Kids Konnect Nov/Dec 2023

Sarah Brooks

Melanie Busch

Brenda Donahe-Stevens

Amanda Halls

Mary Hawkins

Kellen Hinrichsen

Jean Krause

Darla K. Lager

Thomas Meagher, PhD

Sarah Reichert

Mary Urch

Holiday Books for all ages!

Christmas

by Rachel Hamby DiscoverRoo ©2021

An overview of Christmas, from the origin of the celebration to how it is practiced today.

Holidays at Hogwarts

by Elizabeth Dowsett DK Publishing ©2021

Celebrate the season with your favorite LEGO Harry Potter minifigures and join them for a feast in the Great Hall.

Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas

by Alessandro Ferrari Spotlight ©2022

Pumpkin king Jack Skellington’s merry mission to spread the joy of Christmas puts Santa in jeopardy and creates a nightmare for good little boys and girls everywhere.

Hanukkah

by Adeline Zimmerman Jump ©2022

Readers are invited to learn about the celebrations, traditions and symbols behind the Hanukkah holiday.

How kids celebrate Christmas around the world

by Pavla Hanackova Albatros ©2021

Everyone loves Christmas! But have you ever considered that Christmas might be celebrated elsewhere in the world in another way? What is the typical Christmas dish in Japan? Would you like to spend Christmas day in Ethiopia? Which goodies are always present on festive tables in Greece? Within the pages of this book, you’ll learn lots of interesting things about the year’s most beautiful holiday.

Is it Hanukkah yet?

by

Nancy Krulik Random House ©2021

Waiting is hard! Celebrate Hanukkah--and learn the meaning behind the holiday

Books ©2022

Readers are introduced to the celebrations, traditions and symbols behind the Kwanzaa holiday.

Kwanzaa by Sarah Cords DiscoverRoo ©2021

An overview of Kwanzaa, from the origin of the celebration to how it is practiced today.

The People Remember by Ibi Zoboi Balzer & Bray ©2021

The People Remember tells the journey of African descendants in America by connecting their history to the seven principles of Kwanzaa.

Kwanzaa by Adeline Zimmerman Tadpole

Kids in the kitchen:

Have oodles of fun during the holidays

BY Amanda Halls

There is always something going on in the kitchen, especially during the holidays. With all the commotion, sounds and delicious aromas, it is the place to be — even for kids. The kitchen is a place to bond, learn and create.

If your kids are interested in cooking, involve them in the kitchen. With adult supervision, children can start their kitchen connection as the “official” stirrer or mixer. Helping in the kitchen also can expand their food choices by involving them in the process and exposing them to different foods. As they grow older, they can learn how to cut foods like a chef and make traditional family recipes. Holiday cookies, anyone?

Here are some ideas for introducing your little sous-chefs to the kitchen, depending on their age and ability levels:

• Toddlers with hands-on supervision

Younger children can help out in the kitchen. Being involved makes them feel part of something

special. Give them the opportunity to do simple and safe tasks, such as pouring measured ingredients into a bowl. Allow them to watch and learn at the same time.

• Kindergarten and first graders with handson supervision

Ask them to measure items using a measuring cup, simultaneously developing great hands-on math skills. have them wash fruits and vegetables, and hand-mix items that aren’t sticky or too thick.

• Second and third graders

with supervision

If you feel comfortable, this age group can try peeling vegetables, grating cheese and mixing sticky items in bowls.

• Fourth and fifth graders with supervision

Let them use a can opener, stir stovetop items, pound chicken and scrape bowls.

Care when you need it.

• Sixth and seventh graders with

limited supervision

As your comfort level increases, this age group can start using knives and being more independent with cooking after instruction, and proving they are capable and safe.

Remember, children’s skills will differ, so you’ll need to decide what feels appropriate for each child. The holidays are a great time to help them develop culinary skills and memories that can last a lifetime. You might be surprised at what your children can do.

Amanda Halls is a registered dietitian in Lake City, Minnesota.

Mayo Clinic Health System remains commit ted to providing the care you and your family need. Whether you are seeking routine or preventive care, or treatment for a serious or complex condition, Mayo Clinic Health System has convenient and safe options available, including vir tual or in-person appointments.

