Mar. 26, 2008 Fun With Rubber Bands
Huh? Yes, there really is a lot more you can do with rubber bands than just fastening them around rolled up newspapers, keep food bags closed, lining them all the way up your skinny little arms (a favorite pastime of the kidlets) or winding them around your hair. This morning, my kids made a huge mess with rubber bands. :( We have a large bag of them in the kitchen left over from when my husband had a newspaper route. They certainly come in very handy in the kitchen for lots of little projects. Today, Kitty decided she would raid the kitchen drawers. She found all sorts of treasures. Measuring spoons, an ice cream scoop, a big fancy metal whisk, salad tongs, etc. And then... she found the bag of rubber bands. Groan.... She had them scattered everywhere. I asked the kids to help pick up, but of course they were having more fun shooting them at each other. :D This, naturally, led to other things rubber band related. More Sites to Look At: The Rubber Band Cool Science Tricks (Lots of great stuff here, not just with rubber bands) Teaching Rubber Band Science (from Teaching Pre K - 8, Teaching the Force of Mass, for older students) The Great Robot Race from PBS Nova Teachers (Design, Build, and Test a Rubber Band Powered Car) Tie Dye! from Kinder Art An Egg Dyeing Technique from Family Fun Rubber band powered helicopter from a business card Rubber Band Guitar from Kinder Planet A Can Car from PBS Zoom (I used to love watching this show as a kid. There was always cool stuff.) The Rubber Band Book by Eric Kenneway (PDF)  
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Dec. 19, 2007 Tie-Dye Tissue Wrapping Paper
 Last night I found an awesome craft to do at Parent Hacks. I never would have thought to tie-dye tissue paper since it's so darn tissue thing, but the results are really cool.
- Tissue paper
- Food coloring (Buy restaurant size)
- Empty plastic containers or bowls for the dye
- Lots of newspaper
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Fold the tissue into an easy-to-dip shape, about fist-sized or smaller. Get creative, but don't make it too complicated or it will be difficult to unfold. TIP: fold two or even three sheets at a time if you are trying to do a lot in one session. This is also useful if you know you have some big items to wrap as one sheet may not cover it.
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Dip your folded tissue into water first. This is critical for spreading the dye, for maximizing the number of colors you will get (as it spreads it thins so you may end up with different shades of blue for example), and for not using up all your food coloring at once. Be careful of dipping something in a dark color and then right into a light color or you'll contaminate it.
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Don't worry if it looks really dark. That's OK! It will lighten as it dries. (I know this from experience. James made a tie-dye shirt this last summer. I got distracted with Charles and by the time I got back to James, it was super dark. It pretty much looked black and I got a ton of dye out of it when I rinsed it in preparation for washing it the first time. I even washed it seperately from the other shirts for fear that it would ruin them. The wash water was super black. But, it came out beautiful. It's a deep, rich red with other colors, even a bit of white mixed through it. So, you never know what you're going to get.)
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Set aside to dry. Depending on the temperature and air flow in your home it may take a day or two.
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Once it is completely dry and opened, iron the paper with a dry iron on a low setting.
You can read the original post, with extra tips and hints here. |
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Dec. 6, 2007 Christmas Baking
One of the best places to spend with your children is in your very own home. If it's like mine, it's the heart. What is that room? Your kitchen! This is where family pow wows happen, where you bless your family by making nourishing meals, where your children learn discipline as they glare at your from their time out spot in front of the fridge, where assorted hurts are soothed from the medicine chest that lives in the cupboard, and where your children learn (if you're homeschooling).
As you can see, a ton of time is spent in a kitchen, it's especially true at this time of the year is with all of the holiday baking. Cookies, stollen, fudge, fruit cake, other candies, cakes, etc. are all being made as gifts. Very yummy gifts I must admit but things that take time none the less. One way that I have learned to save time during my holidays (and we've also cut way bake in our festivities) is to make several big batches of cookies at once. In my quest to become more efficient, I learned of this some time ago, but was reminded by Mary Hunt in Everyday Cheapskate newsletters at Debtproof Living so I thought I'd pass it on. I'm able to have oven-fresh cookies ready at a moment’s notice throughout the holidays, by preparing a recipe and simply stopping short of baking. Instead, set the tray of unbaked cookies in the freezer and once frozen, transfer to a ziploc bag before returning them to the freezer. When it's time to bake, simply retrieve a bag of cookies, place them on an oven tray and set aside. Heat the oven to 350 F. By now, they'll be sufficiently thawed and all you have to do is pop them in the oven. Bake them according to your recipe directions. How awesome is that? In the end, it leaves more time to enjoy decorating said cookies and spending quality time with your little ones instead of running around stressed out and losing sight of what the holiday season is all about. So, here's my favorite big batch cookie recipe.
