Easy to Make Candy Pretzel Sticks
I was at a party recently and one of the guest brought some chocolate covered pretzels with nuts. Everyone raved about how tasty they were. I ate two (so much for self control).
I did not have a recipe so I just decided to wing it. They are extremely easy to make, simple as 123. The pretzel snacks took less than 15 minutes to make from start to finish (not counting waiting time for them to harden). These would be great for you to make for a kids party, BBQ, Memorial Day, July 4th, Presidents Day, or anytime. Use different color sprinkles to match your event.
Patriotic Pretzel Stick Recipe
Ingredients:
Just a little note: I used the brands listed below because I had the chips in the pantry, the Snyder pretzel rods had the fewest broken ones, and the Wilton patriotic sprinkles were on sale.
1 bag pretzel rods (Snyders)
10oz. bag white chocolate chips (trader Joes)
1 jar Patriotic Mix sprinkles (Wilton)
Wax paper
Directions:
Put a piece of wax paper on the kitchen counter or on a rectangle baking tray. Use some sort of microwave safe container to melt the chips (deep enough to dip the pretzel rods). I used a 4-cup pyrex measuring cup. Pour the white chocolate chips into the container. To melt the chips cook in microwave for 1-1/2minutes, stir with butter knife then cook another 30seconds and stir again.
Take a pretzel stick and dip into melted chocolate to coat. I tilted the measuring cup to get the chocolate far enough up the pretzel. Holding the pretzel horizontal I twirled it until no more chocolate was dripping. Then, hold the pretzel over a plate and sprinkle with candy stars or whatever you choose. Set the pretzel on wax paper and continue with the next one. I made 12 pretzel stix with some leftover chocolate which I used for dipped strawberries.
Now all you have to do is wait until the chocolate hardens. 
I had trouble being patient so I put them on a tray and popped them into the refrigerator for 5-minutes. This helped them harden. I waited another 30-minutes to put them into cellophane wrappers. You could use saran wrap. I tied the ends of the wrappers with some patriotic ribbon for a finishing touch (watch out, Martha Stewart).
My husband came home from work and ate 2 of them giving them 5 out of 5 stars for goodness.
I can’t believe how easy these were to make. You must try these with the kids. Even very young children can help by sprinkling the candies on the pretzels.
I know there are probably many other recipes out there for these treats, but this one worked very well for me. I hope this helps you make and enjoy your own homemade treats.
Get More Stars and Stripe Themed Recipes and Printables
Fun Valentine Game for Kids
Fishing For Hearts
Great Activity to Develop Hand-Eye Coordination
A very simple enexpensive DIY game to play with the kids. Kids develop hand-eye coordination while having fun.
Perfect for Preschool-Kindergarten
Step 1: Make the Chenille Stem Hearts
Supplies:
- Chenille Stems (qty. depends on how many hearts you want to make)
- Pencil (1 pencil for each child)
- Recycled box (optional)
Grab some chenille stems (aka pipe cleaners) and form some hearts. Use a pencil and a chenille stem to make the fishing pole. Here is a quick video to show you how.
Step 2: Have Fun Playing Fishing For Hearts
There are really no rules to this game. One way to play is to put all the hearts in a box. Use your pencil fishing pole to catch the hearts and pull them out of the box one by one. Add some excitement by timing each player.
How Many Hearts Can You Catch at One Time?
Use your imagination to come up with your own Fishing For Hearts rules.
Examples:
>Pick up a heart without moving any other hearts.
>Using the fishing pole only, see who can pick up the most hearts at one time.
Valentine’s Day Coloring Pages
Printable Valentine Coloring Pages
Printable Valentine Coloring Pages
Keep Smiling, Singing, and Learning
And You Can Make Everyday
Simply Splendiferous!
and the Billy Gorilly Crew
Data Collection and Graphing
Making a Class Eye Color Graph is a Fun
Way for Kids to Learn About Data Collection and Graphing
An eye color graph is a great project to work on when you’re teaching children about the sense of sight and eye anatomy.
When kids make a graph they are learning how to collect, organize, and display data that will help them answer questions.
In this example they will be collecting data about eye color.
Each graph has certain parts such as a title to show what your graph is about. Labels to show the kind of data being collected, and a section to show and measure the data collected.
