Play Dough Construction Site

June 8, 2020Leave a comment

Play Dough Construction Site (4)

Veronika loves to play with her set of construction trucks, and I am all for any sort of gender-neutral play like this! Today I supplemented the fun by adding in a play dough “construction site”.

This really couldn’t have been easier to set up. I mashed some play dough flat on the bottom of a shallow tray to the be the dirt, then rolled some into balls to fill the dump truck like large ‘rocks’. Finally, I rolled some into ‘logs’ for the bulldozer to push.

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The rest was up to her! She loved saying “full” and “empty” as she took the ‘rocks’ in and out of her dump truck.

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She might not have understood that she was now the foreman at an important construction lot, but she sure loved squishing the play dough and driving the vehicles around!

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We also put the empty play dough containers upside down like construction cones, which she could then drive around – or bump into!

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This was an easy sensory tray that kept her busy for quite a while.

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Yummy Chocolate Play Dough

April 26, 2020Leave a comment

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Today Veronika opened up her first bake shop…with chocolate play dough that is! This no-cook recipe is super simple, and lends itself perfectly to both sensory and imaginative play.

In a bowl, combine 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup salt, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, and 1 tablespoon cream of tartar. Slowly stir in 1 cup boiling water.

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Turn the dough out and knead until no longer sticky (you may need to add a little more flour).

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Once the dough was ready, I set up shop for Veronika! A few disposable cake pans, cupcake liners, and old birthday candles made perfect props. She was helping make “cupcakes” in no time.

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Inserting candles was lots of fun. I realized we needed more toppings, so colorful pony beads from the craft bin made perfect “sprinkles”. Veronika loved pushing these into the dough and saying “Squish!”.

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She also just loved transferring the pony beads from one cupcake liner to another.

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Rolling pins and other kitchen tools rounded out our play. I showed Veronika how she could roll portions of the dough really flat.

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This was so all so much fun that big brother Travis wanted to get involved. With him, we made it more about imaginative play. He was a “baker” filling my orders for specific types or shapes of cookies.

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Chances are the kids will play this one for a while!

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Porcupine Playdough

April 20, 2020Leave a comment

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Play dough is a great way to keep little hands busy no matter what, but if you want to add an extra element of fun, make it spiky… by designing little “porcupines”!

I cut paper straws into small pieces for this activity. You could also use craft sticks but I liked that I could vary the length of the straws. Some pieces were short and stubby and some were longer.

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Of course Veronika has no actual idea of what a porcupine is, but she sure does know that pushing straws into blobs of play dough was good fun!

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I demonstrated first, and she took right to it.

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Pulling them out was its own challenge, since the straws will stick a little. A good way to work those little muscles!

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She grew momentarily confused at one point when there was no where else to stick a straw in this play dough blob.

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Phew! I presented her with a new ball of play dough just in time!

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The game can easily continue with no more variation than this, but chances are it will turn into more free-form play dough play. Perfect for when big siblings are busy doing school work online!

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National Crayon Day

March 31, 2020Leave a comment

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Happy National Crayon Day! Travis, Veronika, and I celebrated this fun “holiday” with two projects, plus the perfect crayon book: Harold and the Purple Crayon.

While the kids were busy, I made a batch of purple crayon play dough. For this you’ll need:

3 cups flour

1 and 1/2 cups salt

2 tablespoons cream of tartar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 jumbo purple crayon

2 cups water

Combine the flour, salt, and cream of tartar in a bowl. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Remove the paper lining from the crayon and chop into pieces. Add to the oil and stir until melted. Slowly stir in the water, then add the dry ingredients. Continue to cook for a minute or two, until the play dough pulls away from the sides of the pot.

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Turn the dough out onto a cutting board. Let cool slightly, then knead a few times. It makes a fantastic dough, and it’s now ready for play!

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We read Harold and the Purple Crayon to set the stage, then got our hands messy with the purple play dough!

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I suggested recreating a few of the drawings from the book like the apple tree or a house with a window.

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Travis just loved making purple worms, which soon led to a very elaborate game in his head!

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Veronika loved pulling up bits of the dough.

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Oh no, she grabbed the “ocean” from under Harold’s boat!

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In other words, the kids had a blast. I thought they might play with it all afternoon.

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But we had one more crayon project to go. There was a collection of rocks on our patio thanks to a family walk on the beach last weekend, and I set a few of them in the oven at 300 degrees for 15 minutes. (Note: I’m told you don’t want to heat them much longer than that, or they may explode, although that could just be urban legend).