~ Big Batch Butterscotch Cookies ~
3 cups (6 sticks) butter or margarine, melted and cooled completely
6 eggs
6 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tablespoons vanilla
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
10 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 12-ounce bag butterscotch chips
1 cup chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Transfer to a larger bowl if necessary. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and cream of tartar; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in the butterscotch chips and pecans, if desired. Drop by level tablespoonfuls for 10 dozen large cookies (or teaspoonfuls for 20 dozen small cookies), 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden b rown. Remove to wire racks to cool. Yield: 10-20 dozen (120-240) cookies, depending on the size.
Yummy recipe, huh? You can also find a recipe for Big Batch Kris Kringle Cookies at All Recipes and Growlies Cookie Recipe List is very helpfull. Also, it's easy to simply double a favorite recipe.
Clipart gratis SISD Christmas Graphics
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Dec. 5, 2007 Handprint Mitten Ornaments
One of my favorite holiday decorations are those formed by the children's hands and/or feet. Not only are they really cute, but they're also wonderfull keepsakes to put in their books. There's something so wonderful about being able to see just how much they've grown and changed over the last year. When Deedee was a baby, we made handprint & footprint reindeer (handprints for antlers, and feet for the head). I have handprint wreaths and turkey's galore. We even made footprint ghosts for Halloween this year!
So when I opened a recent newsletter from Preschool Rock (that I'd managed to somehow miss and just found a couple of days ago) and one of the crafts was a handprint activity, I just had to do it. It was actually to make a card to send out. That's great when you have only one child, but when you have four, how do you choose which hand to use? Besides, I've already bought my cards. I'd already decided to make them as ornaments when I saw the variation stating the same thing. LOL. So I made these with the kids last night.
~ Handprint Mitten Ornaments ~
Print the template or make your own
Cardstock to print the templates
Tempera paint in assorted colors
Marking Pens
Glue
Lace, glitter, ribbons, sequins, etc. to decorate your creation
Print your template as many times as you want ornaments (or cards), at least one for each child. I did four for each child: a set for us, maternal grandparents, paternal grandparents, and paternal great grandparents. I let each child choose a different color of paint to make them more distinctive. James chose red, Charles was green, Deedee insisted on yellow, and Kitty grabbed white. I did one child at a time using a paint brush to paint their hands to make sure it was evenly distributed and that there wouldn't be too much or little paint and quickly pressed their hand with even pressure over the mitten. I set them aside to dry while I worked on the next child. When they were all dry, I labled their names in glitter glue and then the kids got to help decorate them. They were decorated before I cut them out. When they were dry, I cut out each mitten, punched a hole at the top and strung a ribbon through to hang them up. Except for ours. Ours were taped up to the pantry door in the kitchen.
(Pics are forthcoming. The camera isn't wanting to cooperate at this time.)
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Dec. 3, 2007 Free Holiday Cookie Book!
Family Education has a free PDF file cookie recipe book to download that has yummy looking recipes. It contains nine recipes such as the must have sugar cookies, candy-cane cookies, or apricot rugelach (that looks really interesting). They're all varying degrees of difficulty and everyone should be able to find something. This site has a ton of cool stuff such as crafts, games, recipes, etc. that I've found really helpfull.
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Nov. 3, 2007 Pumpkin Butter
This is the time of the year when our thoughts turn to hot drinks, cuddling in front of a warm fire with a good book, jumping in piles of leaves, and thoughts of two main fruits float to the top: pumpkins and apples. When one envisions their thanksgiving meal, who does not include a pumpkin or apple pie? Or pumpkin bisques, soups, etc. I know these are two main staples in our house at this time of the year. In fact, I just got done making applesauce and pumpkin puree.
