Lemons Are Not Red

 

*Read to the children in your life every day.  You are giving them a gift that will last a lifetime!

Lemons Are Not Red          By:  Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Ages:  Toddler through Kindergarten

 

We live in a world full of vibrant colors and it is important to introduce them to young children.  Lemons Are Not Red is full of brightly colored objects with cutouts to make it fun.  As children learn the colors, they can better describe the world that surrounds them.   It is also a useful skill that they will need to classify objects.   Lemons Are Not Red is a great introduction to colors and helps children to differentiate one color from the other and also clearly displays each color word.

 

Tips for Reading:

• Read the entire story to the child, stressing the colors that are represented on each page.
• Turn to a page in the book, say a color word represented on the page and ask the child to point to that color.
• Turn to a page in the book and ask the child to identify the color by name.
• Ask the child to identify colors in their crayon box.
• Ask the child to identify the color of objects in their surroundings.
• As the child advances, begin introducing the color words.

Additional Books:

• Mary Wore Her Red Dress and Henry Wore His Green Sneakers          Adapted and Illustrated by:  Merle Peek
• Mouse Paint          By:  Ellen Stoll Walsh
• My Many Colored Days          By:  Dr. Seuss          Illustrated by:  Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher
• Seven Blind Mice          By:  Ed Young
• The Colors of Us          By:  Karen Katz
• Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow          By:  Sarah L. Schuette   (These are all separate books and are wonderful!)

*All of the books listed can be found on Amazon and most can be found at your local bookstore or library.

 

Cooking Time: 

M & M Cookies

M & M’s are a perfect way to review colors and enjoy a little chocolate at the same time.  Using them to make these delicious cookies is even better.  Children will love helping by adding the ingredients, cracking the eggs, and putting extra M & M’s on the tops of each cookie.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening  (Crisco)

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla  (always use pure vanilla)

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups milk chocolate or dark chocolate M & M’s, with extra for the tops of the cookies  (buy the family size bag)

• Using a mixer, cream the butter, shortening, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy   (3 to 5 minutes)
• Add the eggs and vanilla.
• Mix until well blended
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
• Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until well blended.
• Stir in the M & M’s with a spoon.
• Using a 1 inch melon scoop or a spoon, form balls of cookie dough and place on the lined baking sheets.
• Press each ball with fingers to flatten the top of each cookie.
• Press 4 different colored M & M’s on the top of each cookie.  Children will love doing this.
• Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until light brown.
• Place cookie sheets on wire racks to cool for at least 5 minutes.
• Remove the cookies from the trays and place back on the wire racks to continue cooling.
• Place in air tight containers.

Makes approximately 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

 

Vanilla Cupcakes with Sprinkles

Children love to put sprinkles on ice cream and now they can enjoy them on top of these colorful cupcakes.  These are delicious vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting.  By mixing food coloring, children can create new colors for the icing.  The perfect book to read before making the icing is Mouse Paint, one of the additional books that we have suggested.   The mice in the story show you how to use the primary colors to make new colors. (ex. red and yellow makes orange, etc.)  Children can help by adding the ingredients to both the cake and the icing, cracking the eggs, and of course, putting the sprinkles on top of the cupcakes.  (If you need to save time, a white cake mix and canned frosting will work.)

Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners.

3 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

1/4 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla  (always use pure vanilla)

3/4 cup milk

• Using a mixer on medium- high speed, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  (3 to 5 minutes)
• Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each.
• Add the sour cream and vanilla and mix until blended.
• In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
• Alternately add the flour and milk to the creamed mixture, making sure to start and end with the dry ingredients.
• Using a spoon or ice cream scoop, fill each cupcake cup with batter about three-fourths full.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 14 to 18 minutes.  Do not over-bake.
• Cupcakes are done when a toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool cupcakes on a wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Remove the cupcakes from the pans to continue cooling.

Buttercream Frosting

1 cup butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla

6 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup milk

Food coloring

Sprinkles

• Using a mixer, cream the softened butter.
• Add the vanilla and mix until combined.
• Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, scraping the bowl often.
• Add the milk and beat on medium high to high speed until the icing is light and fluffy.   (Add additional powdered sugar or milk to get the right consistency.)
• Divide the icing into separate bowls to add the food coloring.
• Add the colors that you want and mix until incorporated.
• Using a knife or piping bag, put icing on each of the cooled cupcakes.
• Add the sprinkles.

Makes 2 dozen cupcakes.