“Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning…They have to play with what they know to be true in order to find out more, and then they can use what they learn in new forms of play.” ~ Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood)


Monday, July 9, 2012

Salt Painting

Salt Painting is a fun activity!  It dries puffy and sparkly from the salt.  Samantha kept asking if the sparkles were treasure :)  Best part...you probably already have the ingredients in your kitchen!  

Mix equal parts
Water
Flour 
Salt
Food coloring or tempura paint...if you don't have any thats fine it will still work

Cardboard or paper plates....This definitely works better on something thicker than regular paper (regular paper won't work)
Squeeze Bottles...I found them at Michaels 2/$2

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.  Make sure there are no clumps otherwise the bottles will get clogged and the top with shoot off (trust me...it happened twice).  Add a few drops of paint and mix again. Now pour it into your bottles...a funnel would work great to help you pour it in but you can use a spoon or make shift funnel.  Now let your kids have fun!




It's great for the kids that like sensory play.
Plus the salt gives you a nice exfoliation ;) 

Here's our outcome.
By the end everyone had there hands in it
This is a great sensory and gross  motor activity.  My 3 year old  and 1 1/2 year old were both able to do this.  The clean up is also really easy...Just wiped everything after they were done (looks messy than it is).  


Have Fun!



* I used 2 cups and have some left over.  You can save the left overs for the next day or share them with a friend.  

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Cake Mix+ Fat Free Greek Yogurt

You've seen this all over Pinterest...



So I tried it for you....and it's pretty good :)

I was skeptical at first but hey if Dr Oz and Hungry Girl recommend it...How can you go wrong?

Plus the bonus...You can eat the batter and not worry about the eggs :)
The batter was just as good as I remember it as a kid!!

So now you can have your cake with a little less guilt (or more ice cream)

You can find the recipe here


Have a great Saturday!

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Flubber Recipe

I use to love making Flubber when I taught preschool.  It is so easy to make and the kids loved it!
I made some today with my two kids and it was the same...Easy to make and they really enjoyed it :)

To make Flubber you need:
Warm water
Glue
Food Coloring (optional)
Borax

The Borax was actually easy to find...Target had it for $3.  I looked it up on amazon but the cheapest i found it was for $7.   You can always go in with some friends and share the cost :)


Mixture A
3/4 C. Warm Water
1 C. Elmers Glue
Food Coloring

Mixture B
2 teaspoon Borax
1/2 C Warm Water


Stir Mixture A into a small or medium bowl.  Mix Mixture B into a large bowl.  Make sure that both bowls are mixed well.






Pour mixture A into Mixture B reach your hand in and pull out the flubber :)





Here's what it looks like when it's finished





There will be extra water in the bowl but that's ok :)

I had my kids play with it on placemats.  You can use cookie cutters, play scissors, rolling pins.  Its just fun to play with and feel.  Great sensory activity :)