Parts of a Graph
In the example above we have the title area, label area, and the data area.
Creating the Graph
There are many different ways to create the graph, this is just one example. We used an 18″ x 12″ piece of paper to make this graph. We offer the printable template of the eyes and title header if you like Here.
Collecting the Data
In this example we are trying to find out how many kids in the class have brown, blue, green, or hazel eyes. Here is one way to do it. Have the children sit in a circle. Using a portable mirror, have each child look at their eyes to see which eye color they have. When each child has determined their eye color send them back to their desk. Pass out a paper eye to each student. Using crayons or markers instruct the children to color the eye to match their own eye color, as shown in the example above.
Paste all the colored eyes in the appropriate column on your graph.
You can also add the number for each eye color to your graph as shown below.
Eye Color Graph Printable
Here is another example of a bar graph. With bar graphs you use the height of each bar to compare the data. This graph can be printed out and filled in as a group project or handed to each student to fill in on their own.
Get all the templates and printables here
The Five Senses Song
Kids watch and sing-along with Billy Gorilly to learn about the five senses.
Learn more about the Five Senses Video, Song, and Printables
[CLICK HERE]
Here is Another Post You Might Enjoy
Keep Smiling, Singing, and Learning
And You Can Make Everyday
Simply Splendiferous!
and the Billy Gorilly Crew
Exploring the Sense of Sight – PreK-G1
We use our sense of sight to see, explore, and navigate the world around us. We use our eyes to see a friend sitting across the room, read a book, or watch a movie. We use our sense of sight to check for cars, making sure it’s safe to cross the street. We use our sense of sight to determine if it’s day or night.
Your Amazing Eyes
Sight is one of the most important senses we have
Basic Eye Anatomy
Parts of the Eye and What they Do
Get this printable in the Five Senses Bundle Pack
Eyebrows – Protect your eyes from things getting in them like dust, sweat, & hair.
Eyelids – We have an upper eyelid and a lower eyelid. Eyelids help protect the eye by keeping things out of your eye. They also help keep your eyes moist when you blink or close them while sleeping. When you see something come close to your face, your brain tells your eye to close without you even thinking about it. You can also open and close your eyes on demand. When you open and close your eyes, it’s called blinking.
Eyelashes – Eyelashes are another part of the eye that help protect your eyes from dust, sweat, rain, or other debris
Blink, Blink, Blink
Sclera – The white part of the eye is called the sclera. Say: sklair-uh. The sclera is the tough outer coat of the eyeball.
Iris – The part that gives your eye its color. The iris works as a muscle to make your pupil get big (dilate) or get small (constrict). Not all people have
the same eye color, some have green, blue, brown, hazel, or a combination of colors.
Pupil – The pupil is the black dot in the center of your eye. The pupil gets bigger (dilated) in the dark and smaller (constricted) in bright light. When it’s dark your pupils get bigger to help you see better by letting more light in. Your pupils get smaller in bright light to help protect your eye by letting less light in.
Five Senses Video
Kids Sing-Along and Learn about the Five Senses
Great for the Classroom
Five Senses Multi-media Bundle Pack Learn More
Here is another post you might enjoy
How to Make a Class Eye Color Graph
Sense of Sight – Click Image to Learn More
Keep Smiling, Singing, and Learning
And You Can Make Everyday
Simply Splendiferous!
and the Billy Gorilly Crew
Printable Coloring Pages
Winter – Christmas – Holiday
Celebrate the Season!
With FREE activity pages to download and print.
Click on the Print button below the activity pages you want.
Keep Smiling, Singing, and Learning
And You Can Make Everyday
Simply Splendiferous!
and the Billy Gorilly Crew
Counting Backwards Video and Song
“10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, BLAST OFF!”
Every kid loves pretending they’re a rocket launching into the sky, but there’s more to that simple countdown than meets the eye. First of all, counting backwards is not as easy to as you might think. For young children who have only relatively recently learned to count forward, counting in the opposite direction can be somewhat tricky. But given plenty of opportunities to practice, most kids feel comfortable counting down by the time they finish kindergarten.
Counting Backwards Video
Learning to count backwards enables children to identify numerical patterns and more fully understand the relationship of one number to another. Teachers and parents who introduce and reinforce this skill are building a perfect foundation for children to learn the more complex mental math techniques that will be necessary in their future.
