Oscar Makes Muffins
Now It’s Your Turn!
Usually the memory of Oscar’s voice on the flash-card blue screens is enough to get children to try and repeat what he says. If they don’t you could say the words on the blue screens. Try and use a funny voice like Oscar does.
Before or After the Show
Make muffins! Follow the recipe with your child. Point to each word when you read through the ingredients. Talk about how you are measuring. No time to make muffins from scratch? Get a mix - any mix: cookies, brownies, falafel - you can make it together.
It’s a game show called - “Name that Kitchen Tool!” Get out familiar and weird kitchen tools. Hold one up - can your child guess the name of that kitchen tool? For less familiar tools let your child make up a name for them once they know what it does. If the name catches-on let that be its new name. For example, we didn’t know what to call the tool that mashed the bananas so we called it a masher - now it’s always called a masher in our house. Making up a name for something can be quite empowering.
Here’s a variation of “Name that Kitchen Tool!” for older children. Put the names of the kitchen tools on post-it notes or paper and put them in random order on the table in front of them. Lay out each kitchen tool then read the names on the post-it notes. Let your child try and match the name to the tool. If you need to read the post-it notes again and again that’s fine. Point to each word as you read. Do you have a prize you can give them once they match all that they can? One of the cookies you both made? A big warm hug?