Call 507-451-1120 to schedule an appointment. mayoclinichealthsystem.org

Raspberry

Thumbprints

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Beat butter and granulated sugar together in a medium bowl until creamy. Mix in 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Add flour and mix until dough comes together.

2. Form dough into 1 1/2-inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Use your thumb to press down and make a dent in the center of each ball, then fill with jam.

3. Bake until edges are lightly browned, about 14 to 18 minutes; allow to cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes.

4. Mix confectioners’ sugar, milk, and remaining 3/4 teaspoon almond extract together in a medium bowl until smooth; drizzle lightly over warm cookies.

Source: Allrecipes.com

Elf in the Park

The elves are back this year and ready to take on the Owatonna’s parks and trails. Last year, Timmy brought along his friend Candy and they both realized what a gem the Owatonna Parks are.

They will explore eight different locations between December 5 and 21.

Watch the Owatonna Parks and Recreation Facebook page for elf sightings.

A picture will be posted showing where they were last spotted. Find the location, snap an “elfie” (selfie) at the spot and post it on the Parks and Recreation Facebook page to be entered in a drawing for a 2023 River Springs Water Park season pass! The more times you find Timmy and Candy’s hiding spots, the more likely you are to win. Submit your photo in the comments of the Facebook post or email it to parkrec@ci.owatonna.mn.us.

Gift of Recreation

It’s that time of year to think about thoughtful gift giving. The City of Owatonna Parks, Recreation & Facilities Department provides an easy way to give the gift of recreation and connecting with others.

• River Springs Water Park passes

• Brooktree Golf Course passes

• Tennis & pickleball passes

• Yoga classes

• Swimming lessons

• Water aerobics

• West Hills Social Commons membership

Shop for these and other recreation gifts at the City of Owatonna Parks & Recreation Catalog online at Owatonna. gov/parksrecreation or scan this QR code.

History of the Christmas Tree

One of the most iconic symbols of Christmas is the Christmas tree. This large pine tree, decorated with ornaments, lights, tinsel, pictures, and a star can be found in many houses around Steele County throughout December. You have probably seen hundreds of Christmas trees over the years, but do you know their history? Do you know why the Christmas tree came to be so popular and one of the most common symbols of the holiday? Let’s take a quick trip back in history and find out!

The Christmas trees that we see today originated in Germany nearly 500 years ago! These trees are first seen in their modern use during the Renaissance time period, with pine trees being placed indoors and decorated, though not quite like we do today. Early Christmas trees were decorated with lit candles and fruit, replaced today by LED light strips and colorful ornaments.

Christmas trees were first brought to the Americas in the early 1780s.

Hessian soldiers from Germany, hired by England, were stationed in Canada in order to protect against an American attack during the American Revolutionary War. These soldiers brought their tradition of the Christmas tree with them, and it was featured during a Christmas party held by one of the German commanders. Locals were enchanted by the tree with lit candles and fruits hanging from its branches. The tradition quickly spread, and by the early 19th century the tradition was firmly rooted in the newly independent United States of America. The traditions and décor of the trees changed over time, with glass ball ornaments replacing the fruit, and strings of electric lights

taking the place of the candles. The tree itself, however, has not changed.

Today, Christmas trees can be found in many households during December. Ornaments and strings of lights have replaced candles and fruits, but the basic design remains the same. These have also become more than just a cultural practice, with many families creating their own special traditions related to putting up the tree and decorating it as a group. Does your family put up a Christmas tree? What traditions does your family have during the holidays?

How to STEAM the Holidays!

S T E A M

What holiday food from around the world provides energy and nutrients for growth?

During the winter holidays, many people around the world celebrate with all different kinds of cake! Cakes have many of the compounds (chemicals that are combinations of different elements) we need for energy and for growth, however most cakes have far more compounds that produce energy than help with growth. Foods that are high in energy are measured in calories, this is the amount of energy

needed to create heat, like fuel. The higher the amount of energy in the food the greater the amount of calories.

