The World of Play Dough

There as so many different "recipes" for making your own play dough, it's quite overwhelming. I recently got a recipe handout at the local play center that we go to once a week and gave it a try. The play dough came out way too moist, so I will alter the recipe for you to include less water (you can always add more if you need to).

You need:
- 1 1/4 cups of flour
- 1/4 cup salt
- a few drops of food coloring (or dry unsweetened Kool-aid)
- 1/2 cup of boiling water, cooled down (the recipe was for 1 cup of water)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Directions:
1. Get a large bowl
2. Mix flour, salt together
3. Add water and ail to large bowl
4. Stir
5. Mix with hands for about 5 minutes, until smooth and color is blended.
6. Put the playdough in a zipper bag or airtight container for up to 2 months.

Too much water!!

Still a bit moist... I just had to add a bit more flour!

Here are some more links to other recipes. I personally like the cooked method a lot, it just takes a bit more time.
Have fun!!

Cooked Method


Uncooked Method

Toddler's Art File

I remember I had one of these "art files" when I was in Kindergarten. I actually still have it somewhere, and will be happy to post it if I find it!

The idea of making something to store my daughter's art work came to me when I was trying to find something in my storage room and all the shelves were piled with pretty pictures my little one has painted over the past few months.

You need:

- Poster size construction paper
- hole puncher
- paint
- paintbrush
- any sparkles/glitter/stickers you want to decorate the file with
- ribbon/ string

How:
First, fold the construction paper in half. Proceed to punch holes in the sides of the poster to hold the two halves of the poster together. Label the file with your child's name or initials, and decorate to your liking. After any paint has dried, weave the ribbon through the punch holes (as shown in photo). It's so easy, and really doesn't need a whole lot of supplies.
We decorated our daughter's file with handprints of the three of us... she had a lot of fun.
The best part about this activity is that it can actually help you stay organized!

Baby Oil Art

This activity is really easy and fun!

You need:
- aluminium foil (size of a regular paper)
- baby oil
- coloured tissue paper

Help your toddler tear up some tissue paper and place them in a pile next to the foil. Put enough baby oil to coat the foil and then show your tot how you can stick the tissue paper to the foil, and remove it easily to make a different creation.

Cookies

I've been afraid to try a new cookie recipe, because most chocolate chip cookies have failed me terribly in the past ( I always blamed the oven). This recipe however got rave reviews, so I thought I'd try it out. I'm always thinking of ways to include my toddler in every day tasks such as baking and cooking, and cookies seemed pretty kid-friendly and easy to put together. 

Your tot can easily add the chocolate chip cookies (even if it's one by one) at the end, and he/she will have a great time doing it! 

The cookies turned out so chewy and yummy, these are the last two of the batch I made.

Wave Bottle

*From the "Toddler's Busy Book" by Trish Kuffner*


You need:
- Empty and clean soda/water bottle
- glue
- glitter, beads etc.
- water
- baby oil
- food colouring

Fill 1/3 of the bottle with water and add food colouring. Add the beads and glitter and whatever else you may like. Add baby oil (try to get a cheap kind, cause you will fill the entire bottle). Fill the rest of the bottle with baby oil and put some glue on the inside of the bottle cap. Twist it on and let it dry. This step will give you peace of mind that your toddler won't be able to unscrew the cap and get all the glorious oil/water on your floors and carpet... So don't forget that step ;)
Rocking the bottle will create "waves" of glitter.... Just seeing the water and oil merge and then separate is super cool for the little ones!

**i didn't want to use up all my baby oil, so that's my my bottle isn't completely filled!

Have fun!

Lalo's Famous Cookies

Ok so I admit that this batch of cookies received no contribution from my 18 month old, as she's been sick and teething for a few days. But ususally I love to let her help me make the "thumbprint" in these cookies, and help adding the jam at the end.

I recently borrowed Gwyneth Paltrow's new cookbook "My Father's Daughter", and was pleasantly surprised by how easy (delicious and healthy) most recipes are. These cookies take about 5-10 minutes to put together and are sooooo delicious. My husband, a highly picky eater, who was reluctant to try them, couldn't stop eating them. Yes, they are that good.

From doitdelicious.com :

APRIL 27, 2011

Lalo’s Famous Cookies

Comments (8)

Gwyneth has shared another recipe with us: Lalo’s Famous Cookies (which happen to be vegan)! The first one to post a picture (with you in it) on Jessica’s facebook page will receive a signed copy of Gwyneth’s new cookbook My Father’s Daughter.

