay flat when creating your tree leaves.

Slice the banana in half, also long-wise.

Place the banana flat side down as demonstrated below.

Assemble the grapes flat side down to represent the leaves.

Put about 1/4th of a cup of your favorite flavored yogurt in a ziplock back.

Cut the bottom corner off of one of the ends of the bag so you can pipe the yogurt onto the plate.

We made a sun, grass, flowers and birds with the yogurt.

And there you have it. A create way to learn.

Enjoy your tree snack.

Your kids will love when learning is fun!

Check out our T is for Tree letter of the week craft while you’re here.

Snack Ideas for the Entire Alphabet

We have a snack for each letter of the alphabet. Grab our book of alphabet snack recipes here!

Art for Preschoolers

Want art work to create together as you learn the alphabet? Download our hand print art tutorials hand print art tutorials with step by step instructions for each letter of the alphabet.

SaveSave

Snack Ideas for Kids: R is for Rainbow

By The Taylor House 6 Comments

Hey, Everyone! I’m so excited to be starting our Letter of the Week Snack Ideas back up for the year! We left off back in November with the Letter Q and then took a break through the holidays. Today we’re starting back up for the year with the Letter R.

If this is your first visit let me explain it to you. Every week here at Crystal and Comp., we share a new letter of the week snack that you can use for your preschoolers that are just learning their letters or for older kids who may be learning to read and working on letter sounds. These pair well with our Letter of the Week Craft ideas, where you can find a craft for every letter in the alphabet as well!

This week is the Letter R and we have a simple Rainbow Snack Idea for you to make with a box of Fruit Loops!

How to Make this Rainbow Snack Idea

Ingredients

1 Box of Fruit Loops (or you can use Fruity Cheerios or even Trader Joe’s Fruit O’s)
Marshmallows

Instructions

Make a rainbow using the different colors of Fruit Loops and adding the marshmallows as the clouds! Simple and the kids will love it!

More Letter of the Week Ideas

Letter of the Week Crafts:

You can also find Letter of the Week Crafts here at Crystal & Comp to coordinate with your Letter of the Week Snacks.

Letter of the Week Snacks:

A is for Airplane (granola bar)
B is for Butterfly (grapes)
C is for Car (apple)
D is for Dirt (Oreos)
E is for Egg (pretzels)
F is for Fishing (cupcake)
G is for Green (rice krispy)
H is for Heart (waffle)
I is for Ice Cream (ice cream)
J is for Jelly Bean (Trail Mix)
K is for Kite (Graham cracker)
L is for Lollipop (Apple Lollipop)
M is for Monster (Monster Cookie)
N is for Nest (Nest Candy)
O is for Octopus (Hotdog Snack)
P is for Pumpkin (Mandarin Oranges)

Chrissy Taylor is a wife, Mom, blogger and property manager. She and her husband of 15 years are raising two active boys in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Chrissy enjoys blogging about cooking, crafts, gifts and household tips.

You can connect with her at:

The Taylor House * Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Google+

Letter of the Week Snack: Quick Sand Pudding

By The Taylor House 5 Comments

Welcome back to our weekly Letter of the Week snack idea. Every week here at Crystal and Comp., we share a new letter of the week snack that you can use for your preschoolers that are just learning their letters or for older kids who may be learning to read and working on letter sounds. These pair well with our Letter of the Week Craft ideas, where you can find a craft for every letter in the alphabet as well!

This week is the letter Q and I had a hard time coming up with an idea of a snack that was practical to make. I finally decided on Q is for Quick Sand. I hope you enjoy our idea!

How to make Quick Sand Pudding

Ingredients

Vanilla Snack Pudding
Vanilla Oreo’s
Fish snacks, Teddy Grahams or other animals to “sink” in the sand

Instructions

Step 1 – Crush your Oreo’s.

Step 2 – Top your vanilla pudding with the crushed Oreo’s to make your sand

Step 3 – Add little cracker animals into the sand to appear like they are sinking

That’s it! I also added a little “Beware” sign by using a tooth pick and a piece of Washi Tape.

More Letter of the Week Ideas

Letter of the Week Crafts:

You can also find Letter of the Week Crafts here at Crystal & Comp to coordinate with your Letter of the Week Snacks.