Your body needs fuel to live, but your body will also store extra calories you eat. Today it’s pretty easy to buy and eat way more calories than any time in human history, which can cause our bodies to store that extra fuel in the form of fat

Cakes and breads are made with flour, which is carbohydrates such as starch, and lots of sugar. Both of these compounds are very high in calories energy, but the most calories are found in fats and oils. This is what the frosting is made from, the thicker the frosting, the higher amount of fat and therefore the higher amount of calories.

The American Fruit cake has only 147 calories per slice while the Japanese holiday cake has 470 calories per slice! That is a lot of energy in a single slice of cake. You could eat several slices of fruit cake or Indian Allhabdi Cake and still not have as many calories as a single slice of Japanese cake.

During the holiday season, it’s important to eat a balanced diet and stay in the daily amount of healthy calories. Your body will store excess calories as fat, so one slice after dinner is a healthy way to enjoy the season.

France: Galette des Rois

Poland: Makowiec

India: Allahabadi Cake

Japanese Christmas cake (Japan)

Spain and Mexico: Rosca de Reyes

Italy: Panettone

American Fruit Cake

United Kingdom: Dundee Cake

During the holidays people love to give and receive gifts. Here are some gift ideas to bring out someone’s imagination, creativity and design skills through using new technologies.

If someone loves electronics try giving them Snap Circuits. These kits fit together like Legos and include electronic circuitry to make all kinds of moving, lighting, sound making, and fun high-tech legos gadgets.

Interested in eco-friendly gadgets? Try a UGears wooden model that moves! These 3D models are based on designs and creations by people such as Leonardo DiVinci. The 3D models use eco-friendly wood and laser cut precision to

create mechanically moving objects that are amazing to build and watch move.

If you know someone who loves to build Rube Goldberg machines that fit all kinds of pieces together to make a chain reaction, Smartivity models are for them. These kits have pieces that people can fit together into all kinds of different chain reactions that once set in motion will run all the way until the end!

Rube Goldberg was a cartoonist that loved to draw crazy chain reaction gadgets that make the simplest job into the most complicated mechanism. The Band OK Go loves to build their own Rube Goldberg chain reactions and then set the machines to music. Check out one of their videos to see how everyday simple things can fit together in the crazy most complex chain reactions!

Christmas in the United States

Boxing Day in the UK

All over the world, people celebrate the holidays and solstice with shining lights to brighten the darkness. With modern LED technology we can now engineer amazing light shows that not only brighten up the nights with dazzling color, we can program the lights to do all kinds of amazing things and even synchronize with music!

If you want to engineering your own holiday light show here’s a few things you’ll need:

You may need an adult to help with connecting all the parts, but you can use Google to help with coding the lights to music and other things. One really helpful site to practice learning how to code is with Anna and Elsa from Code. org they can help you with learning the basics and then one to create your own holiday light display!

Coding is where you type in specific directions your computer needs to follow in order to do all the cool things you’d like it to do. It’s kind of like writing out directions on a piece of paper for your neighbor on how you want the lawn mowed. The directions are coded using computer language and once it’s uploaded the computer follows the coded directions and then does the job you want it to.

T E A M

Garnish, the art of presentation and how food needs to look beautiful as well as taste good.

• Garnish using plants, color or sculpting food to create interesting and colorful food presentations.

• An important part of eating a good meal is how it looks on the plate. It takes practice to learn how to make garnishes with food. Sometimes a chef can cut vegetables or fruits into different shapes so they can become flowers or animals!

To garnish a dinner entree, use the leafy tops of celery, sprigs parsley or tomato slices and place them next to the prepared dish. Try adding garnishes to a meal when you’re helping to make dinner.

Imagine what you could make by garnishing Holiday Cupcakes? Take a look at a few of these examples and see what you can create this year.

S T E A M

MATHEMATICS

Traditional cooking often measures ingredients using VOLUME, the amount of space something takes up. For example a “cup of sugar” means the amount of sugar that fits into a measuring cup.

If the recipe calls for a “teaspoon of salt”, it’s important to use the correct spoon, however there is a big difference on how full the spoon is filled. For example, there are three ways to fill a measuring spoon:

Heaped, Rounded or Scant and each of these have different amounts of salt.