Tonight is Family Night at Church and this month is a game night. It's informal and we've been asked to bring finger foods. I immediately started brainstorming, and at one point almost rushed to the store to make a Crocagator based on an idea found in Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes. It was an alligator formed out of a loaf of french bread with spinach for skin, egg salad for guts, boiled eggs for eyes, a chunk of ham for a tongue, almonds for teeth, and artichoke for the spines. Sounds great huh? I just didn't have the time to do that though. And then my eyes fell on the big bowl of pumpkin puree I had just removed from the rind and mushed, and the vat of still warm applesauce (with apricots, mind) waiting to be canned. Now, what could I do with that? Butter! I had been thinking of apple butter only yesterday, so this was perfect. And it's a relatively fast and easy cook.
Pumpkin Butter
- 4 c pumpkin puree (32 oz)
- 2 c applesauce (16 oz)
- 1/2 c turbinado (or packed brown sugar)
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 2 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Combine your pumpkin, applesauce, sugar and spices in a small sauce pan. Bring it to a boil and reduce the heat to simmer for 45 minutes, uncovered. It will get thicker as the liquids evaporate. Be sure to stir every few minutes so it won't stick and scorch. Please be advised that this likes to spit and sputter so it's probably not a good idea to have the kids stirring at all once it's nearing the boiling stage, even when it's turned down to simmer. When it's nice and thick, remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Feel free to add the spices to taste (you could even use pumpkin pie spice). If it seems that it's taking forever to thicken up (or if you added too much applesauch which happened in my case; that's what I get for forgetting that liquid measure is not the same as dry measure :D ) just slowly add some cornstarch. Don't get in too much of a hurry or you'll have lumps though. If you're in a super hurry, you could even us canned pumpkin pie filling (you know, the kind where you only have to add the milk and eggs). However, keep in mind that you won't need to add sugar at all, or the spices unless you add some to taste. This will reduce to approximately 3-4 cups. It's awesome spread over pancakes, fresh bread, crackers, muffins, a dip for apples, etc., and whatever else you can think of!
 allposters.com
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Oct. 25, 2007 Fun Goop ~ Corn Starch Goop
Today, we had a lot of fun at Charles' preschool. Usually, the kids go to the small classroom with their teacher Ellen while parents and siblings stay in the living & play room area. This is an old house and I think the classroom used to be the laundry room but it's the perfect size and it's really awesome.
The schedules conflicts because James’ first therapist appointment starts 10 minutes earlier than Charles preschool and the two are on the opposite side of town. Since an adult HAS to stay there because of insurance reasons, my mother in law said she would take James to his appointment. That's great, if we could just get to her place on time. We were walking, with both of the boys on their bikes and the girls were bundled up in the stroller. Unfortunately, we got out later than I thought because James took a 20-minute bathroom break. GRRRR... And then I didn't bother to look at my watch until we were halfway to Carey's parents and I then realized that we were about 10 minutes late at that time. James then made it worse by deciding today would be the day that he didn't listen. When we got to lights he would just sit there! In some cases, the sidewalks are narrow enough that we couldn't be side by side and since he often arrived at a light first, he was in the front. In one case we sat through three lights before he would go. So I was quite harried when I finally arrived at his grandmother's to drop him off. Thank goodness that I was right across the street from the preschool. So even though James was phenomenally late, Charles was right on time.
This week was different because none of the other kids showed up. At first the teacher had let Deedee and Kitty come in too and they were having fun with blocks. The plan was to take the girls out when the other kids arrived. After a while, she decided they just weren't coming so she got Charles set up for their activity: Cornstarch Goop. She also graciously invited Deedee to take part too. Kitty just sort of wandered around getting into stuff; being nosy is what she does best. The really cool thing about cornstarch goop is that one second it can be a solid and the next, it's a liquid the approximate consistency of glue. The kids had a blast playing with it and they had it everywhere. That is, until Kitty knocked over the jug of water and flooded everything. I was able to grab Deedee away before she got a lap full of water, but three chairs wound up with puddles and there was a huge puddle on the floor. LOL Kitty is so curious and she has to be right in the thick of things. She wasn't satisfied with the small handful of goop that I had handed her; she wanted more! She actually climbed up on the table and was on her way to the end with her siblings when she knocked the water over. So the last few minutes were taken up with everyone cleaning the mess. What else I love about goop is that it's actually easy to clean up. It dissolves quickly, it will usually sweep up easily and when it dries it flakes off easily.