Letter of the Week Snacks:

A is for Airplane (granola bar)
B is for Butterfly (grapes)
C is for Car (apple)
D is for Dirt (Oreos)
E is for Egg (pretzels)
F is for Fishing (cupcake)
G is for Green (rice krispy)
H is for Heart (waffle)
I is for Ice Cream (ice cream)
J is for Jelly Bean (Trail Mix)
K is for Kite (Graham cracker)
L is for Lollipop (Apple Lollipop)
M is for Monster (Monster Cookie)
N is for Nest (Nest Candy)
O is for Octopus (Hotdog Snack)
P is for Pumpkin (Mandarin Oranges)

Chrissy Taylor is a wife, Mom, blogger and property manager. She and her husband of 15 years are raising two active boys in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Chrissy enjoys blogging about cooking, crafts, gifts and household tips.

You can connect with her at:

The Taylor House * Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Google+

Letter of the Week Snack: P is for Pumpkin

By The Taylor House 5 Comments

Welcome to our weekly Letter of the Week snack series, if this is your first time stopping by you are going to love all of our alphabet snack ideas that we have to share! These letter of the week snacks are a great way to start introducing letters and letter sounds to your young children or using as reinforcement for older kids.

Incorporating letters into fun things like snacks and games is a great way to help your kids learn their letters and the sounds the letters make. If you homeschool, you can easily add these into your curriculum. If your kids go to preschool or kindergarten, maybe coordinate with the teacher for the day they are learning a specific letter, have your child take a fun letter snack that day!

This week’s letter is the letter P and since we are so close to Halloween, we thought we would share a Pumpkin snack idea. P is for Pumpkin. These snacks are perfect for a classroom party or just a snack for your kids.

How to make Pumpkin Snacks

Ingredients

Mandarin Orange Fruit Cups
Sharpies

Instructions

This is such an easy snack to make, simply draw a pumpkin face on the fruit cups. It doesn’t get any easier than that! Be sure to make these for your kids this Halloween!

You can also find Letter of the Week Crafts here at Crystal & Comp to coordinate with your Letter of the Week Snacks.

Letter of the Week Crafts:

You can also find Letter of the Week Crafts here at Crystal & Comp to coordinate with your Letter of the Week Snacks.

Letter of the Week Snacks:

A is for Airplane (granola bar)
B is for Butterfly (grapes)
C is for Car (apple)
D is for Dirt (Oreos)
E is for Egg (pretzels)
F is for Fishing (cupcake)
G is for Green (rice krispy)
H is for Heart (waffle)
I is for Ice Cream (ice cream)
J is for Jelly Bean (Trail Mix)
K is for Kite (Graham cracker)
L is for Lollipop (Apple Lollipop)
M is for Monster (Monster Cookie)
N is for Nest (Nest Candy)
O is for Octopus (Hotdog Snack)

Chrissy Taylor is a wife, Mom, blogger and property manager. She and her husband of 15 years are raising two active boys in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Chrissy enjoys blogging about cooking, crafts, gifts and household tips.

You can connect with her at:

The Taylor House * Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Google+

Letter of the Week Snack: O is for Octopus

By The Taylor House 5 Comments

This week we are working on the letter O and have a simple Octopus snack idea for you. These are Hotdog Octopus creatures that you can make as a snack or use as a meal, we don’t eat hotdogs very often so these are a treat for my kids.

Hot to Make Octopus Snacks

Ingredients:

Hotdogs

Yep that’s it!!’

Instructions

Step 1 – Cut your hotdog in half but only half way up the hotdog

Step 2 – Turn the hot dog and but into 4th’s but only half way up the hotdog, you can do this as many time as you would like and create eight legs for the octopus. Mine are a little funny looking, but my boys loved them with just the four legs!!

You can also find Letter of the Week Crafts here at Crystal & Comp to coordinate with your Letter of the Week Snacks.

Letter of the Week Crafts:

You can also find Letter of the Week Crafts here at Crystal & Comp to coordinate with your Letter of the Week Snacks.

Letter of the Week Snacks:

A is for Airplane (granola bar)
B is for Butterfly (grapes)
C is for Car (apple)
D is for Dirt (Oreos)
E is for Egg (pretzels)
F is for Fishing (cupcake)
G is for Green (rice krispy)
H is for Heart (waffle)
I is for Ice Cream (ice cream)
J is for Jelly Bean (Trail Mix)
K is for Kite (Graham cracker)
L is for Lollipop (Apple Lollipop)
M is for Monster (Monster Cookie)
N is for Nest (Nest Candy)

Chrissy Taylor is a wife, Mom, blogger and property manager. She and her husband of 15 years are raising two active boys in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Chrissy enjoys blogging about cooking, crafts, gifts and household tips.

You can connect with her at:

The Taylor House * Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Google+

Letter of the Week Snack: N is for Nest

By The Taylor House 8 Comments

Welcome to our weekly Letter of the Week snack series where we are taking time to share a new snack idea for each letter of the alphabet. These letter of the week snacks are a great way to start introducing letters and letter sounds to your young children or using as reinforcement for older kids.