Another way to measure the sugar is to weigh out the sugar using a scale that shows the number of grams, which is the MASS of the sugar. Since grams are measured in 10s’ it’s easy to see exactly how much sugar you’re adding. When chefs cook using the metric system, they can be more accurate in measuring ingredients

for their recipes and make fewer mistakes!

To be even more accurate, use a scale to measure exactly how many grams of salt for the best recipe! By placing the salt on the scale, we can measure exactly how many grams we need, how many grams of salt are on the scale? I’d recommend putting the salt on a paper towel to keep your scale clean!

Cooking requires precision, the key to a good recipe is accurate measurement and using the correct ingredients!

Kids Cupcake recipe (America’s Test Kitchen)

Ingredients measured in traditional units 1 ¾ cups flour 1 cup sugar 1 ½ teaspoon of baking powder

teaspoon salt 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, (softened for easier mixing)

cup milk 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract Frosting, candy, pretzels and other items needed for holiday garnish.

Instructions for baking

1. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large mixing bowl, use a whisk or large fork to mix the dry ingredients. 2. Mix in the butter and use either a hand mixer or electric mixer to combine the butter with the dry ingredients. 3. Add milk and vanilla extract into the bowl and mix lightly until no lumps are present in the batter. 4. Place paper cupcake cups into muffin/cupcake baking tray. 5. Add enough batter to each cup to fill it about ½ full. 6. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a toothpick that is stabbed into the cake comes out clean. 7. Let the cupcakes cool for about an hour before decorating and eating

PAINTED PINECONE TURKEYS

These painted pinecone turkeys are super, super cute! The pinecone scales themselves become the colorful turkey feathers. This one really is so simple to make and required just a few simple supplies.

Supplies:

• Pinecones - you can forge for some or check your local craft/home decor businesses.

• Paint - try yellow, orange and red for Fall colors

• Paint Brushes

• Pom Poms

• Googly Eyes

• Scraps of Felt (both orange and red – orange for the beak, and red for the waddle)

• Glue

Directions:

1. Start by painting the pinecone scales. Start with yellow, then orange, then red. Leave some brown if you like.

2. Now you need to make the turkey faces by gluing on two googly eyes on to a pom pom ball. Next, you’ll need to cut out a small triangle from your orange felt, and a waddle from your red felt. Try making aa rounded shape at the bottom with a thinner pointed shape at the top for the waddle.

3. Have an adult carefully cut off the piece pinecone that sticks out of the very top/front of the pinecone and a few scales as well if needed. Now take your glue and add some glue to the back of the pom pom and hold it in place until it dries.

4. Find a place to display your Pinecone Turkey and show it off!

find the 5 difference

Find the two pictures that are the same. Match each toy to it’s present.

find the 10 difference

LEARNING ABOUT AN s t

RED RIBBON POSTERS

Fourth graders across the district created posters around the theme of “Celebrate Life. Live Drug Free.” during Red Ribbon Week.

String FloSS vS. PlaStic FloSS PickS

Plaque doesn’t just stay put between your teeth. It can wra p around the tooth surface, casting a ghastly yello wish glo w on those pearly whites.

Use STRING FLOSS and give each tooth a snug, “C”-sha ped hug. Then shimmy the floss up and do wn your tooth, venturing gently just belo w the gum line.

PLASTIC FLOSS PICKS are no w found in sidewalk cracks, gutters, and even on playgrounds. The use-em-and-lose-em dental tools ha ve become common sightings all over. People seem to feel they can floss while they walk, and then drop their plastic flossers on the ground. Even if floss picks are disposed of properly, they’re still prime examples of single use plastics. We need to do better for our one-and-only planet.

The Wee Exception

Newbie flossers especially those 10 and under might not yet ha ve the fine motors skills to floss their teeth with string floss, adults can use floss picks to help them floss their teeth.

Let’s Smile, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization based in Steele County since 2013. Dental services are provided to children & adolescents with MA, SCHA, or no dental insurance at no cost to families. See us in the Community Pathways Building or at your school-based dental clinic!

Call/text 507-363-3023 to set up an appointment or email us at letssmile@outlook.com www.letssmileinc.com Like us on Facebook!