Thoughts for Thursday!

Hi!  Hope this finds you having an awesome week...Friday is one day away! :)  

My two older girls are 6 1/2 and 4 1/2....which are such FUN ages.  They love projects, crafts and making things in the kitchen.  Since we have a lot more available time now that we are on summer break AND we have been cooped up inside a little bit more than we like with LOTS of thunderstorms and rain, I decided to put together an "idea list" of treats and snacks we could make together!  

Here is what I have come up with so far!

We made dirt cake a couple years ago and my girls still talk about it!

This is definitely a treat I want to make with my girls this summer!

There are tons of recipes out there for dirt cake- this one looks super yummy!

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I also love the idea of making "sand" too! My daughter Cora doesn't care for chocolate desserts, so she would love this treat! Also- how cute to put in a sand bucket!? Such a fun, summer dessert to make!

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We talk a lot about making healthy food choices, so I thought making these granola bars would be SO fun and a great healthy snack!  I also love that you can "customize" them- add chocolate chips to half the batch, white chocolate chips to the other half!  Two of my girls LOVE chocolate and one of my girls DOES not (except she will eat Reese's butter cups and plain M&M's...DON'T ask-HA!)

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We have some really, really great neighbors and my girls love bringing treats over to them- so I thought it would be a fun project to bake something for them!  One of their family members is gluten free, so we have to be a little more thoughtful when making them treats.  Aldi has an AMAZING selection of gluten free foods- so I told my girls- the next time we are at Aldi they have to pick out a gluten free cake mix so we can make cupcakes for our neighbors.  They are SO excited and they have promised they won't forget to remind me! :)  While it is a lot of fun to make treats that my girls can enjoy, I love creating opportunities where they are able to do something else for others.  I think baking treats for neighbors is a wonderful random act of kindness! :)  Here is the cake mix we will get at Aldi and then we will use our homemade cream cheese icing to top the cupcakes!

Finally, I thought it would be super fun to show my girls Mix and Match Mama's 100 Bundt Cake recipes and let them pick out a flavor that sounds yummy!  Shay's recipes are so simple and perfect for baking with your kids.  I also love making cupcakes using one of the bundt cakes recipes!  With 4th of July just around the corner, I have a feeling my girls are definitely going to want to make her Red, White and Blue Bundt Cake!  How fun!!

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After writing this post, I have decided that for the rest of summer break, my older girls and I are going to bake a treat together, once a week, while the babies in our house take a nap.  I am always trying to think of ways I can be intentional with my older girls and I just know all 3 of us will have so much fun baking together!!

Do you love baking with your kids?  If so, share your favorite recipes with me!! Or are you more of a project/craft type of mom?  Can I send my kids over to your house if that is the case?? HA!

Hope you have a great day!!

Linking up with Annie and Natalie today!