This week is the letter N. I had a hard time coming up with an idea this week, and as soon as I asked my 8 year old, he said Nest! So, N is for Nest! There are lots of different ways you can make a nest snack or treat, we made a really easy idea!

How to Make a Nest Snack

Materials

Small containers
Crinkle paper
Treats

Instructions

Step 1 – Find the type of container you want to use as the base of your nest. I found these cute little Owl guys at Target in the dollar section.

Step 2 – Fill with the crinkle paper to resemble a nest

Step 3 – Place some candies in the nest. I had Rollo’s on hand but something round that looks like eggs would be really fun!

That’s it! Enjoy your little Nest treat!

You can also find Letter of the Week Crafts here at Crystal & Comp to coordinate with your Letter of the Week Snacks.

Letter of the Week Crafts:

You can also find Letter of the Week Crafts here at Crystal & Comp to coordinate with your Letter of the Week Snacks.

Letter of the Week Snacks:

A is for Airplane (granola bar)
B is for Butterfly (grapes)
C is for Car (apple)
D is for Dirt (Oreos)
E is for Egg (pretzels)
F is for Fishing (cupcake)
G is for Green (rice krispy)
H is for Heart (waffle)
I is for Ice Cream (ice cream)
J is for Jelly Bean (Trail Mix)
K is for Kite (Graham cracker)
L is for Lollipop (Apple Lollipop)
M is for Monster (Monster Cookie)

Chrissy Taylor is a wife, Mom, blogger and property manager. She and her husband of 15 years are raising two active boys in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Chrissy enjoys blogging about cooking, crafts, gifts and household tips.

You can connect with her at:

The Taylor House * Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Google+

Letter of the Week Snack: M is for Monster

By The Taylor House 4 Comments

Today we are working on the letter M and with Halloween being right around the corner, I decided to make a delicious Monster Cookie Bar treat to share with you. I hope you enjoy!

How to make Monster Cookie Bars

Ingredients

2 c. all-purpose flour
1½ c. quick rolled oats
1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
⅔ c. peanut butter, creamy or chunky
1 c. (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
¼ c. chopped peanuts
¼ c. chocolate chips (a mix of regular and mini)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease (or cover with parchment) a full size cookie sheet with sides.
2. In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk together oats, flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together peanut butter, butter and sugars for 1 minute. Turn speed to low and add one egg at a time. Add vanilla and mix until combined.
4. Remove bowl from stand mixer. Fold in dry ingredients, then chopped peanuts, chocolate chips and M&Ms. Pour onto prepared pan and pat down until even. I like to use a my hands to get it all spread out, and then a spatula to make it smooth and even. Place in oven and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the top begins to brown.

You can also find Letter of the Week Crafts here at Crystal & Comp to coordinate with your Letter of the Week Snacks.

Letter of the Week Crafts:

You can also find Letter of the Week Crafts here at Crystal & Comp to coordinate with your Letter of the Week Snacks.

Letter of the Week Snacks:

A is for Airplane (granola bar)
B is for Butterfly (grapes)
C is for Car (apple)
D is for Dirt (Oreos)
E is for Egg (pretzels)
F is for Fishing (cupcake)
G is for Green (rice krispy)
H is for Heart (waffle)
I is for Ice Cream (ice cream)
J is for Jelly Bean (Trail Mix)
K is for Kite (Graham cracker)
L is for Lollipop (Apple Lollipop)

Chrissy Taylor is a wife, Mom, blogger and property manager. She and her husband of 15 years are raising two active boys in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Chrissy enjoys blogging about cooking, crafts, gifts and household tips.

You can connect with her at:

The Taylor House * Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Google+

Letter of the Week Snack: L is for Lollipop

By The Taylor House Leave a Comment

A fun idea for these snack ideas would be to incorporate them into the preschool curriculum. On the week they are learning the letter K, you could bring a Kite snack for the kids as an extra way to reinforce the letter. Using these letter snacks during the summer months is a great way to practice letters so that you are ready when back to school times comes.

This week we are working on the letter L and I immediately thought of Lollipop. I wanted to have a little healthier version though, not just a sugary snack so I decided to use some apples that I had on hand and make Apple Lollipops! They were simple to make and the kids loved them!

How to make Apple Lollipops

Materials You Need:

Apples
Knife
Skewers

Instructions

Step 1 – Cut your apple in half

Step 2 – Cut thin slices that look similar to a Lollipop

Step 3 – Insert your skewer to use as the Lollipop stick. That’s it! Super easy to make!

