Star Spangled Skewers

This is a great cooking activity to celebrate the Fourth of July.  And it’s healthy! 

Before you begin any cooking project, here are a few tips:

Cover your kitchen table with a plastic table cloth, this makes for easy clean up.

Put a kitchen towel out for each child.  This defines their workspace.

Have a roll of paper towels ready to use if needed.

Have all of your materials, ingredients, utensils, cutting boards, etc. ready to go.

I call these “Star Spangled Skewers”.

Most important is the preparation of the child.

Everyone has an apron, and everyone washed their hands.

For this recipe you need

12 inch skewers

Blueberries, strawberries, bananas

Mini marshmallows

Wash and dry the berries.

Cut the tops off of the strawberries and then cut each one in half.

Cut the bananas.  

Children can help with the cutting.  Use plastic knives.  I like to cut down one side of the banana to make it more stable on the cutting board.  Make small cuts in the banana where you want the child to cut through.  Show the child how to hold the fruit on the cutting board with one hand and press with the knife until it goes all the way through to the board.

Have a bowl on the table for garbage.  Thanks to Rachael Ray for that.

Now we assemble.

Seven of the skewers need to have the strawberries and bananas alternated so there are 13 pieces of fruit on each one, start and end with a strawberry.

The other five skewers need to have strawberry, banana, strawberry, banana, strawberry

Then finish with alternating the blueberries and marshmallows.

To display use a flat board like a cutting board and arrange the skewers to look like the American Flag.

Everyone who cooks can help clean up.

So assign jobs.

Shaun will you please take the cutting boards to the sink, one at a time.

Lily will you carefully dump the contents of the garbage bowl into the trash?

Ava will you collect the towels and bring them to the washer?

I will collect the knives and the table cloth.  Wrap all the table mess in the plastic table cloth and clean up is easy!

These Star Spangled Skewers are fun to make, but they are even more fun to eat!!!

We will soon put a video up of this segment, check back to see the fun!