~ Cornstarch Goop ~
- 1 box of cornstarch
- a container of water
- a bowl(s)
- spoons(s)
- measuring cup(s)
- newspaper or plastic tablecloth
- a large cookie sheet with sides
- food coloring
Lay out the newspaper or tablecloth to protect your surface and provide a quick clean up if you want. We didn't do this and had no problems. (Ellen forgot :D ) Since this is an activity that's fun for multiple ages, you can do lots of stuff to keep them all interested. For the older children, they might have fun helping you measure bits of cornstarch and water. The younger children would also have fun measuring or they might just want to dump it all together. You can't go wrong: too watery add more cornstarch; too hard add a bit more water. You just mix until the cornstarch is all incorporated and you have a slimy consistency. You can have the kids mix their goops in bowls with their hands or spoons (my kids found it easier to use their hands). They then poured it out into the cookie sheet to play with it and experience it. Don't worry if the kids eat it. It's completely safe and non-toxic. If you want different colors, add food coloring. The kids really like that although, we didn't do that this time. They've had fun with this goop before.
So what's all the fuss about this super simple goop? It teaches cause and effect since it changes consistency so easily and if pushed to once side will usually form itself back together in a "solid" mass. It's really easy for the kids to see themselves changing things. It's also great for fine motor skills as well as sensory as they handle with oddly textured fun. Plus, who doesn't like something that's relatively easy to clean?
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Oct. 24, 2007 Leaf Windows AKA Pressed Leaves
Last night, my friend Marisa called me to say that she had seen an activity listed in the paper for this morning. It was to be at the local Co Op at 9 this morning and it was called Leaf Windows. That was all she could tell me. So I loaded the little buggers up and off we went this morning at 8.45. Or, at least, it was supposed to be that early. With one thing or another, it wound up being 9 before we were crossing the street and on our way.
I have learned, much to my chagrine and hopefully for the last time, that several small children together never go in the same direction at the same time as the others. Their little minds are always working overtime and there is always SOMETHING going on. Deedee forgot her babies, Kitty took her socks off and threw them over the side of the trailer, the spring in the front wheel of the stroller decided to stick and I had to fiddle with that, Charles didn't balance right on his bike and literally fell over on his side (this is with training wheels) and on and on. But I'm still really glad I took them. It was a lot of fun. Sorry there aren't any pics. The camera's batteries are dead and I was too cheap to buy anymore. So, all you need for a super simple no heat artistic craft is:
A Nature Walk (to gather lots of leaves in different sizes, shapes and colors)
clear contac paper
yarn or fishing line
scissors
a hole punch
pinking shears or other scissors with fancy blades (optional)
Lay out a piece of contac paper big enough for at least one big leaf and maybe a couple of little ones. Tear off the backing and hand your little one the leaves. You may want to lay out a design first but when they're this little, they don't really care. Let them stick on leaves to their little hearts content but be sure to leave at least an inch around the outside so it will seal properly and for any fancy cutting that you might want to do with the pinking shears. When they're satisfied, place another piece of contac paper sticky side down and press carefully to seal it. When you're done you can punch a hole at the top and tie a piece of fishing line on so you can hang it up. Get fancy with the shears to make the edges pretty. You could also use glitter pens to writ a design on it. One thought I had was to sprinkle glitter over the leaves before adding the second side to make it really pretty.
A few other ideas I thought of on the way home:
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Lay out a piece approximately 18 - 24 inches wide and when you're done you'll have the perfect placemat. Make several and you'll have a whole set for your Thanksgiving table.
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Lay out a piece at least 4 feet long and when you're done you will have a lovely center to lay down the middle of your table. If you made the placemats too, you'll have a great set.
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Lay out a long piece of contac paper and place your leaves on randomly, leaving at least 1/4 inch of space between each one. After you've pressed on the other side, cut around each leaf or combination of leaves in a random order. When you're done, you will have several lovely ornaments that you can hang in your window or give as gifts.
I'm sure you noticed the Winter Bazaar logo at the top. If you don't know about it yet, you MUST check it out. Every Wednesday, through March, crafts and other stuff centered along a theme for that month will be posted. The fun part is that the author will post one craft, recipe, game, activity, etc. and then ANYONE can leave a link to a post on their blog that pertains to the theme. So, for instance, October is Halloween. So instead of getting only one or two crafts that may or may not be suitable, you'll have several to look at. And, you'll be introduced to new blogs at the same time! I listed the children's Spider Bread in the Bazaar last week. However, I am not posting this in the Bazaar as yet although, I do plan to. This is a perfect craft for Thanksgiving and Autumn, which will start two weeks from now.
