Valentine Playdough

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I love Valentine's Day.  Not because of the candy (but I do love candy!), but because of all the fun things you can do with kids.  There are no shortage of props you can purchase for inexpensive that can enhance any activity.  The dollar store is full of fun items to craft with, add to playdough, or use to create a fun sensory bin.  Valentine activities can be used all month long and is a wonderful way to teach kids about the heart shape and the colors red, pink, and purple (and how you mix those colors).  

Playdough is quite popular in our house.  My youngest (of 3) benefits from 13 year of collecting supplies, cookie cutters, and various tools which she can enjoy with her playdough.  I always have some on hand or am ready to make it, trying different recipes along the way.  

This beautiful, rose colored playdough is a no-cook recipe from The Imagination Tree.  I added some red food coloring (less for pink, more for red), glitter, and rose oil for a complete sensory experience.

As an invitation to play, I put out the playdough, some red faux diamonds, silk roses, foam heart picks, and heart DecoPics (cupcake decoration) . Most of this stuff I purchased at the dollar store.  There were no instructions, no "you must create this..."; just a table full of tools to explore.

When you provide an open play experience, you never know what your child will create.  It's all up to them.

Materials:

1. Your favorite Playdough
2. Various Valentine type/inspired items such as flowers, gems, cupcake decorations, floral decorations, etc  

Don't forget to leave a comment about your experience.  And feel free to share your pictures on my Facebook page!

Play Dough Rainbow Match

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Up until about 7 years ago, I had no idea rainbows had an order.  I don't remember that lesson in elementary school so I drew them, all willy nilly, including colors like pink or heaven forbid, turquoise.  I came from a family of artists so I knew about color combinations but for some reason, I never applied it to rainbows.

So now I know, my kids know (well, my 5 year old is learning, the order that is), and we have happy, normal rainbows. And we can create them in many different ways.  One easy way involves only play dough, a sheet of paper with a simple rainbow drawn on it, and a sheet protector (see picture below). That's it!  Of course you need play dough in the colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple (or violet for you artist types) but that's easy enough to make or even buy if you so choose.

Play dough is a fantastic tool for strengthening fine motor muscles in the hands.  While your child is pushing, pulling, rolling, squishing, and forming the dough, they are developing the muscles needed for writing and hand coordination.

The sheet protector allows for easy clean-up as well as the reuse of your rainbow.  The kids will need to roll "snakes" from the different colors of dough.  Then they can match each colored snake to the corresponding colored arch on the rainbow.  Don't forget to talk about color combinations as they form their rainbow.

A bonus exploration to this project is discovering lengths.  As the kids form snakes, have them show you the short snakes and the long snakes.  You can also challenge them to see how long they can make a snake without it breaking.  For pre-k aged children, get out a ruler or unit blocks and measure each colored snake.  There are many ways to build on this project.

Don't be afraid to let your little one explore with other tools.  My son sticks all sorts of things in play dough: pencils, toys, marbles, spiky balls, acorns, pipe cleaners, etc.  He hides things in them too.  I have to go through all the play dough before I toss it because he leaves all sorts of treasures hiding amongst the dough.

Want to make your own play dough?  Here is my quick, go-to recipe from The Imagination Tree:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup salt
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1.5 cups boiling water
• 2 tablespoons cream of tarter (optional but it does make for smoother dough)
• Coloring (gel colors or liquid water colors are most vibrant but regular food coloring works as well)
• Scents and Glitter are fun and optional

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Knead dough until it's no longer sticky. It will be very hot so be cautious. If the dough is sticky add a little flour as you knead until it reaches desired play dough texture.  

What kind of rainbows have you been creating lately?

Mommy & Me Book Club: Valentine's Day

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Last year I started a Mommy & Me Book Club for the moms in my Meetup group.  Shortly after, I found out I was pregnant and was extremely tired (for months and months and months and....).  So while I continued to host for a few months, I never shared the activities we enjoyed.  Lucky for me, one of them was a Valentine's Day themed play date and what do you know...it's almost Valentine's Day!

Reading List: 

Activities:

I made some terrific no cook play dough (Thank you The Imagination Tree!), colored it pink, and added glitter and Rose Oil .  It was smellerific!  I provided the kids with diamond beads, red stones, heart cupcake decorations, silk roses, and these pink hearts on a stick.  All of which I purchased at the dollar store, except the cupcake decorations which my grandmother gave me.