Be sure to watch small children who are eating these so that they do not injure themselves with the skewer. Enjoy!

You can also find Letter of the Week Crafts here at Crystal & Comp to coordinate with your Letter of the Week Snacks.

Letter of the Week Crafts:

You can also find Letter of the Week Crafts here at Crystal & Comp to coordinate with your Letter of the Week Snacks.

Letter of the Week Snacks:

A is for Airplane (granola bar)
B is for Butterfly (grapes)
C is for Car (apple)
D is for Dirt (Oreos)
E is for Egg (pretzels)
F is for Fishing (cupcake)
G is for Green (rice krispy)
H is for Heart (waffle)
I is for Ice Cream (ice cream)
J is for Jelly Bean (Trail Mix)
K is for Kite (Graham cracker)

Chrissy Taylor is a wife, Mom, blogger and property manager. She and her husband of 15 years are raising two active boys in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Chrissy enjoys blogging about cooking, crafts, gifts and household tips.

You can connect with her at:

The Taylor House * Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Google+

Letter of the Week Snack: K is for Kite

By The Taylor House 9 Comments

This week we are working on the letter K and of course I thought of Kite as a fun snack idea for the kids. K is for Kite! You can find the instructions below on how to make this fun snack idea.

How to Make a Kite Letter of the Week Snack

Materials

Graham Cracker
Frosting
Orange
Carrots
Laffy Taffy

Instructions

Step 1 – Cut a slice of your orange to use as the sun.

Step 2 – Cut slices of the carrot to use as the sun rays

Step 3 – Make small slices of the Laffy Taffy to use as grass

Step 4 – Break the Graham cracker in half and then in half again to make a small square for the kite

Step 5 – Add frosting as the tail of the kite. Enjoy!

Even though this snack is really cute and looks involved to make, it is very easy! My boys loved it as a treat!

You can also find Letter of the Week Crafts here at Crystal & Comp to coordinate with your Letter of the Week Snacks.

Letter of the Week Crafts:

You can also find Letter of the Week Crafts here at Crystal & Comp to coordinate with your Letter of the Week Snacks.

Letter of the Week Snacks:

A is for Airplane (granola bar)
B is for Butterfly (grapes)
C is for Car (apple)
D is for Dirt (Oreos)
E is for Egg (pretzels)
F is for Fishing (cupcake)
G is for Green (rice krispy)
H is for Heart (waffle)
I is for Ice Cream (ice cream)
J is for Jelly Bean (Trail Mix)

Chrissy Taylor is a wife, Mom, blogger and property manager. She and her husband of 15 years are raising two active boys in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Chrissy enjoys blogging about cooking, crafts, gifts and household tips.

You can connect with her at:

The Taylor House * Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Google+

Letter of the Week Snack: J is for Jellybean

By The Taylor House 17 Comments

Welcome back to our weekly Letter of the Week Snack Idea for preschool and school aged children. Each week we are focusing on a different letter and we are creating a fun and educational snack for you to make for your own kids.

Are your kids just starting to learn the alphabet? Why not make them a snack that will help them recognize the new letter they are learning with our letter of the week ideas? You could even coordinate with the preschool class and take snacks in that will help the teacher that day. This is also a great way to practice letters during the summer months when the kids aren’t in school.

This week is the Letter J and the first thing that came to mind was Jellybean. So, we have a real easy recipe for Jellybean Trail Mix that you can serve on the week you are learning the letter J!

Materials You Will Need:

Jellybeans

Peanuts

Marshmallows

Dry Cereal

Any other ingredients you would like to include

Letter of the Week Step by Step Tutorial:

Step 1 – Gather up all of the ingredients you want to include in your trail mix.

Step 2 – Mix them all together in a large bowl

Step 3 – Separate into individual bars or bowls for the kids

You can also find Letter of the Week Crafts here at Crystal & Comp to coordinate with your Letter of the Week Snacks.

Letter of the Week Crafts:

You can also find Letter of the Week Crafts here at Crystal & Comp to coordinate with your Letter of the Week Snacks.

Letter of the Week Snacks:

A is for Airplane (granola bar)
B is for Butterfly (grapes)
C is for Car (apple)
D is for Dirt (Oreos)
E is for Egg (pretzels)
F is for Fishing (cupcake)
G is for Green (rice krispy)
H is for Heart (waffle)
I is for Ice Cream (ice cream)

Chrissy Taylor is a wife, Mom, blogger and property manager. She and her husband of 15 years are raising two active boys in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Chrissy enjoys blogging about cooking, crafts, gifts and household tips.

You can connect with her at:

The Taylor House * Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Google+