A little off topic-I haven't told the kids that I call it kids day, thinking about it now it might be a good idea and something they look forward to. Hmmm
Back to today's kids day...
I saw the recipe for this play dough on littlehandsbigwork it is another mommy blog I enjoy reading. I wrote it down and told myself it would be a fun craft to do with the kids (like many things I write down and end up not doing.) After my feelings last night I decided to jump in with both feet. I had no reason not to.
I began gathering supplies and noticed on the recipe it calls for 1/2 a CUP of salt. That is a lot of salt. I had just about enough for one batch, a little less then needed but I wanted to make a batch for both kids so I bundled up the little chickens and myself and we headed across the street to the grocery store.
On our way we climbed a small hill, watched tractors, and ran (holding hands) together through the parking lot. They loved it!
Because we were already there I bought some new packs of Kool-aid (a playdough ingredient). They each picked out two colors they liked. We don't drink Kool-aid at home so neither of them really knew what we were buying them for and just enjoyed the variety of colors.
On the way home we collected rocks for our future Creation lesson and some pine cones to use as paint brushes.
Finally it is time to make play dough!
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| Athena picked Strawberry or Red She really enjoyed putting her fingers under the stream of salt as we were pouring it. She giggled and said "It tickles mommy!" |
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| Spencer picked Ice Blue Raspberry or Blue |
They were so intrigued with the whole process. They watched as it cooked and were jumping up and down waiting to see what would happen.
Once it cooled down and was on their desks they sat and looked at it for a minute. After encouraging Athena to play with it she dug right it molding giggling and even tasting the play dough.
It took Spencer a bit to touch it. I gave them some small metal cups to use as cookie cutters and let them play.
The dough smelt so good and was nice and warm on our hands.
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| Spencer still unsure if he should touch it. It is something I want to repeat in the future.
1 finger *poke*
2 fingers *poke*
......
 "Bam bam bam!" |
Athena singing to her play dough!
Not so Kool
After lunch I was irritated. When the kids were no longer entertained by the play dough I put on Owl City Firefly a favorite. They danced and jumped to the music making me anxious quickly. Loud noises or a lot of noises at once makes me shaky, frustrated, and very uncomfortable. It feels like I can feel every noise bouncing off every inch of skin. This is the feeling I associate with anxious. To add to the music, singing and dancing Spencer was trying to hold his blanket around his body as a cape to be like Athena and kept slipping on the end, whining. My patience was at an end. I quickly directed them back to the play dough and swiftly turned the music off. The new interest in the play dough gave me a minute to compose myself. The rest of the day went smoothly and we stuck to activities that did not contain screaming or jumping.
We STILL have not made Koolaid playdough, but I bet it smells delicious!
ReplyDeleteIt does! It is also really neat playing with it while it is still warm. I was worried it was going to stain the kids hands but it didn't. I also noticed when both balls were finished the blue one came out smoother then the red. I think this was because when added the ingredients into the pan Spencer spilled some so there was less flour and salt in the mix. I had to gradually add flour when kneading so it wasn't to sticky. After about a week the blue dough was still smooth and soft while the red tended to be more coarse. Good luck on your first batch!
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