For art, I folded a TP roll in half, which creates a heart shape and gave the kids red paint.  The TP roll is long enough that this project can be fairly mess less.  Unless you have boys...or little ones that like sticking their fingers into the paint...or boys....did I mention boys?  We were lucky on this day though, the boys were occupied with wrestling.

Snack:

  For snack I made Glitter Grapes.  Aren't they pretty?  And no added sugar!  Warning: this snack is as addictive as it is beautiful.    

Would you like to start a Mommy & Me Book Club with your friends?  Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

Mommy and Me Book Club: Ocean Theme

It's been a long while since I've posted something other then It's Playtime.  It's not that we haven't done anything, but between preschool, being pregnant, and the other things that life tends to throw at me, I've  been a bit absent.  So I'm going to try and go back to some of our favorite activities over the past couple of months and blog about them.  Then, hopefully, I can start working on some newer ideas.

Last month (June) we had our monthly Mommy & Me Book Club at the house.  It seems to be a popular activity with my regular moms which pleases me.  The theme in June was The Ocean.  Here are the activities I made available.

  I made some Sand Playdough inspired by Timeless Adventures.  I provided some shells and floral stones (both purchased at the dollar store) along with some ocean characters.  The kids enjoyed creating different scenes and and experiencing the variety of textures.

We also created Octopuses from T.P. tubes like those found at Mommy with Selective Memory.  All you do is cut 8 strips, leaving room at the top for the "head".  I'm running low on paint, plus I have a lot of little guys, so we used markers to decorate the tubes.  Then the kids glued on google eyes.

For snack I used the recipe for Cinnamon Snowflakes I found on Come Together Kids but made a slight variation.  I used a fish cookie cutter create little tortilla fish.  Then I followed the directions on the original recipe, creating crispy, yummy, cinnamon fish.  These went fast!  


And what's a book club without books?!  We all came together and read:
  

Would you like to start a Mommy & Me Book Club with your friends?  Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

It's Playtime: Oceans of Fun

It's summer time in California which means swimming, the beach (although we often go to the beach in February), and lot's of water play.  In honor of that, this week on It's Playtime, I'm focusing on the ocean and the fun you can have even if you don't have the deep blue nearby.

Check out this fantastic and simple recipe for Sand Playdough from Timeless Adventures.  Great for a day at the beach without the sand in your pants!

Make your own stamps for this Sea Life Stamped Art from Make and Takes and B-inspired Mama.  

Although this was a Father's Day Fish, what kid wouldn't enjoy a cute fish shaped sandwich complete with fruit sun and baby fishies?  Shared by JDaniel4's Mom.  

You don't need to take a trip to the ocean to swim with fishes.  Be like Familylicious and create your own Ocean Swimming Pool in the back yard!

If you were featured this week, don't forget to grab your special "featured button."

<a href="http://messypreschoolers.blogspot.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeEYKQj4S7oHoLKfsA3PoeXgaNMJ5dxkdUxIphbmwXOlbFg78Gwl73-rT8AdMTgmqYmIJZrkJRYOqOEItkCbR_exui4YhZqLlwZaBHXhC5slGyqPScnxvq-zrQezw9-MdIUiecgW3fxKg/s1600/featured-messykids.jpg" width="150/" /></a>

These activities plus more can be found over on the It's Playtime Pinterest Board.  Happy Pinning! 

Now, on to this weeks play date! 

It's Playtime is a community and Thursday link-up hosted by:

* Rachele : Messy Kids (That's me!)
* Anna : The Imagination Tree
* Rachel : Quirky Momma
* Jamie : hands on : as we grow
* Jenny : Let the Children Play

How to Play :

* Link up a post about a playful learning experience enjoyed by kids.

* Give us love and pop a button into your post/blog. Invite your readers to the weekly play date!

<a href="http://messypreschoolers.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VWLA7lm_Fqc/TaNHGpGSuVI/AAAAAAAAEX0/DGSvqIT7fyU/s320/RED-itplaytime.jpg" width="150" /></a>

* Stop by one of our blogs every Thursday and add your link about play. Your link will show up on each of the blogs in the It's Playtime community.

* Each week the playtime hosts will choose favorite posts to feature. (By linking you are giving us permission to use an image and link to you, if featured.)

* Be sure to visit some of the links that catch your eye. Commenting on posts that you find interesting or inspiring is a wonderful way to develop your own playful community.

