Baking With My Boys

We've been trying to get back to making more baked good at home. It saves money which is #1. It is more filling for the kids as it adds to dinner & makes for a heartier breakfast too. The kids all love to cook & bake. I believe it's an important skill for both my girls & boys to learn.

The boys wanted to make Sassy Cinnamon Muffins on Thursday so we set to work. I quadrupled the recipe. I was impressed at how easily Elvis converted the measurements. They took turns adding the ingredients & then stirring them all up.

Stirring the batter together!

We decided to add in an extra treat to our muffins. Apples! I cut the apples up into little pieces. The boys enjoyed taking turns putting them in the batter.

Here are our muffins! We had some for a snack as we couldn't' wait for dinner time. Lol! We all had some at dinner too. Delicious! The boys were very proud of their work.

Zones

We're doing the zone cleaning again this year. I like that I know who is responsible for each room, (instead of a job here & a job there), and the kids like that they know when they have completed their zone they are done.

In case you didn't see my post last year this is what I did. I divided our home into zones. We have the kitchen, laundry room, living room, hallway, family room & downstairs bathroom. I made a checklist of duties to complete per zone. Then I wrote up the steps for each zone. This is to save me having to tell them over & over what need to be done & how to do it. They are to check off each task as they complete it. I let the kids help me choose who has what zone. Some zones are shared by both a younger & older child. So far it's going well. The only hurdle has been to get them to start them without having to be nagged. =0)

The checklists & steps are all placed in the Zone Binder. I put the steps in sheet protectors. The checklists are taken out, checked off and then returned.

Another peek at a checklist & description.

Laundry Room Checklist

Boo working on her laundry room/pantry zone.

Elvis shares the Downstairs Bathroom Zone with Sweet Pea.

He is doing his part which is the toilet & the floor.

Filling up the water for the cats.

Elvis volunteered for the Living Room Zone.

Here he is dusting the entertainment center.

Life Skills

A yard sale is a wonderful learning opportunity. The kids learned about organization, cleaning out, helping others, hard work, manners, pricing, negotiating & giving. Another lesson was money. How to make change, how to be a good steward, denominations & how to calculate.

After the sale & clean up I called Elvis up to our room where I was counting the money. Working with money is his favorite in math. I had it split into different denomiations and had already counted it. He was given the job of counting it himself. I checked his calculations with mine to get the final tally. He did a terrific job! He got them all right the first time with the execption of one. And that one he got correct on the second count. Go Elvis!

He proudly shared his totals & calculations with his daddy.