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Oct. 18, 2007 Spider Bread
Yesterday (and today) the children and I made spider bread! This is my contribution for this weeks Winter Bazaar at Scribbit. It hadn't started out that way. The children (namely the boys) had gotten into a lot of trouble this week and got banned from TV for a week so needless to say that opened up a lot of free time. I actually like it. At first I was leery about it. I thought, how would I get anything done? Although, I must admit for some time I have been talking about decreasing the amount of TV they watch, I just never put the plan in action. This has forced me to do so, and it's turned out much better than I thought. I actually caught the kids quietly piled on the couch and James was (attempting) reading to them! I have taught them Go Fish with a deck of cards made specifically for small children and there are large pictures as well as the name of the fish on the card so even my non readers can play. Anyway, since there was all this extra time on our hands, I dug out my numerous children's craft books and chose one randomly. I was pleased with my choice since the book has lots of crafts broken down by month so all I had to do was turn to October for several good ideas. I'm out of glue and most of my construction paper, so a lot of the stuff was out of the question. But right at the end of the chapter were recipes, one of which was spider bread! Excellent. What better way to get the all of the kidlets involved with something then to turn them loose on a bowl of bread dough? Recently, I was given an oversize coffee table that's perfect for the kids to do projects like this. Even Kitty can get involved!
Spider Bread
Make the dough 1 1/2 hours before you plan on making your spiders (Which is why it turned into two days for me since I didn't read this part and the kids didn't have time to finish it before dinner and then their bed time routine.)
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1/4 c warm water
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1 package yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp)
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3/4 c lukewarm warm
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1/3 powdered milk
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1/4 soft vegetable shorting or suitable substitue
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1 tsp salt
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1 egg
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3 1/2 c flour
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dried raisins, currents, or cranberries (for eyes)
Have the children measure 1/4 c of water into your bowl and add the yeast. Stir until dissolved. I like to set it aside at this point to let the yeast activate, usually for about 10 minutes until it's nice and bubbly and smells really yeasty. Let the kids measure everything else and take turns adding ingredients. They really liked this part. They especially enjoyed measuring the flour. Don't forget to add the yeast! Mix the dough untils it's nice and smooth. Cover your bowl and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour (I set mine on the dryer). Punch it down and let it rise again, covered, for another 20 minutes. Divide the dough into 6 - 12 equal pieces. Give each child one piece of dough and a little flour to keep it from sticking to the table although, I forgot the flour and didn't have this problem. Have them divide the dough into two equal pieces. One will be the body and the other will be divided into eight equal pieces for the legs. Have them roll each of the eight segments into snakes for the legs and them attach them to their spider. Place the eyes on the spider. Brush the spiders with milk (or a mixture of water and egg yolks, which is what I did) and set them aside for 20 minutes. Bake at 400 F for 12 - 15 minutes. Let them cool and enjoy! The kidlets plan on eating theirs for breakfast tomorrow morning.
If you don't have a lot of time, you could buy frozen dinner roll dough at your supermarket. It would be simple to give one or two rolls to a child for his or her spider. You could also sprinkle poppy seeds or black sprinkles to make your spider "black".
I love this time of the year. The changing colors, the smell of moldering leaves, the pumpkins everywhere and the children's costumes. This is the time when thoughts turn to snuggling up with the little ones, stacks of books and a hot drink to pleasantly while away the afternoon. On that note, I would like to announce that Barefoot Books has an awesome offer right now. You can receive a FREE copy of Storytime ~ First Tales of Sharing with a $30 purchase! It's a wonderful anthology of popular tales from around the world such as The Gingerbread Man or The Ugly Duckling and bright, whimsical illustrations. |
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Oct. 17, 2007 New Toymaker Update!
I first discovered this wonderful site last year and I always look forward to it's updates. It's chock full of tons of awesome paper crafts for you to print out and make (they're all in pdf files and you can get Adobe here). Just in time for Halloween, it's newest additions include a candy corn box, a cottage for Madame Fortunata plus two figurines, jack-o-lantern bookmarks, and a ghost show. Read the latest newsletter here. And here is the Halloween section! Also, you can visit the creators blog here.
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Jul. 25, 2007 Kool Aid Dyeing!
Did you know you could dye wool yarn with kool aid? Neither did I until a couple of months ago. Not just any yarn will do. It has to be derived from an animal fiber. Even then, it won't always take the dye. Some white wools have already been bleached, and treated. For a good resource of dyeable yarn, check out Knit Picks and Wool2Dye4. If you have a wool blend, such as wool/cotton, or whatever, the wool would take the dye, but the cotton wouldn't, giving you some very interesting variegated yarn.
