Creative Play with Play-Dough

Some fun things we've added to our stash of play-dough tools lately: spaghetti (uncooked, of course!) or other kinds of pasta, googly eyes, Cheerios, popsicle cleaners, and pipecleaners.  The kids had fun making play-dough monsters/aliens the other day.  Thanks to this homemade play-dough recipe (it really is super simple to make, as long as you have cream of tartar on hand!) and this Artful Parent post, where I got the creative play ideas.  Next on our list: a play-dough volcano!
 

Cloud Dough

Our summer afternoon experiments continue!  This time we worked with cloud dough, a.k.a. "moon dough," which is a moldable dough that is fun to play with and super easy to whip up.  Eight cups flour, one cup baby oil... that's it.  A pastry blender is a good way to mix out all the clumps.  I put it in a couple plastic bins, dropped in a bunch of tools (spatulas, spoons, plastic knives, and cups), and covered the table with newspaper.  Sure, there was a little mess to clean up afterwards (especially on Kate's side of the table!), but that was definitely worth it, since my kids easily played with this for a good hour.

Our Hot Summer Afternoon Experiment

Haven't done much crafting lately.  It's been a busy summer, and everything's been a little topsy-turvy.  We've moved our two oldest into the same bedroom, however, and I'll be using our fourth bedroom as a CRAFT ROOM!  The hubby is actually building and installing counters for me to use.  It'll be nice having a dedicated space for all my crafty endeavors, and being able to leave it out and shut the door for awhile, instead of hurrying to clean it all up when naptime has ended.  So, MY craftiness has been on the back burner.  But with the hot summers here in New Mexico and the inability to go outside in the afternoons, I've had to focus on giving the kiddos creative outlets.  We tried this experiment this week.  Add food coloring to little bowls of vinegar.  Fill a pan with baking soda.  Have kids use medicine droppers to squirt vinegar into the baking soda, and it fizzes all over the place!  Super fun.  It kept the kids occupied for a good solid hour... so I didn't feel so bad about them not having outside time!