Bring Life Back to Dry Playdough

My number one frustration about playing with playdough is when my daughter decides she's had enough and just runs off to play with something else ... leaving the playdough on the kitchen table to dry out. Crusty edged playdough, yuk! (Yes, I know you are saying I should teach her to put one toy away before playing with the other, and I am, with 2 toddlers in the house it is a work in progress!)

But, here is a simple way to bring some life back to the neglected playdough.

1. Boil the kettle
2. Hold the playdough in some tongs
3. Cover the playdough in steam (but not too much that it starts dripping)
4. Knead the dough
5. Repeat 2 to 3 times until you've got healthier playdough.

 Some other tips for caring for your playdough:

• Make sure it is stored in an airtight container (or even better, wrap it in cling film and then in an airtight container, or keep it in a zip lock bag)
• Playdough stores better in the fridge.
• If you live in a very dry climate and your playdough dries out quickly, a little extra oil will help make its life a little longer.

If you want to make your own playdough, you can find a homemade playdough recipe here. 

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Birds & Trees (and a free printable!)

What a privaledge to have my first guest blog post published at BrisbaneKids.com.au! This is my modern version of drawing a tree on a piece of paper, and then drawing and cutting out birds to stick on it.

To add a twist, I created a print out tree and some print out birds, and Little Miss and Mr Little have fun flying their birds around the house and back home to the tree (where they stick on with bluetack).  We also had fun decorating the tree with leaves from outside, some sticks, and the birds got their very own craft feathers and glitter. The deocrating and playing was totally up to the imagination of my little ones and it created a whole day of entertainment as our activity evolved.

Would you like to play too?  Here is your free printable!

Best Ages: 

This activity has been tested with a one year old, two year old, three year old and five year old. But it could also be adapted for older ages.

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Free Printable Holiday Fun

 

Mooo have released some great free printables to celebrate their 5th birthday, right in time for school holidays!  These cute designs come as bedroom door hangers, bookmarks masks and playing cards. They can even be personalised with your child's name. Best of all, it's quick, easy and free!

www.mooo.com.au

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Growing Grass

It's September and officially Spring! 

September is a great time to get out into the garden, get some new plants into the ground or sew some new grass and help that poor neglected winter lawn.  Or in our case, we are going to be planting some grass in a pot!

Little Miss 2 is at the perfect age to start teaching about growing plants and I can't wait to see her eyes as her little grass plant grows bigger and bigger. I've decided that I'm going to pretty up our little science experiment by using some funky pots that I will then use as decoration in our home.

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Homemade Playdough Recipe

  

Ingredients:

1 Cup of plain flour
1 Cup of water
1 Tbsp of cooking oil
1 Tbsp cream of tartar
1 cup of salt
Food colouring

Method:

Place all of the ingredients in a medium size or large pan. Cook slowly on medium-high and stir it until the playdough thickens.

Notes:

• If the playdough is sticky, cook it for a little bit longer.
• The colouring is easiest to mix through if you add it to the water before the rest of the ingrediants.
• Store in an airtight container (zip lock bags are perfect) and apparently it has a longer life it its stored in the fridge.

Best Ages

18 months - 2 years.
Little Miss started enjoying playdough at around the 18 month mark. I tried Mr Little at 12 months, but he just eats it and smears it into his hair. Yuk! I'll try him again in a few months.
As for an upper limit for ages, I've seen 10 year olds happily sit an play with playdough. Do older kids enjoy this too?

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Homemade Bubbles

I've wanted to try homemade bubbles for a long time but hadn't gotten around to it for a while. Here is my trusty recipe that has been sitting in my recipe book for years!

Ingrediants:

1 part dishwashing detergent
8 parts water
1/4 part or less light corn syrup (you can experiment with how much to use to get the best bubbles)

Method:

Mix it all together!

Ages: 

All ages from about 6 months up (although babies enjoy bubbles as well!)

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The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe

I love this cake mostly for its ease - just pop everything into a bowl and blend, which makes it really easy for little hands to get involved. Of course its also absolutely delicious and really moist, probably because it uses oil instead of butter.

Ingrediants

2 cups plain flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
1/3 cup melted chocolate (dark or milk chocolate, it doesn't matter)
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons bicarb soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking power

1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup oil (sunflower works best, but you can use whatever you have)

1 tablespoon decaf coffee disolved in 1 cup hot water

Method

Mix together all ingredients with electric beaters until its smooth and runny. Poor into a greased cake tin .  Bake at around 180 (celcius) for an hour. 

Icing

Melt 150 grams of chocolate (milk or dark) with 1/4 cup of cream in a saucepan. Take it off the heat and leave it to cool slightly and thicken up.  You can either cut your cake in half and spread ganache throughout the middle, or just ganache the outside.

Tips:

• Cooking temperature and time for this cake can depend on your oven, so if it starts to brown on top but is still runny in the middle, turn the temperature down and cook for longer. 
• Dipping a metal knife in a tall cup of boiling water will help you to get a nice smooth finish on the ganache.

Best ages:

18 months and up.
(My daugher got interested in helping to cook around the age of 18 months, but let your child help out whenever they show interest).

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Go Kids At Play!

Welcome to Kids At Play!

This is a space where I archive all the things play related that I have tried with my kids that have been a success, things that I want to do in the future, and lessons I've learned.

I'm not sure where the journey of this blog will take me, but if all goes to plan it will lead to more fulfilling learning and play for both me and my precious kiddies. My goal in my role as a parent is to be mindful, intentional and actively involved, and hopefully this will help me to achieve that.

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