THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 20, 1994 TAG: 9412200073
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E6 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Mom, I'm Bored
SOURCE: Sherrie Boyer
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
SCHOOL BREAK is a great time for wonderful winter traditions; including ones that hardly fit into early December. Just because the holiday is over, doesn't mean the joy should end. Keep celebrating, without the bustle, and share unpressured time. Here are some ideas to get you started:
Take time to read, and afterward, draw your favorite story characters on finger-size pieces of paper, staple a paper loop to the back, poke your finger through and hold a puppet show. Better yet, crack open roasted peanuts and use the thimble-like shells as puppets. Let your child fit the shell on his finger, and with a fine, felt-tipped marker, draw eyes and a mouth. Ten shells make 10 perfect puppets that will talk to each other for a long time.
Bake candy ornaments to eat this year or give away next year. Unwrap your favorite hard candies or break pieces of candy cane onto a foil-covered cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes at 300 degrees. The candies will spread into lovely medallions, good enough to eat. Let them rest a few minutes, then very quickly poke holes with a toothpick or pencil for the ribbon. The cookie sheet will still be hot when you do this, so put the children's hands in mitts if they are to help hold the tray still. When completely cool, the children can easily peel the ornaments from the foil. String with ribbon and hang on the tree.
The prettiest results come from decorative hard candy, so you might consider an outing to buy a handful of pretty gems. Candy with soft-centers won't work. If you get melted candy on a cookie sheet, a soak in hot water removes instantly what jabs with a spatula won't, as we now know. Whatever isn't eaten will keep nicely for next year, wrapped in plastic wrap, perfect as the low-stress, home-baked holiday gifts next year.
Roast pecans. Let your child stir together 1 cup pecan halves, 6 tablespoons butter and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bake at 300 for 15 minutes. Stir midway. Crisp on a paper towel and let them spoon their goodie onto everyone's plates as part of a holiday dinner.
Make ice cream sodas. Combine 1/4 cup milk with 3 tablespoons chocolate syrup or strawberry jam. Add 1 scoop ice cream, two ice cubes and club soda to fill the glass. Stir quickly, poke in a straw and enjoy.
Play a hundred rounds of Candy Land; then teach them checkers or chess. They'll appreciate this, though not quite as much as you will.
Turn odd mittens into bean bags. Let your child use a funnel to fill the mitten (or a forlorn sock) with small beans, like lentils, about two-thirds full, then show him how to close the opening with a few rows of handsewn stitches. If you plan to play beanbag games in the house, you may want to stitch a row yourself for good measure. If this still sounds too risky, funnel the beans into a resealable plastic sandwich bag, stuff the bag into the sock and knot the top.
Sit down at the kitchen table with the watercolors and writing paper cut into squares. Paint beautiful colors and talk about artists or school or dreams. When the little paintings dry, the children will have lovely notes on which to write thank yous.
Feed the birds. String cranberries, orange peel, nuts and cheese together and tie short garlands to the trees for the birds and squirrels.
Paint snowpeople on the windows. Use a bottle of white shoe polish with a sponge applicator and draw winter scenes. The polish wipes off after the holidays with a wet rag.
Make snowflakes with paper or marshmallows. To make paper snowflakes, fold a piece of paper several times, then make cutouts along the fold. To make edible snowflakes, use toothpicks poked into miniature marshmallows. You'll end up with a DNA-ish looking structure, but skip the science lesson and focus on those little sticks instead. Funny how quickly they resemble swords.
And last, take a hike together, even if it's just in the neighborhood. Look at the bare branches, find the moon, hunt for holiday lights. And breathe deeply so they can enjoy the frosty cloud your breath makes in the winter night. by CNB