Prep time: 25 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Yield: about 50 cookies

Ingredients:
4 cups barley flour
3 cups raw whole almonds crushed in a food processor (about ten 2-second pulses)
1 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup canola oil
1 cup real Vermont maple syrup
Your favorite jam (blueberry, raspberry, and apricot are all very nice)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Combine all the ingredients except for the jam together in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. Form into tablespoonful balls and space them evenly on cookie sheets. Using your index finger, make an indent in each cookie. Fill each indent with a small spoonful of jam. Bake until the cookies are evenly browned, about 20 minutes. Let cool before eating.

Tools needed:
Medium bowl, measuring cups, measuring spoons, wooden spoon, cookie sheets, small spoon, food processor

I will be the first to admit that my cookies look really bad compared to the one's above, but that's because I probably put way more jam than I should. Both my child and my husband seem to think the more jam, the better!

A few changes I made: 

- used sugar instead of maple syrup. In her book, Paltrow recommends using 1 c. sugar for every 3/4 c. maple syrup. 

- used all purpose flour because I didn't have any other flour on hand. 

** If you use sugar instead of the syrup, be sure to add some water so the dough comes together**

A different kind of bath time

I came up with this little activity after we played with the goop (previous post). My daughter did not want to stop playing, so the only way I could convince her to wash her hands was by making it fun!

You need:
- bathtub
- baby bathtub/ plastic box
- warm water
- toys (stacking cups/ funnels/ utensils/ bath toys)
- to not care about your toddler getting wet, cause she/he will!

I took my daughter, craft apron and all, and set her in the actual bathtub. Then I set the plastic litter box I had but never used (dollar store) in front of her, and put warm water and some stacking cups in it. She didn't protest getting her hands washed this way. You can either let your toddler play for a minute or two and then take them out (they will probably stay dry for this long). The longer you leave them to play, the more excited they'll get and will splash themselves with lots of water! I let her play in there for a good 15 minutes, and she had a great time (and soaking clothes). Oh, and if you use cups for them to play with, always monitor they don't actually drink any of the water.

Learning with Goop

You need:

- 1 cup cornstarch
- a few tablespoons of water
- food colouring (optional)

Mix the cornstarch, water and food colouring. When combined, you should be able to drip the goop from a spoon, but be careful not too make it too watery. It will appear hard to grab, but drip between your fingers as soon as you pick it up. This link will give you more detailed instructions.

~ I've made this with my daughter many times. At first she was pretty unsure about the weird texture, so I thought this time I'd "hide" a few things in the goop that would make it more interesting for her. I had some dried chickpeas that I sprinkled over the goop, and sure enough, she was captivated by the beans being "stuck" in the goop. We started counting how many chickpeas we were putting in the goop, how many we took out etc. It was a lot of fun. I also put in some pennies, since I knew they would sink and become invisible. She was so determined to grab the pennies out of the goop before they sank all the way to the bottom! It kept her busy for a good hour and a half. ~

Ice Cube Bags/Colored Ice Cubes

*from the "Toddler's Busy Book" by Trish Kuffner*


You need:
- Ice cube tray
- Water
- Food colouring of your choice
- Zip Lock Bags (as many as you'd like to make)

Add food colouring to the water and pour into the ice cube tray. Good choices of colours are red, yellow and blue.

Once they are frozen, take out two ice cubes at a time (ex. red+yellow/ red+blue/yellow+blue) and put into a zip lock bag. Watch the ice cubes melt and the colours mix to form new ones.

~ I loved this activity because of the 'sensory' component that it had. My daughter loved touching the ice cubes, and I loved the fact that they were in the bags so that I didn't have to worry about her putting them in her mouth or swallowing the them. ~

You can also use ice cubes during your child's bath time. Just add a few coloured cubes into the bathtub and watch the cubes shrink. Your toddler will love it!

Staying in.

I started this blog mainly to try to keep myself motivated to keep my toddler busy and content during these tough winter months. We live in Canada, and winters here are pretty rough... I've been dreading the snow and the cold since July! This year however (as opposed to last year), I feel a bit more prepared to conquer the days being spent inside our apartment. I still go outside about twice a week to take my daughter to the library and a playgroup, but not much else gets done outside these days. It's just.too.cold.

My mom sent me a book the other day in the mail that really got me inspired to get creative with my little one. I can't wait to try some of the fun stuff suggested in the book!

If you read this blog and have some awesome creative ideas of your own, please let me know, and I'll join your blog too! I'm always looking for some new ideas!