What could be more fun than taking Lizzie to Target to purchase some new craft activities. Lizzie’s caregiver and my friend now, Carolyn, had taken Lizzie to Target. New eyes penetrating the stock of Target netted several new ideas for us to try. The Easter Egg Sugar Cookies looked like too fun. There is nothing like a mix to have all the ingredients you need to do a successful project.
Lizzie had been fondling the box for several days so I knew she was hyper motivated to make the cookies. She used to watch the food network show The Ace of Cakes and since its demise it seems that the star, Duff, has been marketing his ideas via the grocery shelves by sprucing up the coloring of the shelf with his unconventional mixes. Tie dyed, easter colors, purple rain all make their way into his mixes. Look for them in the cake mix section of the grocery store and in places like Target that have seasonal sections.
The mix is pretty much like any other, eggs, butter till you get to the section of dividing the dough into 4 bowls and adding colors! Yes, the dough was more stiff and could be manipulated by massage the colors into the dough by hands. All upping the use of different muscles. The 30 minute cooling time for the dough gave us time to relax and gear up for phase two. We rolled out the dough into long snake like shapes and then pushed the snake pieces together. Then cutting with a knife and shaping the cookies to an egg shape you slip them onto the cookie sheet, bake and then yummy.
Tip #1
It is a good idea to use anti-stick sheets under the bowls so that when you mix them they do not move around. Look for the rubbermaid brand at Target or Walmart where they sell contact paper for your kitchen drawers. Dycem the “official” OT product is quite expensive.
Tip #2
Instead of mixing the coloring into the dough in the bowl try putting the dough on the table and squeezing and massage the color into the dough.
Tip #3
To add another sensory input into the activity add a flavor to each piece of dough from Wilton’s TReatology flavor system. Just smelling the different flavors, lemon, coconut, carmel and more and deciding which to use and then smelling the dough before and after is a whole other activity on its own.
#eyehandcoordination#fingerdexterity#finemotor#bilateralmovement
Therafun 