Recipe idea for that 'terrible' time of year

We don't really like scary things in our house.  But we can still have some fun making things.  The Gruffalo has been very big in our house since last Christmas and I know we'll be watching it again plenty this year.   Jane even got the Gruffalo Crumble and other recipes cookbook and it's perfect for this time of year to make Gruffalo terrible tusk fruit kebabs.

Vegan burrowing Bunny Cupcakes activity for Easter

There's always plenty of food involved in Easter.  The kids love the Easter egg hunt in the garden and then there are the hundreds of hot cross buns consumed (one of Anthony's favourite snacks that are thankfully available all year round).  This year we're re-inventing our burrowing bunny cupcakes that help with their spatial reasoning, motor skills development as a vegan treat with Oreos to boot. 

Kids easy Chinese Spring Rolls for the Chinese New Year

There's always time for a bit of baking in our home.  Jane absolutely loves baking cakes, cookies and brownies (and then the eating of).  Her latest gift ask was a vegan baking cookbook!  But it's great for our boys too helping them develop their skills in areas they often struggle. 

Easter break activities and games for my kids at home

It's the last week of Easter Break and despite the weather trying to convince us otherwise, it's spring at last.  So what can we do to keep our kids busy at home for the last week of the Easter holidays?

Getting the kids involved in Christmas baking this year

This year is perhaps one of the years when we don't want lots of fingers in food.  But, baking and cooking at Christmas can be a great way to keep kids learning when they've spent time out of school in the run up to the festive break.  There’s so much that they can learn along the way and it’ll actually improve their skills and learning in a lot of different ways that you may not have not thought about. Use the times when it's just your household to get together and bake.. here's just a few things they'll get from it. 

Summer book ideas for the kids that will get them doing things

Books are great for many kids including those with autism.  They are great because they can give kids a starter for their imagination and they often provide the security of a routine - a story is the same each time you read it. So how can we use books to create more activities to expand their use during the holidays?

Easter activities for my kids at home

It's almost Easter and we might not be able to do the same things we usually do.  Those of us who may go to Church probably can't and there will be no big family gatherings.  We're not even meant to go out to get things like Easter Eggs or other special items so what are we doing with the kids this Easter?

No heat required - Easter Chocolate Nests recipe and activity

One of my kids loves cooking and baking but with three kids and some with disabilities, it’s not always easy. Things can get messy and using the hob and oven can be dangerous with them all around.

Diet ideas for increasing dopamine or serotonin

When Anthony was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) a few years ago the health service sent us a list of things to help him.  Problem was, we were doing almost all of it already which meant the only remaining support for his ADHD was via medication. I wondered how the medication worked and if there was anything we could do instead via his diet?  I also wondered if by understanding this, it might apply to people with depression or sleep difficulties.

Burrowing bunny Easter cupcakes learning activity

There's always plenty of food involved in Easter.  The kids love the Easter egg hunt in the garden and then there are the hundreds of hot cross buns consumed (one of Anthony's favourite snacks that are not available all year round).  This year we're making super easy burrowing bunny cupcakes that will help with their spatial reasoning, motor skills development and include Oreos as a special treat.

Ways to help my fussy eaters

Restricted diets.  Honestly, sometimes it can be depressing.  There's no medical reason why my boys can't eat things.  They are not allergic to anything (that I know of) and to most people it looks like I feed my kids the same food every day due to laziness. But it's not that.  I am in fact desperate to get them to eat a greater variety of foods.  If you are in the same boat, here's some of the ideas we have tried.  This post has been updated - read it here>>

See some of our recipe posts here>>

Five reasons to get baking with the kids this Christmas

Ask anybody what the benefits of baking with the kids are and they’ll tell you that’s obvious, you get to eat lots of delicious cakes at the end of it. True, that is one of the great benefits of baking with your children, but that’s only the end result. There’s so much that they can learn along the way and it’ll actually improve their skills and learning in a lot of different ways that you may not have considered. And Christmas is a great time to start and take advantage of more than just yummy outcomes.

Learning motor-skills with Gruffalo Terrible Tusks fruit kebabs

The Gruffalo has been very big in our house since last Christmas and I know we'll be watching it again plenty this year.   Jane even got the Gruffalo Crumble and other recipes cookbook and it's been out a few times, most recently to make Gruffalo tusk fruit kebabs.

Easter Rabbit Toast activity recipe & printable

Make an Easter breakfast or lunch even more fun and get your kids practising their language and motor skills with this recipe activity and printable to make an Easter Rabbit in your toast.  This recipe activity contains egg.

Gruffalo's Child Mini Pancakes

The Gruffalo has been very big in our house since last year.   Jane even got the Gruffalo Crumble and other recipes cookbook for Christmas.  Here is a recipe for Gruffalo's Child Mini Pancakes that we've adapted from some of the ideas in the book. It uses raspberries as the Gruffalo's Child's pink prickles, icing sugar as snow and mint leaves as some of the deep dark wood.

Valentines red velvet cake motor skills fun

Making cakes is a great way for kids to develop their motor skills and explore their senses.  We had fun making this valentines day themed red velvet cake with the kids.  We used a cake mix which made it easy and cutters so the kids could be as hands on or off as their senses dictated.

Having fun motor skills practice making penguin cupcakes

"There hasn't been much snow!" Jane moaned.  With all the Christmas films and cards having snow everywhere it's hardly surprising she and the other kids have been disappointed with the lack of white stuff.  A few flakes over the weekend went down well so I tried to capitalise on it by making penguin cupcakes using a recipe kit.  Kit's are great for as as they give instant access to baking and that's good when your autistic boys either get upset when waiting or will lose interest in an activity before it's begun. And we can talk about where it does snow and some penguin facts too.

Easy bread mix helps kids learn to wait and share

Lots of children with autism find it difficult to wait for things.  Sharing is difficult for many kids, including those with autism or ADHD, because they have to wait for a toy, going on the bus is difficult because they have to wait for their bus. David used to have meltdowns at the bus stop because he didn't understand that we had to wait to for another number bus.  This cooking recipe is easy, fun, helps them learn about waiting and is ideal for this season of  'sharing'.

WonderfulWednesday: @GrumpyCarer searches for a sippy cup

A fab dad took to social media this week to try and find a replacement little blue cup for his son with autism. Marc Carter's 14 year old son, Ben, has severe autism and will only drink out of a specific sippy cup that is on it's last legs. The cup is no longer made so with the fear that without it, his son will simply stop drinking altogether, Marc asked Twitter for help.  And Twitter responded.

4 days being sick - is this what it's like?

After two days spent crawling from the bed to the toilet continuously and two more days laying limp on the sofa, I'm finally feeling a bit better.  Honestly I've not been struck down by a bug like this in years.  Now, on the road to recovery, I learned something I didn't expect about my son's difficulties.