We love the series If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff. I love the stories because they are told in the style of a preschool child: this happened, then that happened, then this happened, then that happened, then…. They also remind me of what happens when we try to leave the house. First we need to find a snack, and then we need a container for the snack, and then we need a dip for the snack, and then we need some water to go with the snack. You get the picture. On and on it goes. My daughter loves the stories because they start simple and get more and more ridiculous as they go along, until the initial purpose of the story is forgotten and then recovered again.
In If You Give a Moose a Muffin, a moose desperately wants to eat a muffin. Then he needs some jam to go with it. And so on. If you’re a fan, here’s a simple craft to delight your child. It’s a moose muffin. Everyone likes muffins. Well, at least everyone I know. You can even sneak zucchini and spinach into some recipes, but I’ll never tell.
What you’ll need: the ingredients for your favorite muffin recipe, some two black jujubes or Smarties and one red one per muffin, and some pretzels. You can also substitute raisins and dried cranberries for the candies if you are making these for everyday eating. Any kind of pretzels will do, although the traditional rounded kind of pretzel works well. You may also want some icing or cream cheese to spread on the top. Again, what you use depends on whether these are a dessert or a healthy snack.
Make the muffins. Spread some white icing or cream cheese on top. At the top of the muffin, place pretzel antlers. Below the antlers, place two dark eyes, either candies or raisins. Below the eyes, place a red cranberry or candy nose. You can also make a mouth if you’d like.
Enjoy your moose muffins – who knows what will happen when you take a bite?