Have you noticed the chill in the air around Columbia? I think we can officially say, “Winter is coming …” (Game of Thrones is still socially relevant, right?) It’s been officially fall for nearly a month, but my son still loves popsicles! And I love them, because eating them gives you an excuse to watch Frozen for the billionth time!
Now, I’ll admit, I’m a little bit cheap (mostly out of necessity), so we make our own popsicles! “Juice pops,” as my son calls them. And not only does he love eating them, Remy is finally big enough now that he likes helping me make them too! I have been looking for ways to let my little guy help me “cook” in the kitchen, and this has been a great starting point for a 2 ½ year old.
I ended up buying an awesome 6-piece ice pop mold from Ikea this summer. As popsicle molds are usually seasonal items, it may be hard to find one in stores this time of year, but Ikea and Williams-Sonoma both have them on their websites right now. And I would love to try any of the Zoku products. They have a really cool quick ice pop maker that can make a ice pop in as little as seven minutes. And their website has some great recipes too!
We use whatever juice is lying around the house to make our popsicles. Nothing fancy, no extra sugar or dyes, just 100% fruit juice. Any brand will do! We have made orange, white grape, apple, and cranberry-blackberry juice popsicles so far. Remy really enjoys picking the juice and seems to have a sense of accomplishment with the completed process.
Standing on his kid’s size chair (another Ikea find), Remy gets to place each of the pink molds in their yellow holder.
I pour the juice into the molds, but Remy gets to point to which mold he wants me to fill.
After I fill the mold with juice, Remy gets to place the stick in each of the molds.
I then place the molds in the freezer and Remy wants to check to see if they are ready every 5 minutes.
It helps if you have a juice pop left over from last time you made them, so your child has one to eat right away. And because your juice pops are made with plain juice, they can be part of a healthy snack (or breakfast at our house).
Do your kids help you in the kitchen? What is their favorite thing to make?
[…] Make homemade popsicles. […]