March Break Madness

Hello my learning loving adventurers!
Depending on where you live, you are probably thinking about March Break right now. What to do with your time off of school (or your kids time off of school). Well I've brought you some fun ideas to bring together experimenting in the kitchen with exploring your city.
So here are 5 ideas to keep your whole family's tummy happy, keep their brains engaged and their bums off the couch.

Day 1: Bake a batch of cupcakes (DUH!) Today try out this awesome barn cake and fill the barnyard with these adorable chickens, sheep and pig cupcakes that anyone can make, or be creative and make some animals of your own like cows or horses! The barn can be baked in an 8" square tin, and should use about 2.5 cups of batter. The remaining batter should bake about 12 cupcakes. You can decorate 4 cupcakes today, and save some for decorating on day 2, 3 and 4. You can also choose not to make the barn, in which case you'll have 24 cupcakes to spread out across the week. Follow the link below for full instructions and video from the amazing team at Betty Crocker on how to create this barn cake and farmyard cupcakes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnF_JkOS1Nc&feature=fvwrel

Turn this fun baking experience into a learning adventure. Take a trip to a local petting zoo (or make friends with your local farmer) and let your family meet some real live farm animals. This is a great way to get kids involved with animals, teach them about the names of different animals and what their babies are called and teaches young children how to be gentle (and brave)! Petting zoos are generally very cheap (if not free) for admission and offer a whole day of fun and exploration.

Day 2: Have any sports fans in your family? I hope you saved a few cupcakes to decorate today. Try out these super easy baseballs, soccer balls, tennis balls, and basketballs. Or make all 4 to match your favorite sport. The fabulous team at Betty Crocker also came up with this great idea. Follow the link below to show you what you need to create each kind of sports ball.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiyRTqDgSDw

Pack this tasty treat up and take it to a game with you. This time of year you can take in a basketball game, hockey game, or baseball spring training. Public sporting events are a great way to get your family into the excitement of a game, and a great opportunity to introduce your child(ren) to new sports, teach them about working together as a team, and have a chance to jump up and down screaming and cheering for a team. (Hey, its my experience anytime kids are ALLOWED to jump and scream, they don't care what the occasion is, they're in!!!)

Day 3: So by now, you should have 4 cupcakes left. And what better to do with them than make them into jungle pals. You can create a brave lion, a daring tiger, a prancy zebra and a cheeky monkey. Another amazing idea from Betty Crocker to get your kids involved and create something silly and fun, and of course so delicious. Follow the link below to a great video tutorial teaching you how to make these jungle cupcakes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjskbAnvWaY&feature=relmfu

I think you can already guess where I'm going with this one... A trip to the zoo! The zoo is great any time of year, but I'm sure your local zoo will have some great activities going on for March Break. Like the petting zoo, the city zoo is an incredible place for kids to learn all about animals and get to see some animals from parts of the world they've never been to, or rare animals they might never see anywhere else. It's also a great place to learn about the habitats of different land animals as well as water dwellers.

Day 4: I've talked about the jaw dropping amazingness (is that a word???) of Hello Cupcake and What's New Cupcake... so here is a link to a video by the creators (Karen and Allan) showing you how to make pretty much any kind of incredible cupcake you can think of, using normal house hold foods, and snacks you can find in any grocery store.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSKYmV5chuc&feature=related

Looking for some more inspiration to bring out your inner sculptor or cupcake artist? Take a trip to a museum or art gallery. Many museums also have special events for kids over March Break. I love the variety in a museum! You can see paintings and sculptures and tools and jewelry, clothing and even dinosaur bones!!! This is such a fantastic way for kids to get exposure to art, world cultures and history. Try recreating some of the art you saw with your cupcakes...like this:

This idea, and all the instructions on how to recreate it can also be found in Hello Cupcake (just incase you were wondering). How's that for cupcake genius!

Day 5: Alright, so let's be honest. By now you're probably glad your cupcakes are all done. So lets try something different today. Sweets on a stick are quickly becoming 'the new IT thing'...so why not try making some of your own. Of course, you can follow my earlier directions on how to make cake pops, or you can try making some chocolate lollipops. Here is a link to show you how to make chocolate lollipops with an extra POP surprise to them!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2dA1l9-ZQQ
To make it even easier, you can by candy melts made by Wilton or Merckens. They come in every colour of the rainbow, and a few flavors as well. Wilton also makes a plethora of lollipop molds so you can try out different colours and designs, make something really interesting! For something simple try these smiley face lollipops (by Wilton).

These are just so cute with their giant smiles, I just can't help but feel happy when I look at them!
If you're ready to try something a little more complex why not try these sea creatures (also by Wilton)...maybe you even saw a few of them the other day at the zoo!

Whew, March Break just flew by didn't it?! I hope I've given you some ideas to keep your kids hands and minds busy this break. You'll have a blast with your family, and I guarantee you'll never hear the words every parent dreads during school breaks "I'm bored"! I hope you all have a fantastic break with your family this year. And don't worry about eating all those cupcakes, you'll walk them off during your explorations (hehe)!

Until next time,
Happy baking, caking and tasting!
Love and sprinkles xoxo

>>>A lot of these cupcake decorating ideas are also perfect for theme and birthday parties! If you have any questions about these march break ideas, products you'll need, or ideas on theme parties please leave your comments below.<<<