Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Summer Craft #4 and #5

A few days ago Jonah showed me this caterpillar craft from his Ranger Rick magazine. I purchased a bag of pom poms and googly eyes from the craft store and gave Jonah and Isaac a needle and thread. They did a surprisingly good job stringing their little caterpillars together. Best of all, they spent quite a bit of time and had a lot of fun making these cute critters.

We added magnets to the bottom so they stick to the fridge.

For about an hour today, Isaac was the only kid at home. He was supremely bored because it's a "no screen" day so there is no TV, video games or computer. (Well, I can use the computer because I'm the mom!)

Isaac wanted to play with Play Doh, but our Play Doh supply had been reduced to hard, colorful, useless bits.

I remembered this recipe for play clay that I used to make all the time for Ethan. It's quick and easy and best of all, Isaac was able to help. Within 5 minutes Isaac was playing with a big lump of warm clay.

If you are interested, here is the recipe:

Play Clay

1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup salt
2 TB cream of tartar
1 TB vegetable oil
food coloring if desired

Mix all the ingredients together in a sauce pan over medium heat. Continue stirring until the mixture comes together in a ball. Turn the ball of clay out onto the counter and knead a bit to combine any remaining lumps. Let cool. Store in an air tight container.

Keep and use for a couple of weeks.

Isaac only played with his clay for a few minutes, but he actually sang a "clean up" song and picked up all the clay when he was done.

2 comments:

megan said...

Great play clay recipe. It is just what we needed today.

Melissa said...

I'm so happy you posted this recipe because I have been wanting to do this with my kids! I hate the smell of "real" playdough and this is something Jacob actually can (and inevitably will) eat! By the way, if you want the All You coupons, I'm happy to send you some :) I just don't have your address! I can't believe you don't have a Walmart...I didn't even know that was possible in this day and age....I thought Walmart was kind of like Texas and Dairy Queens (my husband still can't get over the fact that even the tiniest towns in Texas seem to have a Dairy Queen).