Virtual Destinations and Beyond!

Our virtual trip to Mexico was absolutely delightful, but this could be because we have actually toured this Country and can refer to actual photos and memories!

We had fun in the kitchen making a taco bar and quesadillas! We had a blast with papier mache making a pinata (that the kids are NOT allowing to be broken) and enjoyed hopping on SKYPE to talk to some of our family members in Mexico! Now if only the rest of our Countries we had we have on the list we had actually been to, that would be fantastic! haha!

So it's time to stamp your passport and hop on the next flight! We are headed to Brazil and Ecuador!
Here, we plan on touring the equator, Exploring the rain Forest, Peeking in on Carnival and maybe taking a Samba Lesson! We will be making Carnival masks and making Empanadas!

See you in South America!!!

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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!

I'm linking up here:

Easy Memory Game and GIVEAWAY!!

  After finding a wonderful bulletin board border at our teacher store, I used the parts I needed for our chore chart and got to thinking as to what I could do with the leftovers! My youngest is 3 and can never keep up when we play memory with the big kids, so I thought these pieces would be PERFECT for a mini memory game to help build up his memorization skills!! I cut them down to a mini 10 piece game.
He had such a blast playing and the smile on his face when he would match one was so big it melted my heart!!!
He even liked matching them up when they were right side up!! This was a game that he has played over and over again and even his brother and sister get involved when we play at a restaurant and the food takes a little long to come! (Usually breakfast on Sunday after Mass when the places are so full!!)

We had some awesome little envelopes that I have been dying to use with something (I got a case of over 1000 of them for .99 at the Salvation Army!! We used scrap paper and flashcard pieces with some stickers to decorate them and they are so cute!! We gave a few away to his friends in our playgroup and still have some left over!

Want to win one of these awesomely fun little games?? Just follow my blog AND leave a comment with your email address.

Please share a crafty tip if you have one! This giveaway is open until April 20th! Share the link with your friends! We have 5 sets to give away!!

Tuesday in the Studio.....

Hello everyone! Today I am typing from my studio! I usually work around the kids, but since they have chosen to watch a movie this morning, I am stealing away! I have some new supplies that I have been waiting to work with and think today may just be the day! We don't have any lessons to get to and my daughter and I already worked on her workbook early this morning! I have the kids table set up with the craft of the day in here for when the movie is over. We're making Valentines today! We use whatever we can find and the kids finally get to cut up the books that are beyond repair thanks to the baby!

Why don't you take some time for yourself! Put that laundry down, stop vacuuming and head on into the studio! Tell yourself you will not move until you get a certain number of pieces done. The sun is shining into the studio this morning and I'm telling myself if I can get 12 pieces done and photographed then it's been a successful day! How many times do we tell ourselves that we will work another day, that we will create another day? Today is that day! Even if it's just 1 piece!!

Ice Cream Sundae Ring by MCW 10.00

Keep an eye on my blog this week! I have a giveaway starting soon! It's for a 10.00 gift certificate to my shop! Hope you all have a great tuesday!!