Lincoln's Log Cabin
Make a mini log cabin out of pretzels.
Submitted by
Sonam Adinolf
Sonam Adinolf
Invite your kid to construct a (nearly) edible model of the Lincoln log cabin. Did you know that President Lincoln helped his dad build the house from scratch? If he can do that, then it's totally fine to expect your kid to clean up his room from time to time. Right!?
- A big bag of pretzels:Think building material and go for sticks, rods or nuggets. You'll want extra in case your kid shoves half the bag in his mouth before completing the project.
- Graham cracker:One square for the front door.
- Crackers:Triscuits, Wheat Thins—any thin, square cracker will work.
- A half-pint milk or heavy cream container:Emptied and rinsed really well.
- "Mortar:"Like peanut butter or cream cheese. Use soy butter for kids with nut allergies.
- A paper plate:To represent the "farmland" for the house to sit on. The Lincoln farm covered about 100 acres, but for our purposes a 9-inch round plate will do.
- Farm animals:Optional. You can buy them at the dollar store or at any toy store (if you don't already have them, that is).
- A plastic knife:To slap the "mortar" on with.
- Scissors
- White glue
Head out to the store to pick up the supplies.
Have your kid gulp down and clean out the milk carton, satisfying his calcium requirement and crafting bug all in one!
Glue the spout shut and place the carton onto a clean paper plate.
Then help him slather on the peanut butter or cream cheese "mortar," completely covering the top and sides of the milk carton.
Next, have him add a front door by pressing a graham cracker onto the front, middle of the milk carton.
Have him break or trim the pretzel rods or sticks into mini "logs," sized to fit the sides of the model log cabin or just get him to cover the cabin in nuggets.
Then have him do like Lincoln did and build the cabin walls, stacking pretzels one on top of the other to cover the sides and back of the cabin.
To make the roof, have him press the crackers into the mortar to create shingles. Have him add more mortar if necessary to get the crackers to stick together.
- For older kids, skip the milk carton and challenge them to build a freestyle log cabin with pretzel rods—Lincoln Logs-style. They'll get to work on their engineering skills when they try to figure out how to make the roof stand up!
- If your kid doesn't finish eating up his cabin, stick it in the fridge and let him snack on it tomorrow.
Submit!