These are the yarns that I and the kids dyed together, and with the exception of the purple wool, it was dyed with kool aid. It is all three ply blue faced leicester wool and I bought it at Wool2Dye4. A good rule of thumb is one packet of your desired flavor/color to one ounce of wool. The yellow (I don't know how long this is, I never measured it but certainly no more than an ounce) is one packet of lemonade. The green is 2 ounces (200 yards) with two packets of lemon lime. The purple was dyed with black (yes, you heard me right) Wiltons food coloring gel. This is a different technique than the kool aid dye, and actually requires vinegar to set it unlike the kool aid which is already acidic enough.
To Kool-Aid Dye:
If you have a microwave, it's ok to use it. Just don't let your liquid boil or you'll felt your wool! Use glass food jars or bowls. When doing small amounts, I like to use the large baby food jars.
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A large pot or bowl.
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One unsweetened packet of your desired color/flavor per ounce of your fiber. if you want a deeper color, add more packets.
- Rubber gloves
- Vinegar (This is optional. it's not needed to set the color, however some people believe that it makes the color more lightfast.)
First, wind your wool into a large skein and then tie a small scrap of yarn around it on both sides to keep it from coming unwound. Tie the yarn loosely so you don't block that wool from the dye, otherwise you'll have white spots. Pour some water in the bottom of your pan and then disolve your kool-aid in it. Add your yarn, and then add enough water to cover your yarn. Heat the water until it is just coming to a boil, turn it off, cover it, and let it sit. Check it occasionally, stirring it lightly to help the color be incorporated more evenly. (Don't stire too often, or very vigorously, you may felt your wool. :D When your water is completely clear (yes, you're reading that right), it's done. Let it cool until it's room temp. Remove the wool from the water, and very carefully rinse it in water the same temperature. This is very important. If you shock it with an extreme of temperatures, you may accidentally felt it. Also, if you handle it too much, you may felt it. Gently squeeze the excess water out. You may do this with your hands or rolling it up in towels. Hang it to dry, carefully roll it into balls, and you have your very own one of a kind yarn to use in a cool project.
If you want to read more about dyeing with Wiltons food coloring gels, read here.
Color Chart
Dyed in the Wool
Gaea Creations
Kiki's Kool Aid Class
Knit Picks |
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Jun. 7, 2007 New Toymaker Update! Mar. 8, 2007 Fun Goop: Play Dough
Yesterday, the boys and I made play dough. They had a blast, as well as made a huge mess.
Here is James measuring some flour using the measuring bowls. He counted four scoops before he lost count.
Here is Charles just being himself. He has one of Kitty's hats on, so it's a bit small. He still looks really cute though.
Nature's Playdough
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
2 T oil
2 T cream of tartar
beet, spinach, carrot juices
essential oils (lavendar, chamomile, etc.)
Mix flour, salt and oil, and slowly add the water. Cook over medium heat, stirring until dough becomes stiff. Turn out onto wax paper and let cool. Add a few drops of essential oil and knead the dough with your hands until of proper consistency. Use as is, or divide into balls and add a few drops of the vegetable juices to make green, pink, and orange.
The essential oils make for wonderful sensory experience. And the projects you can do with play dough is never ending. James and Charles both rolled out their dough and then practiced cutting with plastic scissors. And Charles worked on muscle strenght and coordination sqeezing a lump about the size of a golf ball while James worked on a sculpture. Unfortunately, the first thing Deedee did upon waking from her nap (after using her potty) was to smash said sculpture.
Things that can be done is infinite. Sculptures, scissor practice, strength, you can form beads, use it to form the letter you are studying at the time, roll it out and use cookie cutters to cut out fun shapes,
Here's an interesting activity that I have planned for the kids next week that I found through the BBC:
Play Dough: Faces
Paper plates
Play dough
white paper/thin card
Drawing paper
Pen/pencil
Sticky tape
Apron
Rolling pin
Plastic knife/cutter
Talk to your child about their favourite characters' faces. Perhaps they love the Tweenies or the Teletubbies? Let them choose which one they would like to make.
Ask them to make the hair first and stick it onto the paper plate. Then let them do the eyes, nose and mouth. Encourage them to make the features 3 dimensional.
