Almond Cream

I created this recipe to satisfy a sweet craving without any sugar and it turns out the kids love it too!

Step 1 :
Soak 2 cups of almonds in water for 48 hours, rinsing with fresh water every 8-10 hours.

Soaking the almonds activates the sprouting process and creates a more digestible and vibrant almond.

We compared the difference of a dried almond to a soaked almond and used some great vocabulary words: "plump", "absorb", "activate", "sprout", "germinate".

We also introduced the basic concept of the life cycle of a seed.  By soaking the almond (seed) in water we are mimicking nature and the almond begins to germinate as it senses that there is enough rain to produce a healthy plant.

Step2:
Peeling the almonds removes the tannins which can make nuts difficult to digest and it's an excellent activity to improve fine motor skills!  The kids were so patient as they delicately removed the skins and stayed focused on the job until every last almond was peeled.

Step 3:
Add 1/4 cup coconut oil, 1/2 cup almond milk, a pinch of sea salt, and 5-10 drops vanilla stevia to peeled almonds and blend in a vitamix until smooth (you can use a regular blender but the result will not be quite as smooth).  Most of the kids were fine with the stevia, but you can add extra maple syrup or honey for extra sweetness. We have also experimented with adding fresh ginger juice, cardamom, cinnamon... all delish!

We served it on sliced strawberries but it's also great on it's own or as a topping for sauteed green apples.

We also learned about sprouting seeds in the garden. We made rows in the earth and planted black eye peas. We covered the garden beds with hay mulch and the kids watered by hand everyday. After 2-3 days we had sprouts:)! After one week we have seedlings. In one month we will be eating fresh black eyed peas and saving some seeds to continue the cycle again. Black eyed peas are amazing plants that can handle the harshest of Texas heat with little water and still thrive. 

And we did a little seed to sprout yoga:  Curl up like a teeny tiny seed, pitter patter feel the rain, and grow tall like a sprout!

Beeswax is a wonderful, honey-scented medium that easily changes shape the warmer it gets in your hands while stimulating the tactile, thermic, visual, and olfactory senses.

We like to sing this little Waldorf song when we create with beeswax:

"Zooma-zooma-zee.
 Busy little bee!
 Wax you've made for me.
 What I make we'll see.
 Zooma-zooma-zee."

We had a blast experimenting with these natural paints from Glob Colors from globiton.com.  We enjoyed trying out different ratios of paint powder to water and played with creating an oil based paint too.  We were delighted to discover that the paints smelled like the plants they were made from!

We used our natural paints to decorate card board boxes...

then we became chefs and made our own muffins to serve in our sidewalk cafe!

How many kids can you fit in a hoop? 2?

4??

5 kids in a hoop!

We picked fresh basil and kale for our homemade pesto and then decorated our pasta salad with garden tomatoes and carrot flowers. 

Homemade pizzas are always a big hit too!

Practicing balance at yoga time...

and singing songs in our circle!  We love to make up our own songs - the leader says " Who do you want to be and what do you want to be doing?"  Then the kids come up with the lyrics and act them out together:

"I am a pegasus dancing in the clouds"
"I am a zebra eating all the grass"
"I am a monkey hopping to the lake"

The kids created their own Montessori inspired sorting activity from different beans they picked in the garden.

Birthday cupcakes!

Free play!