Because the concept and skill of counting in reverse can be a little difficult to grasp, it’s vitally important to engage kids in a variety of fun and motivating activities that build their confidence. Using your fingers is one of the easiest ways to get started. Having that clear visual cue helps children develop the mental pathways required to understand the theory and obtain the ability. While fingers are always handy (did I just say that?), really anything can be used to give a visual representation. Toys, books, pieces of fruit, …. just look around.
Printable Worksheets, Templates, Video, and Song – PreK-Gr1
Using the power of music is also very effective in helping kids learn challenging skills like counting backwards. Songs and music videos enable young children to practice counting down while giving them strong visual and auditory links their brains can replay whenever they need to. Not to mention the fact that including music in the process makes everything a lot more fun.
Counting down can be used almost anytime kids need to transition from one activity to another. Whether at home or in the classroom, a count down makes even the simplest things more exciting. With a little creative thinking, chances to hone the skill of counting backwards can be found all around.
[ Learn More ]
Other Posts You May Like:
>My Five Senses
>Kids learn how to wash their hands
>Months of the Year
Don’t Forget To Wash Your Hands
Billy Gorilly’s SuperStar Hand Washing video makes learning about hand washing fun. It keeps the germ talk simple so it’s not too scary. In the video Billy teaches kids the basics of Why, When, and How to wash their hands in words they can understand. Then, they get to pretend to be world famous rock stars singing the SuperStar Hand Washer song. The song is just the right length for hand washing timing, easy to sing, and lets those pesky little germs know who’s boss as they’re being sent down the drain. You just might find yourself singing the song too. I think it makes a lot more sense than happy birthday. What does your birthday have to do with hand washing anyway?
Handwashing with soap and water is an affordable, easy, and effective way to prevent diseases.
Hand washing is one of the best ways
to not get sick or spread germs
Our goal is to help kids form a healthy habit of
good hand washing that will last a lifetime.
Complete Hand Washing Lesson Plan for Teachers
We’ve created a hand washing lesson kit that contains everything you need to teach a classroom full of children how to wash their hands. This kit makes it easy for you to teach kids about handwashing. The teacher/leader script helps you every step of the way.
Learn More about the SuperStar Hand Washing Lesson Plan
Friday Freebie: Printable with Instructions for DIY Cookie Sheet Magnetic Activity Board
Kids Cookie Sheet Activity Board
This magnetic activity board is easy to make and fun for kids.
Great to keep the little ones busy while on a road trip or quiet time at home.
Supplies Needed:
- Cookie Sheet (check out the dollar store to save money)
- Magnetic Tape
- Clear Contact Paper
- Scissors
- Printer with white card stock or regular printer paper
- Billy Gorilly and Friends printable
(find the links to printables at the bottom of post)
Instructions:
Print out the background and characters on regular or card stock paper.
For best results print the background using borderless printing.
Use clear contact paper or laminate to make cutouts and background long-lasting.
Cut out each of the characters.
Cut pieces of magnetic tape and apply to back of characters and background image.
That’s all there is to it. Your activity board is ready for fun play.
Great to use on Road Trips
–>Download and print the background image
–>Download and print the character images
Quick links:
Friday Freebie Billy Gorilly finger puppets
Easy To Make Finger Puppets
This kids craft is super simple, and its fun too!
Supplies Needed:
• Printer and regular paper
• Scissors
• Tape ( double stick tape is helpful, but not necessary )
Directions:
Step 1.
Print out the Billy Gorilly finger puppet template.
Step 2.
Cut out the images.
Step 3.
Create a tube out of paper to fit finger and tape to the back of image. Enjoy your finger puppets!
Click Here to Print the Template
Get Ready For Kindergarten
We love freebies, and today we want to share a free printable with you.
This one is a line tracing worksheet.
Get Ready for Writing and Develop Fine Motor Skills
Practice drawing lines from left to right
Click Here to Print Your Line Tracing Worksheet
Other Posts You May Like:
>My Five Senses
>Kids learn how to wash their hands
>Months of the Year
Keep Smiling, Singing, and Learning
And You Can Make Everyday
Simply Splendiferous!
and the Billy Gorilly Crew