Talk about the way our faces change to show how we are feeling. Ask your child to make their face look happy. Can they change it to make it a sad face? Talk about the things that would make them happy or sad. Talk about the things that make your child happy or sad.
Draw a thought bubble on a piece of paper and let your child draw a picture of what their character is thinking about to make him/her happy/sad. Attach this to the paper plate face.
Learning Goals
- This activity will help your child's physical development as they manipulate soft dough and use appropriate tools.
- It will enable them to develop their imagination and creative skills as they express their ideas and feelings through their pictures
- It will also to develop their language skills as they talk about their experiences.
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Feb. 9, 2007 Jack Wax Maple Candy
This is the best old fashioned candy. Here is a delicious winter treat that is easy to make and has only two ingredients: maple syrup and new snow. It's really simple to make with the kids and it's something that can be eaten immeadiately vs. waiting for it to set up, like fudge or hard candy. Besides Jack Wax, it's also known as:
Sugar on Snow
Tire d’érable (French Canadian)
Maple Taffee (Canadian)
For those of you that ever read the Little House on the Prairie series, you may recall that in the first book, "Little House in the Big Woods", Laura got to make this treat. I found the excerpt here and you can read about Laura's adventure. In fact, when the children and I were making this, I read it to them. James especially enjoyed it because we have been reading the Little House books. The excerpt is found in an article about Jack Wax although I originally found out about this neat candy in my newsletter from Mother Earth Living. As soon as I started reading it, I remembered Laura's adventure and wondered if it was the same. In my search for that information, I found the article with the excerpt.
Jack Wax
Real maple syrup (no, maple flavored won't work)
9 x 13 cake pan
Put 1 cup per two people of syrup in a pan and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer to 235 degrees on a candy thermometer. if you don't have a candy thermometer, cook until you reach soft ball stage. This means if you drop a spoonful of the syrup dropped into a cup of cold water, it forms a soft ball. While the syrup is simmering, fill your cake pan with clean snow, packed down well. When the syrup reaches softball, slowly pour the hot syrup in ribbons onto the packed snow. With clean fingers, pick up a section of the caramel-like candy and pop it in your mouth.
Mother Earth Living said "The combination of the super-sweet maple syrup and the slightly metallic taste of the cold fresh snow is a delightful winter treat." and I have to admit that they are quite correct. This was a lot of fun and I only wish that I had been able to do this as a child. I was a Little House fiend. They were my absolute favorite books and I read them so often that my poor copies are quite dog eared. I'm surprised that any of them survived.
For more snow fun, check out Fun Stuff To Do With Snow and Ice Cream Fun.
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Dec. 19, 2006 My Newest Aquisition: Art Activities from Around the World
Hands on learning is a lot more fun than sitting in front of boring text books or repetitive work sheets. So, along that line, James does a lot of art projects and lap books. Sinve we do so many, I'm always looking for new, fun things to do so things don't get boring. In fact, several of these projects could easily be adapted for lapbooks.
Written by Paula Corbett and illustrated by Patricia Bakken, these authentic projects give students a hands on appreciation of other cultures.These are ideal for art classes, social studies, etc. This is a teachers guide with 48 blackline masters and is suitable for grades 1-6, although the ideas are easily adaptable for younger children. Some of the skills worked on include cutting, folding, foloring, and pasting.
Here is a small selection from over 40 projects to give you an idea of what's included:
China ~ Paper Lantern
Denmark ~ Chrismas Ornaments (These are really neat and I printed out several to make.)
England ~ May Basket
Germany ~ Jumping Jack
India ~ Animal Banner
Ireland ~ Leprechaun's Cottage (I can't wait to make this for St. Patrick's Day)
Japan ~ Dragon
Mexico ~ Skeleton (This would work especially well for studies of Dia de los Muertos.)
Norway ~ Viking
Philippines ~ Outrigger Boat
Sweden ~ Santa Lucia Crown/Centerpiece
Russia ~ Matryoskha Dolls
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Dec. 16, 2006 Fun Winter Holiday Crafts Dec. 14, 2006 Wee Three Kings
I just found this craft at Family Fun (look in Christmas Characters) and it's just adorable. And while these are to celebrate Three Kings Day, it would be fairly simple to turn them into the three wise men and then expand this to make up a whole nativity scene.
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Dec. 10, 2006 Fun Gingerbread Recipes
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Here are some recipes that I found while looking for on to use with my Gingerbread Man Unit.
