Saturday 25 October 2014

Fun Things to do With Toddlers - Autumn Scented Play Dough

Playdough is always fun, adding colour livens it up and adding a scent adds a further sensory element. I decided to create an Autumn themed playdough invitation to play by adding some spices to the playdough and teaming them with some leaf shaped cutters and some pine cones, feathers, twigs and conkers to press into the dough.


I fragranced the dough with ground cinnamon, all spice, ginger and coco powder.  I just kneaded the spices into the dough. It smelt amazing (especially the chocolate)


I didn't need to add any colour to the chocolate scented one because the brown of the coco also added colour.


I bought some leaf shaped cutters from Amazon, I am hoping to get lots of use out of them by using them to make biscuits and with clay.



Fathers from Hobbycraft 9I bought these years ago when I was at uni, not sure how ethical they are or if I would buy them now)


Pine cones gathered from one of our many walks.


Boris stuck twigs into the playdough to begin with, he needed quite a bit of encouragement initially, I am not sure he knew what to do, maybe he was a little overwhelmed by all the different bits and didn't know where to begin. 





 To start with he used to cutters with the playdough balls, but I demonstrated rolling out the dough and using the cutters that way and he imitated me.









 I stuck some of the cut out shapes to the balls of remaining clay which Boris seemed to enjoy, he also stuck some of the cutout shapes on.  He then had a good time mashing it all up into a big doughy mess.

This is the playdough recipe I used:
  • 2 cups plain flour (all purpose)
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup salt
  • 2 tablespoons cream of tartar
  • Up to 1.5 cups boiling water (adding in increments until it feels just right)
  • Poster paint for colour.
  • Several teaspoons of spices till desired amount of fragrance is achieved, some scents require more spice than others.
I am hoping to do a few more Autumn themes activities as the season goes on.  Are you doing any seasonal activities?  Add a link in the comments. 




Saturday 31 May 2014

On Turning 31

Today I turned 31.
31 on the 31st May; that feels meaningful.
Turning 31 feels different to turning 30, better; 30 hangs in the air like a partially deflated balloon from a party that you should have already left. 31 on the other hand has a sense of purpose to it.  I am now IN my 30's as opposed to clinging hopelessly to my late 20s. The party is most definitely over and it's time to clean up, it's time to get serious.  Oh, that sounds very dull, I don't mean it to.  It's not going to be dull, it's going to be awesome, but it is going to be more purposeful.
Read the rest of this post here

Saturday 1 February 2014

Blogging at Imperfectly Natural Mama

Hi guys, I am still blogging but nowerdays it's over at Imperfectly Natural Mama. Today I am sharing a post about my plans for some fun activities to do with my toddler in February.