Need inputs for our 'All FUN Baking Club'

Tomorrow we are again going to meet for our All FUN baking/cooking club, after a break of 6  weeks.

Yes, the main emphasis of this club is to have 'FUN'.

So far we have made many fun things like self designed Pizzas, Chocolate muffins, Chocolate swirl muffins, Apple pie, Chocolate Souffle, Alu ka parantha (Indian flat bread with potato stuffing). A friend has gone for ice lollies and fruit sticks (they have another name- I cannot remember it right now).

The club is a group of five kids, all girls of age ranging from 6-8. They are very interested and very active. They and also I love the messy part of baking and also the part where we are allowed to lick the bowls and spoon of chocolate cake mix. Only I have difference that in the back of my mind a cleaning up monster keeps shouting and so after many minutes of messing up I start telling them that we need to clean upend a good chef always keeps her/his bench clean.

Well till now everything was quite informal. From time to time I took some photos,  I tried to pursue them to read cook books before starting some thing so that they get ideas about measures and weights also it helps them build reading habit, talk about the ingredients and stuff like how baking powder or yeast does magic and raises the doughs, also I asked them to maintain a notebook where we wrote our measures of a particular recipe even if the idea came from a cook book or from other blogs . But that's it.Spending time with them was fun, some times tough also as they can ask really tricky questions and they can get really messy or they can sometimes be in real mood to do something else like watching T.V! 

But with helps from other moms, it worked out.

'J' sometimes got very agitated thinking that I was giving more chances to other. She was in the beginning in a mood of 'it - is-  my - mother-  kind - of - thing', but with in 4-5 weeks on having some arguments and discussions, she started being like other kids and not just my daughter. I liked this change in her.

After few weeks of arranging the club, I was wondering if we can start making a scrap book, where we will put the recipes,  kids will draw and write whatever they feel like and I will supply them with some photos. So this way they will have a book to see and laugh in future. What do you think? Kids are all for it.

The secret is that I have never done any scrap book. Well I have a scrap book where I have  comments collected of my various friends for me from class 4 to M.Sc. and I occasionally love to read the book. So, with this much experience on scrap-booking tomorrow my journey is beginning to make cooking scrap book with 5 other kids.

I have some vague ideas. I am thinking more in the lines off food we eat in different seasons, festivals, about our favourites and regional/world cuisines. Also may be once in a while I will try to be imaginative and ask them to think about food on mood or share stories about the special food they like at home and how can they make them if they are somewhere else. Sometimes I will ask them to have a day of self cooking where they will do what they want and I will  be just watching them. No instructions, no discussions. I think I am looking forward to these days in particular. Now lets see how my 'bumble bees' (I call them when they buzz too much!) carry these ideas forward.

I am sure along the line 'FUN' factor will stay intact and may be also the scrap book factor.

If you have experiences of arranging kids activity clubs and making scrapbooks then please feel free to drop few lines of suggestions and advices.

If you don't have any experience in these but you find this idea any fun then also you are welcome to write your comments.

Till then Adieu!