Leonardo, the Terrible Monster Tuna Salad Sandwiches

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Welcome to another month of Book Club Play Dates! This month, we read the book Leonardo, the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems! Not only did we read it, but we watched it several hundred times on our Scholastic Storybook Treasures  DVD. (Seriously, it had to be 100 at least!) For our portion of the play date, we were in charge of creating a fun themed snack. I won't spoil the story, but Leonardo is a monster who just can't scare the TUNA SALAD out of anyone. Therefore, we just had to make some tuna salad sandwiches!

Tuna salad is such a simple recipe to prepare. As adults, it is something we can prepare with our eyes closed. I've prepared it so much, that I no longer even think about the steps. Turns out, these steps are FULL of fine motor skill work and hand-eye coordination practice. Kingston started by attempting to open the can of tuna with the can opener. I helped him position it, and together we twisted the can open. 

The next step was to cut the cucumbers. Now don't panic, we used a butter knife. I know everybody gets all up in arms when toddlers and preschoolers use knives (though I think that there are many fabulous ways to teach safe knife skills at a young age). It was a bit more challenging for him since his knife wasn't sharp, but he managed to saw off quite a few slices of cucumber. After he sliced them, he diced them into little pieces. 

He stirred in the mayo (several tablespoons) and then added all of the cucumbers. Then he spooned the tuna salad onto the bread, 

We did attempt to make monster eyes on our bread using the mayo and cucumber bits, but nobody ever said I was a food stylist or photographer, so we will save you from the lackluster result that was. IF you are a little more creative with your food, creating monster faces would be an awesome addition! 

I was surprised that Kingston (who typically isn't a tuna fan) took several big bites and exclaimed, "This is delicious!" I had been afraid that eating the sandwich would scare the TUNA SALAD out of him, but was happy he enjoyed it! 

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Head over to see what the other Book Club Play Date bloggers are up to!

Snack: Leonardo, the Terrible Monster Tuna Salad Sandwiches from House of Burke (That's US!)

Sensory: Play Dough Monsters from Still Playing School 

Craft: Paint Chip Monsters from Craftulate 

Busy Bag: from Fun-A-Day

Game: from Sugar Aunts

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