At Grandma's Place

Maybe it's the cold weather. Maybe it's the kids home now on school holidays. Maybe it's the inspiration from a recent cookbook sale.  Whatever the reason, I seem to be spending more time in the kitchen.  And the kids have loved it.  I recently bought a copy of the  Australian Women's Weekly Cookies   cookbook . The title grates a little.. Australians cook biscuits, not cookies. But the book itself is beautiful- not a big book but with beautiful layouts and wonderful photos. The front cover has a lovely, almost  honeycomb , texture. Mish Mash Cookies   The biscuit.. sorry, cookie.. recipes have been grouped into 4 categories: kids, cafe, holidays, occasions. Naturally, I began with the kids' cookies. And the Mish Mash cookies are a lot of fun. They are so easy that the kids can help you make them. They'll only take about 15 minutes to complete. Ingredients 250 gm milk chocolate, chopped roughly 115gm packaged baby Oreo biscuits 1 ...

Have you ever watched the look of intense concentration on the face of a child as they draw, paint or create a masterpiece of art? I often wonder what thoughts are going on behind that intensity. Yes, art is fun. Yes, young children enjoy getting messy with paint and feeling the textures of different media. I love watching them concentrate on a new paint texture and try out ways of using it or changing it. But it's so much more than just 'fun' for a child's education and development. Studies show that, through art, children learn to think creatively, to observe, describe, analyse and interpret. They learn to express feelings with and without words. They practice problem-solving skills, critical thinking,  and develop related language and vocabulary. It also develops confidence. So.. as a grandmother, I encourage my grandchildren to explore art and to create. It's a real thrill when one of them rushes up to say, "This is for you, Nan. I made it '...

I love to read books with my grand-kids and yes, it often means reading the same book again and again. I've lost count of the number of times I've read 'Where is the Green Sheep?' or 'Blossom Possum'. What books do you love to read aloud? Which books are you always asked to read again and again? Over and again, studies highlight the benefits of reading to your kids.For example, a study was made in Rhode Island Hospital to compare two groups of eight months old – one group was read to often as babies, while the other was not.  It was shown that those who were read to have their “receptive” vocabularies (number of words they understand) increased 40 per cent since babyhood, while the non-reading group increased by only 16 per cent.  Kimdoma is an app that enables you to read aloud with your grandchildren any night of the week, whether they live next door or kilometres away. The app combines e-books with video calls which means that you can share the book o...