Respect Myself and Others and Snacks

This week my Daisies got the first of the five petals they will earn this year (my routine is five petals per year)--Respect Myself and Others.  My Brownies are still working on the Snacks badge and this week we made our sweet snack--Cookies.  We also did a coloring sheet on the Food Pyramid and talked about healthy and unhealthy snacks.

As the girls came in they sat down and colored two sheets.  One was a place mat showing proper table setting; the other dealt with the food pyramid and healthy food.

Once everyone was there, we headed to the restroom to wash hands before we started.  Then, after the Pledge and Promise I talked to the girls about respect and how it meant treating people like they are important.  I tied this into our archdiocesan Safe Environment curriculum by telling the girls that if they respect themselves they tell a trusted adult if someone hurts them or tries to hurt them, and while not specifically mentioning sexual abuse I did tell them that some adults do choose to hurt kids, and will sometimes threaten to hurt them more if they tell, and that anyone an adult tries to get them to keep secrets, unless it is a fun secret like a surprise party, they need to tell someone.  If we respect others, we don't bully them and we tell adults if another child is a bully/being bullied.  I also talked about healthy food, exercise, cleanliness etc as being ways we take care of ourselves and respect ourselves.



Then it was time to make cookies.  I have 17 girls if everyone shows up, so I had four set-ups.  Each had a mixing bowl (large plastic bowl), a wooden spoon, measuring cups, measuring spoons and cookie sheets.  Each also had a recipe for Cake Mix Cookies:

• One Box Cake Mix--any flavor
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon mild flavor oil (we used Crisco oil)
• 1 cup mix-ins (we had chocolate chips or white chips.  You can also use raisins, marshmallows, nuts, M&Ms, ....)
  

Mix the first three ingredients together until smooth, then add the mix-ins.  Form into 24 cookies and place on cookie sheets.  Bake about 7 minutes at 350 degrees.

Each group had to read the recipe and put the ingredients in the bowl.  They got a choice about which chips they wanted.  The cake mixes were just handed to them.  The opened the cake mixes, cracked the eggs and told me when I had poured enough oil.  They also picked the right measuring cup for me to pour the chips into.  The girls then spooned out the cookies onto the cookie sheets.

The oven is in a different room from where we meet, so I had parents lined up to take the filled cookie sheets over there and bake them.  When they brought the baked cookies back, the girls used the spatula to remove them from the cookie sheets, and each girl got to sample each type of cookie.

While the cookies were baking we talked about place settings and how one way we show respect for others is using a formal table setting, especially on special occasions.  I then passed out paper plates and plastic cutlery for the girls to set the table.  I told the girls that the Brownies probably already know this, but that we were going to practice cutting with a table knife.  I gave each girl a marshmallow and demonstrated how to stab it with the fork to hold it still and then to cut it with the knife.  After they cut the marshmallow, they got to eat it.  One mom told me that was the first time her daughter used a knife, and it was clear she was not the only Daisy in that boat.  

The girls had a great time with this meeting, even if the snack was not the most healthy.  I did point out that most of our snacks should be healthy; that cookies should be a special treat.

I like this recipe for the girls because it is simple, does not require me to purchase a lot of ingredients that will be left over, and because it doesn't require the use of an electric mixer (and the danger to little fingers).  A quick Google search will bring you lots of blog posts with recipes for cake mix cookies, but if you are going to make them with your girls, I recommend buying an extra box or two of cake mix and trying the recipe at home first.  While my goal in doing so was to determine how long to bake the cookies, I also found out that the box of cake mix I had was smaller than the one the recipe creator had used--my first batch of cookie dough, made with 1/2 cup of oil was more like batter than dough.