Friday, January 31st is National Hot Chocolate Day! We’re spending the week leading up to Friday making and reading about all things hot chocolate! Here are some suggestions for how you can enjoy this fun day as well!
Make some hot chocolate!
- First, spread your ingredients out o n the kitchen table or counter. Let your little one decide what happens first (e.g, is it time to cook the milk or add marshmallows?). After heating your water or milk, what’s next? After stirring in the hot chocolate, what is last? Use the words “first, next, last” and “before/after”. These words can be abstract concepts, but incorporating them into an activity with specific actions can make them more concrete. While your w aiting for the hot chocolate to cool, ask them to recall how they made the hot chocolate. You can pose it as they’ll need to t each their brother/sister/mom/dad when they come home later (e.g., “How will we tell Mommy how to make hot chocolate?”).
Hot Chocolate Craft:
This is a fun one for both fine motor and language development. See picture above for the general idea. You can tailor this one up or down depending on your child’s fine motor abilities. If they’re working on cutting, have the shape drawn on paper for them to cut along the lines in a circle. If they are n ot using scissors yet, have the shape cut for them. They can color it in if y ou use white paper. Use tongs or plastic tweezers to pick up marshmallows from a bowl to glue into the cup. With their fingers, have them pull apart the cotton balls to make the steam (or as whipped cream). Use the same language as in the cooking activity to address sequencing, prediction, and recall. (And if y ou’re crafting hot chocolate, chances are your child will then want to make the real thing!)
Read a good book!
Need some book ideas for this activity? Here are some wintery favorites that mention hot chocolate. If they’re familiar to your child see if they can listen for when “hot chocolate” is mentioned in the story!