Cooking, crafting and experimenting
Fun home activities for kids
Feeling daunted by the prospect of entertaining your kids at home? To make your family time as enjoyable as possible, we’ve compiled some of our favourite boredom busters your kids will love!
Get cooking
Knowing the basics of cooking are skills which will benefit your kids for years to come - and it’s an activity that’s suited to a wide range of ages. For the younger ones, get them to help by tipping in pre-measured ingredients. Give the older ones a challenge by giving them instructions and standing by to offer advice. Bonus - you’ll end up with (hopefully) delicious food for the whole family to enjoy after!
Sheet Pan Pancakes
Our sheet pan pancakes are the ultimate easy and delicious recipe for kids. All you need to do is prepare a bottle of Pams Pancake Mix and pour it into a small, greased sheet pan. Scatter over a handful of Pams Frozen Raspberries (or other frozen fruit on hand) and lightly press them into the batter. Bake at 200℃ for 15 minutes, or until golden. Cut into squares and enjoy! These are great for breakfast, dessert, or even a tasty snack!
Easy Breakfast Toast Cups
Get the kids going first thing in the morning with our breakfast toast cups. Press a slice of Pams Four Seed Bread into each lightly greased cup in a 6 cup muffin tray. In each cup, place a small handful of Pams Baby Spinach, a sprinkle of Pams Grated Edam Cheese and a slice of cooked Pams Streaky Bacon. Top with a cracked Pams Free Range Egg, then bake in an oven preheated at 200℃ for 20 minutes, or until the eggs are cooked to your liking. For older kids, these cups make the perfect breakfast in bed to treat parents with!
More Recipes
Kids loving getting in the kitchen? The options are endless to nurture their interest - browse pams.co.nz/inspiration and help them choose age-appropriate recipes for the ingredients you have on hand. If you’re feeling really bold, challenge your older children to a Master Chef style cook off based on your favourite Pams recipe!
Get crafting
It’s amazing what can be created with just a few essential bits and pieces found around the home. Get the kids involved in a bit of DIY and help their motor skills and imaginations while you’re at it!
DIY Birdfeeder
Crafting a birdfeeder can be a really valuable activity to teach your kids about your local birdlife - and they’re super simple to make! Cut a large apple in half and scoop out the core. Fill the core with a dollop of Pams Smooth Peanut Butter, then sprinkle with Pams Pumpkin Seeds and Pams Sunflower Seeds. Finish the feeder by tying a piece of twine around the top of the apple’s stem and hanging it outside for the birds. Sit with your kids and watch the feeder, helping them identify the types of birds in your backyard as a bonus learning activity!
DIY Heat pack
With the cooler months coming up, take the opportunity to craft your very own scented heat pack! Find a piece of material and cut it into a long rectangular strip, we recommend roughly 15cm wide by 50cm long. Fold the material in half and hand stitch two sides together, leaving one side open for your filling. Mix one and a half cups of Pams Medium Grain Rice with 2 drops of your favourite essential oil, pour into the bag and stitch up the final end. To heat your bag, pop it in the microwave for 1 - 2 minutes. If it’s too hot to the touch, wrap it in a towel before using.
Get experimenting
While the kids aren’t at school, take the opportunity to slip fun learning activities into the mix. Your kids won’t even realise they’ve been actively learning while having fun at the same time!
Hokey Pokey
Whip up a batch of hokey pokey to show your kids the reaction between sugar and baking soda - plus they get a sweet treat at the end of it! Mix ten tablespoons of Pams White Sugar and four tablespoons of Pams Golden Syrup in a saucepan over a low heat. Stir constantly for five minutes until the sugar has completely melted and you’re left with all liquid. Increase the heat and boil the sugar mixture for two minutes, only stirring if needed to prevent burning. Take your pan off the heat and add two teaspoons of Pams Baking Soda, quickly stirring until combined and watching the mixture rapidly froth up. Quickly pour the mixture onto a lined baking dish and leave to cool completely.
When the baking soda reacts with the warm sugar mixture, it heats up and releases carbon dioxide. This makes small bubbles in the sugar, creating the rapid foaming and increase in size. While you’re snacking on your hokey pokey, ask your kids if they can figure out how the reaction works - without checking Google!
Salt Crystals
For another fun experiment, try making your own salt crystal. Boil one cup of water in a saucepan, remove from the heat and slowly stir in roughly one cup of Pams Iodised Table Salt until it’s completely dissolved. Keep adding one teaspoon of salt at a time, until there are grains which won’t dissolve anymore - this means your solution is ready. Once the solution has cooled slightly, pour it into a clean jar, trying to avoid pouring in any undissolved salt grains. Tie a short piece of string around the middle of a Pams Bamboo Skewer and dangle your string into the solution, resting the skewer along the top of the jar.
Leave your jar somewhere undisturbed, and wait for your crystal to grow! Try adding a drop of food colouring if you want to experiment with different coloured crystals. This is a long burn experiment, it can take several days or even up to a week - but the results are worth it!