It's Playtime: Nesting

Nesting isn't just for the birds!  Over at It's Playtime some of our friends have shared wonderful, hands-on ideas for creating nests sure to spark learning and imagination.      

Create a Playdough and Stick Bird Nest like the one at Crayon Freckles.    

Happy Little Messes built a Blue Jay Nest outdoors.  Take your kids outside to create a nest or den in the dirt.  

Get you're kids involved in creating Bird Nesting Kits, like the ones created at Famiglia & Seoul.  The birds will thank you!    

If you were featured this week, don't forget to grab your special "featured button."

<a href="http://messypreschoolers.blogspot.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeEYKQj4S7oHoLKfsA3PoeXgaNMJ5dxkdUxIphbmwXOlbFg78Gwl73-rT8AdMTgmqYmIJZrkJRYOqOEItkCbR_exui4YhZqLlwZaBHXhC5slGyqPScnxvq-zrQezw9-MdIUiecgW3fxKg/s1600/featured-messykids.jpg" width="150/" /></a>

These activities plus more can be found over on the It's Playtime Pinterest Board.  Happy Pinning! 

Now, on to this weeks play date! 

It's Playtime is a community and Thursday link-up hosted by:

* Rachele : Messy Kids (That's me!)
* Anna : The Imagination Tree
* Rachel : Quirky Momma
* Jamie : hands on : as we grow
* Jenny : Let the Children Play

How to Play :

* Link up a post about a playful learning experience enjoyed by kids.

* Give us love and pop a button into your post/blog. Invite your readers to the weekly play date!

<a href="http://messypreschoolers.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VWLA7lm_Fqc/TaNHGpGSuVI/AAAAAAAAEX0/DGSvqIT7fyU/s320/RED-itplaytime.jpg" width="150" /></a>

* Stop by one of our blogs every Thursday and add your link about play. Your link will show up on each of the blogs in the It's Playtime community.

* Each week the playtime hosts will choose favorite posts to feature. (By linking you are giving us permission to use an image and link to you, if featured.)

* Be sure to visit some of the links that catch your eye. Commenting on posts that you find interesting or inspiring is a wonderful way to develop your own playful community.

It's Playtime: Chocolate Lovers

Happy New Year Messy Kids and It's Playtime readers!  We all had a wonderful Christmas brake but now we're back and ready to rock.  We appreciate all our readers and participants and can't wait to see what the New Year brings.

This week on It's Playtime I'm celebrating....CHOCOLATE!

Stuck inside on a rainy day?  Open a Play Dough Chocolate Shop and see how creative your little baker can be.  What's Fun Today? shares the recipe for chocolate scented dough and other ideas for bakery play fun.

Teach Preschool dedicated an entire day to Hot Cocoa Play!  Check her post for art, sensory, and play ideas celebrating this delightful winter treat.

Why buy Cake Pops when you can make your own?  Rockabye Butterfly shows you how.  I bet your kids will love mushing the cake!  

If you were featured this week, don't forget to grab your special "featured button."

  

<a href="http://messypreschoolers.blogspot.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeEYKQj4S7oHoLKfsA3PoeXgaNMJ5dxkdUxIphbmwXOlbFg78Gwl73-rT8AdMTgmqYmIJZrkJRYOqOEItkCbR_exui4YhZqLlwZaBHXhC5slGyqPScnxvq-zrQezw9-MdIUiecgW3fxKg/s1600/featured-messykids.jpg" width="150/" /></a>

Now, on to this weeks play date! 

It's Playtime is a community and Thursday link-up hosted by:

* Rachele : Messy Kids (That's me!)
* Anna : The Imagination Tree
* Rachel : Quirky Momma
* Jamie : hands on : as we grow
* Jenny : Let the Children Play

How to Play :

* Link up a post about a playful learning experience enjoyed by kids.

* Give us love and pop a button into your post/blog. Invite your readers to the weekly play date!

<a href="http://messypreschoolers.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VWLA7lm_Fqc/TaNHGpGSuVI/AAAAAAAAEX0/DGSvqIT7fyU/s320/RED-itplaytime.jpg" width="150" /></a>

* Stop by one of our blogs every Thursday and add your link about play. Your link will show up on each of the blogs in the It's Playtime community.

* Each week the playtime hosts will choose favorite posts to feature. (By linking you are giving us permission to use an image and link to you, if featured.)

* Be sure to visit some of the links that catch your eye. Commenting on posts that you find interesting or inspiring is a wonderful way to develop your own playful community.