It’s a hot day in mid-July. Summer campers are spread out across the yard. Some are setting up the tree fort while others are digging up dirt to make mud pies. One of the children walks over to me and asks “Can we have mud popsicles again like last year?”

Another child overhears the question. “Mud popsicles?…Like popsicles we can eat or just pretend?”

“No, they are real and they are soooo good!” replies the other child.

Mud popsicles have been part of my summer camps for 2 years now. Summer just wouldn’t be the same without them anymore. All the kids remember them. The adults rave about them. And yes, they are that good.

But it gets even better.

1. They are healthy. And your child will ask to eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Consider yourself warned.
2. Your child can make them (almost) independently.

The Making of the Popsicles

My kids love to help in the kitchen and it gives them an incredible boost of confidence when they realize they can do something by themselves or with little help. The other day, my 3-year old and my 5-year old made egg salad entirely by themselves (except for boiling the eggs). They couldn’t stop talking about it. AND I have never seen them eat so much egg salad at lunch.

Giving children opportunities to challenge themselves by taking on new tasks and then perfecting them by doing them over and over again, is one of those priceless gifts you can give your child every day. A child also feels incredibly valuable and appreciated when they realize that they can truly contribute to the family.

What better way to get them excited about working in the kitchen than making popsicles.

When I started making popsicles with my summer campers I knew I wanted to find a popsicle mold that was on the smaller side. A size that a 3- or 4-year old could enjoy without worrying about dripping all over the place.

Many of the molds were rather large and I was thrilled when I finally found the Ikea popsicle molds. They are the perfect size for young children and even adults have commented that they are just right.

Here are some more popsicle molds that get great reviews: The Zoku Classic Pop Molds & the Progressive Freezer Pop Molds.

Of course, you can also use small paper cups or empty yogurt containers and add wooden popsicle sticks after placing the popsicles into the freezer for about 45 minutes. That way the mixture begins to freeze and the sticks will end up nice and straight.

The Popsicle Recipe

Since this is such a kid-friendly recipe, I decided to draw the recipe instead of simply writing it out. This way, your child can help with “reading” the ingredients AND can color it. I can’t promise that it will keep them occupied for the entire 6 hours that it takes to freeze the popsicles but it’s a start.

The page features two different popsicle recipes that are very similar and equally delicious. One is fruity and you can choose your favorite fruit or a combination of fruits. The other one is chocolaty…aka Mud Popsicles.