Create a Bread Sculpture

With the holidays comes delicious snacks, and nothing speaks better of a cozy home like the smell of baking bread. Here's an activity that will get your child to have some holiday fun while making something delicious to eat. Create bread dough sculptures! These sculptures are a wonderful way to welcome the winter season. Not only will your child get some practice strengthening his fine-motor muscles by kneading and molding the dough, but he'll also get to create a tasty treat for himself and the rest of the family.

What You Need:

• 1 tablespoon or 1 pkg dry yeast
• 1 cup (230 ml) water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 cups (400 g) flour
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 400 degree oven
• Cooling rack
• Kitchen tools for modeling (knife, fork, toothpick)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Mixing bowl
• Wooden spoon
• Clean towel

What You Do:

1. Wash hands before beginning. Mix the water, sugar and yeast in a bowl until the yeast softens (about two to three minutes).
2. Add one cup of flour and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon. Beat the mixture until smooth and add one tablespoon of oil and one teaspoon of salt. Next add the second cup of flour to the dough.
3. Pour the thick batter onto a floured board and add more flour slowly while kneading the dough. Keep a coating of flour on the dough to prevent sticking.
4. Knead for about five minutes. The dough should be smooth, elastic and' satiny and should bounce back if a finger is poked into it. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a clean towel. Set the bowl in a warm place for dough to rise for about forty-five minutes.
5. Punch the dough down and work it into a smooth ball. Divide the dough into portions for various parts of the bread sculpture
6. Create sculptures with the dough. Create any shapes or designs.
7. Note: Young artists like to keep a small bowl of flour handy to keep their hands powdery while working. Sometimes they like the soft flour better than the sculptures.
8. Bake the sculptures for 15 or 20 minutes in the lower part of a 400 degree open. Large forms may take longer.
9. Bake until golden and baked through. Cool the sculptures on a rack.

Now eat and enjoy!