This is the the earliest boiled style of gingerbread. You can model the dough like clay before it cools entirely, and then needs no further baking! Simply allow your creations to dry and harden at room temperature. Neat, huh?
Ginger Bread
· 1½ cups honey
· 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
· ½ cup apple cider
· 2 tablespoons ginger
· 2 tablespoons licorish
· 2 tablespoons anise seeds
· 2 tablespoons cinnamon
· 1 quart grated bread crumbs
Heat honey over a gentle flame. Stir in ginger, licorish, cinnamon, and apple cider. When warm, stir in bread crumbs and mix thoroughly. Continue to cook gently, covered, stirring occasionally. Mixture should be thick and moist. Turn out onto a sheet of bakers’ parchment or heavy waxed paper. As soon as it is cool enough to handle, break warm dough into cookie-size portions and mold into desired shapes.
VARIATION: After cooking, mold into a bar. Roll into anise seeds for a thin coating. Allow to finish cooling. Cut in thin slices and serve.
You can find this and other historical recipes here.
Gingerbread Playdough
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup water
1 tsp. veg. oil
lots of cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, whatever!
Mix the dry ingredients. Play with the spices till you get the scent you want and the color. Mix water and oil together first and THEN add them to the dry ingrediants and stir. In a pot, cook the mixture for two to three minutes, stirring frequently. The dough will start to pull away from the sides of the pan and clump together. Take the dough out of the pan and knead the dough until it becomes soft and smooth. Allow to cool and store in an air tight container
Easy Gingerbread People
1 package (6-serving size) butterscotch pudding and pie filling
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1 T. ground ginger
1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
Cream pudding and pie filling mix with butter and sugar. Add egg and blend well. Combine flour, baking soda, ginger, and cinnamon. Blend into pudding mixture. Chill dough until firm, about 1 hour. Roll dough on a floured board to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut with cookie cutter. Place on greased baking sheets; use a straw to make a hole in the top of the cookie for hanging on the tree if desired. Bake at 350 degree F for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. Decorate if desired. Yields: 16 to 18 gingerbread cookies. Note: you can lower the sugar content of these sugars by using sugar-free butterscotch pudding and pie filling mix.
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Dec. 5, 2006 Free Winter Holiday Printables Nov. 28, 2006 Fun Stuff To Do With Snow
The last several days has dumped several inches of snow on us. The kids love it of course and the boys have spent hours outside sledding and throwing snowballs. But Deedee really isn't old enough to go sledding by herself, and I can't do it with her. Can you imagine us sliding down, my trying to hold onto Deedee while Kitty is strapped to my chest in her Maya Wrap? LOL. So I decided to look for fun stuff that she could still do with snow.
Snow Angels (or devils)
Snow Painting
(you could also bring this inside for your water table)
Squirt bottles - one for each child or color (I got mine at the dollar store.)
powdered or liquid tempera paints (you could also use koolaid or food coloring)
water
In the squirt bottles, mix your paint so it's very watery. Then, just set the kids on an expanse of clean snow (the canvas), hand them a squirt bottle and let them have at it. Don't forget to take pictures!
Hide the Object
James' speech therapist did this with him. Take a small tub and fill it full of snow. Then hide several objects in it. There are actually several variations to this. You could just have your child have a blast looking for the objects, you could tell them to find something specific, you could have them name it as they find it, etc. Another activity that Kathy did with James was a matching game. She had a duplicate of every object that she put in the tub. She would hand James an object and then tell him to find that object in the snow just by feel and without looking.
Coloring Fun
Pack some snow into a disposable baking dush (such as a pie pan). Give the kids markers (it doesn't matter if they're dried out, they renew themeselves) and let them color the snow to their hearts content. Or use squeeze bottles filled with colored water. When it's too far gone, just throw it out, and get some more.
Snow Ice Cream?
1 c milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c sugar
4-5 c clean snow
Go outside and collect the snow (don't pack it!), bring it in and set it in the freezer until it's needed. Mix together the milk, vanilla and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Take thes now out of the freezer and slowly add it to your milk. Stir constantly until it's nice and thick and creamy.
More snow fun at:
Preschool Education
Family Fun
Everything Preschool
Magical Childhood
A to Z Kidstuff
Seven Snow Games (these are really for older children, but they can be tweaked to include toddlers and preschoolers.)
I really wasn't able to find a ton of stuff that Deedee could do in the snow. I did however find several ideas for science experiments for James. More to come on that.
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