CHILD CARE ACTIVITIES--APRIL FOOL’S DAY FUN—APRIL 1, 2008

Get into the spirit of this fun day and play a few harmless jokes. Serve your group a meal that looks entirely different from how it tastes. What looks like dessert could be hearty meat and potatoes and vice versa. Have fun and when the children realize what they are really eating, don’t forget to say “April Fools!”

A MEATLOAF CAKE?

You will need:

Two round cake pans
Your favorite meatloaf recipe
Mashed potatoes
Ketchup
Cherry tomatoes

Prepare your favorite meatloaf recipe. Divide the mixture into the two round cake pans and pat it flat. Bake as usual, but shorten the cooking time since the meatloaf is thinner and divided. While the meatloaf is in the oven, make some mashed potatoes, adding a little extra milk and whipping them with an electric mixer until they are fluffy and spreadable. When the two meatloaves are done, invert one of them onto a round serving dish. Cover the meat with a thick layer of mashed potatoes. Place the other meat circle on top of the potato layer, and finish frosting the “cake” with the remaining potatoes. Garnish with halved cherry tomatoes to look like cherries. Just before serving, decorate the top of your cake with ketchup. You can write a personalized message to the hungry group or just a simple “Happy April Fool’s Day” will do.

FRIED MARSHMALLOW EGGS?

Check out this breakfast—it’s definitely an April Fool’s meal!

You will need:
Two teaspoons butter
Twelve marshmallows
Two dried whole apricots

Place a sheet of aluminum foil on a flat working surface and grease the surface with one teaspoon of the butter.

In a small saucepan, melt the second teaspoon of butter over low heat. After it has melted, place the marshmallows in the pan. Stir continuously with a wooden spoon until the marshmallows are completely melted.

Immediately remove the pan from the heat and spoon the melted mixture in two separate blobs onto the greased foil. You have to work fast before the marshmallows get hard again. Shape the two dried apricots and gently press each one, rounded side up, into the center of each “fake egg.”

Sources:
http://www.allrecipes.com
http://familyfun.go.com
THE PRANKSTER’S ULTIMATE HANDBOOK by Erik L. Buckman copyright 1996
A KITCHEN WITCH’S COOKBOOK by Patricia Telesco copyright 1998

Submitted by Tania Cowling
Associate Editor—EverydayTLC Online