Making Playdough!

Today we had some lesson plans on learning about time and crafting with clocks, but I decided to push that off to this afternoon, so that we could get in the kitchen and create something to take outdoors with us! My 3 year and old was an assistant today and he was eager to mix and play.  First, we gathered the ingredients needed (List at the bottom of page) and then I got out a mixing bowl. I know you can make it all over the stove, but I wanted my son to be able to help and I don't let him near the hot stuff in the kitchen. I had him toss it all in the bowl and mix it up and then I had the 2 cups of water in a large jar, where I let him squeeze the food coloring in and stir it up apart from the rest of the mixture, so he could see the color appear in the water first. We then mixed it all together into 1 bowl and got it prepped for the stove.

Once on the stove, mommy took over and for a second, I was unsure of what I was supposed to do other than stir it up (nothing). I used a recipe from a homework assignment my preschooler brought home and added some vanilla for scent. I tried looking for an internet recipe, but the first one I tried was missing the amounts of water I would need and then another one I had found didn't list some of the ingredients that I did have and added some that I didn't have in house, so I went with what I had!

After about 3 minutes, I was left with this incredibly shiny and sticky ball and I was so worried that I wasn't doing it right, but I kept on mixing for about 2 more minutes and it started to smooth out!!

Finally, we were successful!!! I used old store containers to hold the colored balls of dough and the kids have been having a blast ever since!! From start to finish it took us about 10 minutes and that's WASHING up afterwards too!!! I'm so happy to find something that my little ones love and can help with too!! I'm planning on putting small amounts into smaller containers to give to my daughters class for Easter!

What you will need:
2 cups of water
2 cups of flour
1 cup of salt
Food Coloring
1 TBSP of cooking oil
1 TBSP of Cream of Tartar

Mix everything together over medium-high heat and continue mixing and stirring for about 5-6 minutes. You will see the dough thicken and eventually begin to smooth over. Once you remove from stove, let it cool for 2 minutes and store in an airtight container!

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The Nuts and Bolts of it All!

 The hardware store can be a fantastic place for getting toys that the kids can play with for hours!

I went and bought Nuts and Bolts and a Wrench! That's it!! All 3 children played for 2 hours in many different ways. There were counting games, races, contests, sorting and just so much creative fun, I couldn't believe that a total of 4.67 was bringing in this much fun!

One of their contests was to see who could put the most nuts on their bolt and they figured on some of them, they could get up to 8, but on others only 4!

My daughter liked working with the wrench best, it's a great lesson in patience, trying to get everything adjusted just right in little hands.

They also sorted them into the different sized nuts as they unscrewed them. They cooperated really well together and made sure each one had a job at all times. For a little bit of money, this bought me some nice quiet time!!

**PLEASE NOTE**

My children are older and do not put toys in their mouths, please be careful and watchful at all times with children when attempting this activity!

Craft in a Minute!

 

You Need:

Scissors, Crayons, BLACK Duct Tape, Box

I am forever getting packages in the mail and looking for creative ways to use the boxes. Today after Roman and I gave the water table a good scrub down and waited for it to dry, I decided to start something new! I am putting together a busy bag to keep handy everywhere we go and I like practical everyday things for our bags that can easily be replaced if lost or broken!

I took 1small box and scissors, BLACK duct tape, white crayon and got to work!

First I cut the box apart at all the creases and then put tape on the pieces anywhere we wanted, then I handed Roman the white crayon and he dotted the roads! ALL SET! A match box road that can easily be moved and switched around, since there are so many pieces!!

Roman having a blast with just one part!!

He played for an hour when I first finished and after school when he showed Gabriel, they played for HOURS!! On cardboard and tape! Best part? If it gets broken it's no big deal we can make more!! I love sharing crafts with the kids that cost next to nothing to make and showing them just how much they can enjoy them!

Gabriel joins in on the fun!!

I am hoping to do one of these in a shoe box, with velcro sides that fold down and then they can add the extensions still the box can hold the cars, some houses and trees and signs and the extension pieces! I will then add a handle to make it portable. This is our next project when we get a bigger box around! My supplies always comes in tiny boxes.

Tape can be found at Michaels for under 4.00, go to ww.mycraftcoupons.com and get a 40% off coupon for the tape! Save more!!

*NOTE* We tried chalk, but it just wore off with use, which is why we went with crayon!

Easter Alphabet Game!

This fun Easter craft was an easy project for my 3 kids and I to do together in 1 afternoon! It's a fun game that can be used multiple ways!

You will need:

~Scissors

~Alphabet Stickers (or really neat handwriting!)

~Card Stock

First, I printed out eggs on card stock (3 different sheets) and handed the scissors to my 6 and 5 year olds so they could get to work cutting them out (great practice for cutting on the lines).

As they were being cut out, my 3 year old and I stuck the letter stickers on them in a pattern. First I had him create the pattern using the 3 different papers and then we played eye-spy in order to find the letters we needed (I spy a P) and stuck them on! All Done!!

Games We Can Play:

1. Pattern Practice! We can organize the eggs by patterns, ignoring the letters on them.

2. Alphabet order! We can put them in alphabetical order.

3. Word Play! We can spell easy sight words

4. Clothespin Match Up! We made these eggs with lower case letters, so that they could be matched up to our upper case letter clothespin game!

Enjoy and link to your Easter Crafts!

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Button Snakes

I'm obsessed with buttons! I love the colors, the sizes, the shapes and even their ages! They all seem to have a story to tell! I wanted to let my kids in on my obsession with some of my newer buttons (the non-vintage kind!!) and found the perfect activity!

I gave my youngest son a pipe cleaner and let him have at it for the first time and he sat so quietly, it allowed me to finish emptying the dishwasher! Next, we worked on colors and rainbow order, so I gave him direction on which to put on the pipe cleaner. He loved this and even clapped for himself! After we were done, he asked me if I would wear it as a bracelet! So, I plan to accessorize my outfit for BTU Chicago tomorrow with this new handmade bracelet!

Linked up to Tot Tuesdays!