Enjoying some half term animal adventures with Netflix!

1st June 2014 No Comments

This half term the weather has been somewhat mixed and it meant that the children spent a fair amount of time at home milling about. Thank goodness our household is part of the Netflix Stream Team programme whereby in exchange for telling you all about the best bits of Netflix we get to try it out for free!

This month the emphasis is on all things animal. This was rather fortunate as it tied in quite well with Fifi’s sea creatures and animals topic, but also with my plans to be animal explorers this half term. To that extent we took a trip to Butterfly World and looked at eggs, caterpillars and butterflies, we had a snail hunt and a lady bird hunt and then we went to Whipsnade Zoo and took their Deadly Explorer Trail. Its all been great fun. Obviously the children needed a bit of down time and well which is where Netflix came in because there are loads of animal related programmes there on demand, just look at some of the selection below. My children enjoyed Rango, Racing Stripes, Beverley Hills Chihuahua and Top Cat in particular. I think one movie a day is acceptable in half term:

 

Our favourite animal adventures for younger kids:

 
       
             
       
             
       
             
 

For the whole family:

   
       
             
       
             
       
           
 
     
   
     
 

Whilst the kids are watching the movies its a chance to make them some themed sandwiches. I always think this sort of thing goes down well, especially with toddlers who are loathe to eat bread. Here are the suggestions courtesy of Netflix. I’m actually designing a few more myself so watch out for news and photos of those in another blog post.

How to make a Dog sandwich

You will need
2 x slices of wholemeal bread
1 x wholemeal pita or 1 x slice of wholemeal crust
Your favourite sandwich filling
Cucumber
Cheese
Cream cheese (optional)
 
         
 

Method
1. Make a sandwich using two slices of wholemeal bread and your favourite filling
2. Using a sharp knife, cut out a shape that resembles a pear or light bulb (wide and round at one end and narrower and rounded at the other)
3. Using either pitta bread or the slice of a crust, cut two teardrop shapes and then tuck these inside the sandwich so that the rounded section is at the top and the point is downwards
4. To make the nose, cut a slice of cucumber skin and then shape it into a round edged triangle and put it in place
5. For the eyes, take a slice of cheese and using a circular cutter (small cookie cutter), cut two oval eye shapes. Cut some more cucumber skin and using an apple corer or very small circle cutter, make two pupils from the cucumber skin and place on top of the cheese ovals
6. To finish, cut some small curves of cucumber skin using a round cutter and place above the eyes. To give the eyes and nose a more lifelike appearance, use a tiny dot of cream cheese to highlight these
 
     
   
     
 
         
 
     
   
     
 

How to make a Rabbit sandwich

You will need
3 x slices of 50/50 white bread
½ a slice of wholemeal bread
Sandwich filling
Slice of ham
Cucumber
Black grapes
Red pepper or cherry tomato
6x pieces of dry spaghetti
 
         

 

Method
1. Make a sandwich using two slices of bread and your favourite filling
2. Cut the shape of the Rabbit head as shown in the picture (rounded at the top, with a wider section for the cheeks, narrowing to a thin neck)
3. To make the ears, cut the third slice of white bread into two long oval shapes pointed at one end, and top these with two ovals of ham slightly smaller than the ears, leaving an edge around the outside
4. Using the wholemeal bread cut two small oval shapes slightly pointed at one end and place these together on top of the bread so that the tips touch. Top this with a small circle of either red pepper or cherry tomato for the nose, cut using a small circle cutter
5. For the eyes, cut a slice of cucumber lengthways and remove the skin. Using the cucumber flesh, cut two long oval shapes and top these with half a black grape for the pupils
6. Finish your Rabbit with some teeth made from a rectangle of cucumber with a v-shape cut up the middle. Using the spaghetti poke it into the wholemeal bread nose and snap off to your desired length. Don’t forget to remove the spaghetti before eating the sandwich
Top tips
1. Instead of cucumber flesh for the eyes and teeth, you could use a slice of cheese cut into the same shapes?
2. Why not swap the dry spaghetti whiskers for some chives or thin strands of spring onion?
Claire Walsh

All posts

No Comments

Leave a Reply

I accept the Privacy Policy

Archives

Categories

About Me

Claire

×