1) Blueberry Ice Cream! Freeze your berries, then toss a few handfuls in the blender with a splash or two of a milk of your choice (almond, oat, breast, whole, etc) and enjoy some fresh berry ice cream “paint”
PRO-TIP: Your hands (or toes!) make great paintbrushes for your food artwork of the day!
2) Blueberry Tic-Tac-Toe – Grab a handful of blueberries and raspberries, draw or tape out your board (#) and gogogo for the three in a row! This is a great counting game and a fun way to get your little one thinking/talking about numbers!
3) Blueberry Toppers! Grab a handful and decorate any baked goods you have at home, muffins, cupcakes, bread. Can your little one make lines? zig-zags? Polk-a-dots? You get the idea!
4) Blueberry Ghosts! – Grab a container of cool whip and scoop out some “ghosts!” Next up, allow your little one to add in their blueberry eyes! Mastered the ghost? Try a snowman next!
LANGUAGE TIP: “He needs buttons, let’s count them out together! 1,2,3!”
Note: Snowman work best if you spread out 2D circles on a flat surface (baking sheet, table, plate) with your whipped cream vs the 3D plops /blobs used for ghosts! 🙂
5) Blueberry Straw Contest – See who can suck the blueberries with a straw and drop their berry into a cup first!
6) Blueberry Kabobs – Grab a coffee stirrer (Check out your local Starbucks or Panera) or a chopstick and poke up or slide on as many blueberries as you can!
7) Make Blueberry Playdough! – this is a great interaction with and food preparation activity!
Blueberry PlayDoh Recipe:
Ingredients: 2 cups plain flour, 2 cups water, 1/2 cup blueberries (or more for an even brighter colour), 1 cup salt, 2 tbsp oil (you can use almost any oil, but I used canola oil for this version), 4 tbsp cream of tarter.
Directions: Place the blueberries in a small saucepan with the water, bring to the boil, and then simmer on low for around 10 minutes or until the water darkens and becomes purple in colour. While that is simmering, add the dry ingredients to a heat-proof bowl and mix to combine. Strain the purple water from the berries and put the berries in a small plastic container in the fridge to eat later as a snack or dessert – yum! Slowly add the hot liquid – it needs to be very hot – to the flour mixture and stir to combine until it becomes play dough. Stir until it becomes dough. Once the dough is cool enough to touch, take it out of the bowl and knead it until it becomes smooth.
Recipe Courtesy of: www.thecrafttrain.com
8) Blueberry Fingerprints ! – Mash up your berries or pre-create a puree (don’t forget to let your little one help prepare it! GEt out those aprons!) and make some fingerprint art work!
PRO-TIP: Crossing two thumbprints makes a cute “thumb” heart!
9) Make Blueberry Popsicles – blend up some blueberry puree with your little one, let them help you pour yogurt and the blueberry puree into the popsicle molds, freeze and enjoy!
10) Blueberry Smash/Splat Poppers – Line up your berries and pop down the line as you smash them on your plate or across your table (We totally encourage singing a rendition of “Follow the blueberry road!” to the tune of “Follow the Yellow Brick Road!”)! Talk with your little one about how berries “pop”/“splat” open in our mouths when we bite into them and “pop” them with our teeth! Some of our Little One’s will need this mental preparation before they are ready to handle such a big sensation in their mouth!
11) Dancing Blueberry Experiment – Grab a clear glass, some clear soda (Sprite, Sierra Mist, La Croix, etc.) and some freeze dried or dried blueberries. Pour your soda in the glass (or bowl) and let your little one drop in the blueberries. As the bubbles begin to coat the blueberries, they will be carried up-up and away! As the bubbles burst, the berries will sink, re-coat with bubbles and float back up “dancing” away!
12) Berry Toast Faces – How many funny faces can you make on your slice of toast?!
13) Berry Plop – Practice picking up your berries with your fingers (or mouths) and plopping them into a tin or bowl!
14) Berry Smoothie – Have your little one help add handfuls of blueberries to the blender while you prepare a tasty smoothie!
15) Blueberry Roll Race! – draw a finish line with tape or berry “pop” line and ready, set, ROLL your berries across the table!
16) Blueberry Pancake Bites or Puree! – Have your little one help prepare blueberry pancake bites or puree! Check out a quick and tasty recipe here: http://www.motherthyme.com/2016/03/blueberry-pancake-bites.html via The Mother Thyme
*Is your little one still on puree solids? Or does your tot have a little brother or sister who they can help prepare a puree for? Check out this fantastic home-blended blueberry, avocado, banana puree via The Baby Foodie: https://babyfoode.com/blog/5-minute-banana-blueberry-avocado-baby-puree/
17) Read “Blueberries for Sal” by Robert McClosky –
“Pick” the berries while reading the book (Place them out on a green bush you created from construction paper and laminated to keep it dry and reusable!), have tin, bag, bowl or container to put blueberries in when your Little One “picks” them from the bush! Next up, Feed the bear (you can make a bear from brown paper bag or add brown bag ears and a nose or eyes to a bowl you have at home!)
You can borrow this book from your local library or purchase from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Blueberries-Sal-Robert-McCloskey/dp/014050169X
18) Blueberry Painting – with a brush, your Little One’s fingers or maybe even their toes!
19) Blueberry Picking Excursion – Grab a reusable bag, box or tin and head to a berry picking farm near you!
20) Present Those Blueberries – Remember, exposure is key, tolerating one blueberry on or near our plate is a HUGE win for some of our Little Ones, maybe even just tolerating them on the counter across the room. Wherever your little one is in their feeding process, know you’re doing a great job!