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Remove one rock at a time with tongs and place on foil or parchment paper on a table. Using jumbo crayons with the liners removed, I showed Travis how to press one against the hot rock. It instantly melts!

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This had big wow factor, and made for fun art.

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Travis loved watching big runnels of color drip over the rocks, although I showed him how to get a little more artistic and deliberate with his colors, too.

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These would look so pretty in a garden! Happy National Crayon Day.

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Magnetic Letters & Play Doh

January 12, 2020Leave a comment

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I’ve hesitated to give Veronika play doh until now, full knowing she would do a taste test. But we received mini containers of it as a birthday party favor so we had some (very!) supervised play doh play today. Note: I highly recommend the all-natural eco-dough as an alternative or a homemade batch in a pinch!

Today, I pressed the vivid play doh colors into flat pancakes on her high chair tray, and showed her how she could smoosh magnetic letters down into the pile.

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She tried this a few times, but then was far more into the little play doh containers themselves!

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She did indeed reach her little fingers in and give it a taste, which earned a quick firm “no”.

There was lots of opportunity to talk about colors here, both in the play doh and the letters, as well as to have fun with the letter prints that appeared when we lifted a letter up.

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This was a nice first intro to the material, which I know she’ll play with lots more as childhood continues! Don’t have play doh at home? Here’s another way to play with those magnetic letters!

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Peanut Butter Play Dough

November 8, 2019Leave a comment

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I guarantee this is the yummiest play dough your kids will ever play with, and it’s unbelievably easy to make!

In a bowl, combine 6 large marshmallows (we use Dandies) and 4 tablespoons peanut butter. Microwave for about 15 to 20 seconds, until the marshmallows sotfen. Stir together.

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Add about 2 to 3 tablespoons powdered sugar, stirring with a spoon to combine and then working the dough with your hands until it is no longer sticky. Although there were still some chunks of marshmallow visible, our dough worked great.

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I had intended this as a sensory project for Veronika, but big brother Travis loved it, too! First Veronika just enjoyed picking up the dough…

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…and was delighted when she noticed it tasted sweet!

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Her favorite thing to do was poke at it with craft sticks, or tap it with her fingers.

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Meanwhile, Travis had fun forming the dough. We rolled it into snakes and patted it into flat pancakes.

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Then we used leftover Halloween cookie cutters. It made fantastic shapes!

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Note: Make sure to cover the play dough if you want to play with it over multiple sessions, as it will dry out and become crumbly.

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Be a Play Dough Detective

June 12, 2018Leave a comment

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This is one of those neat ways to surprise your kids, a game you can set up while they are otherwise occupied, then greet them with a big mystery… Dinosaurs were in the house! But which ones?

I made circles from our play dough and flattened into discs. You’ll note that play dough colors don’t stay separate around this house!

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Next I took various examples of Travis’s toy dinosaurs – both little and big – and made tracks in the play dough. I called him over and exclaimed that we’d had a visit from dinosaurs!

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He was skeptical at first, but soon was peering eagerly with the magnifying glass I provided.

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Encourage your child to place the dinos over the separate play dough tracks and figure out who made which print; this turns the game into a neat puzzle.

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Travis loved pretending the dinosaurs were stuck and he was a real archaeologist having to cut them out.

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You can also flip the dinosaurs over and make prints of their backs and sides. This led to some interesting observations, like the bumps on ankylosaurs’ back.

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Then he loved the idea of making one big play dough surface that his dinos could stomp across. This went on for quite some time.

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If you don’t have plastic dinosaurs, any plastic bug or animal figurines would work great in this game.

Footprint Tec (3) One hour of a summer morning occupied? Mommy, for the win!

Pond Play Dough

May 26, 2017May 26, 20171 Comment

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This was an activity that first got botched, then turned out to be fun with a plan b, and then which we finally made correctly!

My first batch of homemade play dough didn’t come together quite right – I think because I ought to have left it on the heat a little longer. But I had already promised Travis “pond-scented” play dough, so thinking quickly we added tea tree oil to the store-bought play dough we had at home.

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Travis was fascinated by the way it smelled, and soon our play dough became lily pads and water for frogs and fish to play around on.

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For extra gooey fun, I pulled out the botched batch of play dough anyway. Travis loved the way the frogs sank into it and left impressions behind. Goopy but a good time!

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The next day I pulled up a more foolproof recipe. In a bowl, combine:

2 and 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup salt

2 tablespoons cream of tartar

3 tablespoons oil

1 cup boiling water

Travis helped combine all the ingredients, except the water, which I poured in last (definitely a grown-up step). Let your dough cool slightly, then need until smooth and workable.

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