Playdough Recipe

A couple of years ago I did a playdough recipe post, but thanks to my friend Sophie (a kindergarten teacher) I now use this very easy recipe that doesn't require any cooking. This playdough has a great consistency (not too oily or sticky) and it lasts for ages when kept in a snaplock container in the pantry. This is a huge amount, so we usually split it into two bowls and make two different colours.

4 cups plain flour
2 cups cooking salt
4 tablespoons cooking oil
1 packet of cream or tartar
4 cups freshly boiled water
food colour

Place all dry ingredients in a bowl
Add food colouring (if desired)
Pour in boiled water and stir with a wooden spoon. Add oil and mix again.
Once cool enough to handle, knead together on a board.
Store in an airtight container.

10 Great Blogs for Parents with Under-Fives

I recently wrote a piece for my masters on mummy blogging and in the process I discovered some great blogs with fantastic ideas for under-fives. Blogs are usually something you come across in a search for something in particular, or are recommended by friends, so I thought my readers might find this list useful.


1. Irresistable Ideas for Play-Based Learning
Early childhood educators, Donna Burns and Sherry Hutton, provide consistently good ideas for pre-school children. My favourite posts include Colourful Bubbles and I-Spy Jars



2. The Artful Parent
A U.S site that has some great art activity ideas for young kids. I love the Rainbow Stained Glass Window



3. Childhood 101
Early-child educator, Christie Burnett, provides loads of great information and ideas for parents of young children. She has some useful tips on creating great playspaces for kids at home



4. Squigglemum
Catherine Oehlman, aka squigglemum, is another teacher/mum with some great ideas for entertaining kids. I like her Backyard Treasure Hunt.



5. Planning With Kids
Mother of five, Nicole Avery, is one super-organised woman. She has some great ideas for making motherhood more manageable. I particularly like her party planning ideas.




6. Bronnie Bakes
A friend of mine, Bron, has a great blog on baking sweet treats with kids. As a mother of three girls under five, her patience in the kitchen is to be admired and her animal cupcakes are so cute



7. Dad's Club
Father of two, Dave Woolbank, created Dads Club to provide dads with fast, useful information in a language they could understand. I particularly like the quick craft ideas.



8. Kids Travel Blog
Friends Donna and Andrea regularly have me craving a holiday with their blog on travelling with kids. Check out their reviews for Victoria.



9. My Book Corner
This is a great kids book review blog with age appropriate suggestions. Also, it links to Book Depository which offers competitive prices and free delivery worldwide. Our latest purchase is Imagine by Alison Lester.



10. Picklebums
Kate has four kids, lives on a pickle farm and regularly blogs about her life. She makes me laugh with posts like Thousands of Bicuits and Playing with Sticks.


A couple of tips;
- If you enjoy a particular blog, look at the links they follow or suggest. This is a great way of discovering new blogs that you might find interesting.
- Don't be concerned about signing up for a google account in order to follow certain blogs. In the three years I have had my account, I haven't recieved any additional junk mail to my email address. Same applies for newsletter & RSS feeds
- If you're interested in a particular blog, follow it or like it on facebook. This is the only way to keep the blog going.
- If you areinterested in starting your own blog, just do it on Blogspot or Wordpress (it takes 5 minutes),or consult Nicole Avery on Blog Coaching Boost

Some other special mentions for Melbournites are;
- Little Eats (Eating Out with Kids)
- Curious Kate (What's On in Melbourne)
- Lady Melbourne (Fashion)
- Melbourne Gastronome (Food)
- The Design Files (Design)
- Only Melbourne (blogging directory)

SLIME recipe

This is a fun activity to do just before a bath. Lay out a disposable tablecloth and let them squish it all over the table, or alternatively keep it in a bowl. The sensation of the slime oozing through their fingers is bound to make them laugh. Then jump straight in the bath and use the slime as soap.


RECIPE
1 cup of LUX Flakes
2 cups of boiling water
A few drops of food colouring

Mix it all together and put in the fridge overnight.

Keeping Young Kids Active

It's raining, it's cold, and all my kids want to do is get out and run about.

Liz Wells at Fit For Life has some great ideas for keeping kids active, even during winter. Here are some of her suggestions (slightly modified for indoor play);

1. Obstacle Course
Divide the living room into four areas - use furniture, toys, whatever. Put a picture of an animal or fruit in each area so they know where they are up to, and an activity for them to complete (see ideas below). Start each child on a different activity and play their favourite music. Explain that when the music stops, they need to stop and move onto the next activity. Its a good idea to give them a chart to mark off or put a sticker next to each activity.

Some ideas that you could use in the individual areas are:
- Balloons on a string that can be tied to their wrist, they can practice skills such as bouncing and catching, kicking and throwing skills.
- A hula hoop is another great tool as it helps them practice skipping, jumping and of course having fun trying to hula.
- Small softballs and a bucket: get them to stand in a hula hoop and throw the ball into the bucket which is placed a short distance away, this allows them to practice throwing and accuracy.
- Lay a rope along the ground and get them to walk along it in order to practice their balance.
- Star jumps or jumping from one pillow to the next.
- Limbo Stick
- Mimicking a favourite animal

2. Balloon activities
Blow up a few balloons for each child and encourage them to throw them in the air, catch and kick them. Depending on the age of the child balloons can be used to throw, catch, kick or hit with a fly swatter. If you have a waste paper basket of ample size they can also try to throw the balloon into the basket to mimic a mini game of basketball. A great alternative to a balloon is a rolled up newspaper to be used as a mini-basketball.

For older or more experienced children tie a rope across 2 points to create a mini net for them to throw or hit over. Play hot potato with the balloons where the child has to try to keep the balloon off the ground for as long as possible.

As balloons move through space much slower than balls it’s a great cognitive learning experience too, as they learn to judge the time it takes for the balloon to fall. Try a range of soft balls of different sizes so that children can learn about size and shape at the same time. For example when they kick a balloon versus a ball they will soon learn the different force that’s required for each in order to achieve a similar distance.

3.Treasure hunt
Be creative with this one! You can use anything you want as treasure and how difficult you make it will depend on the age of the child. It’s also fun to provide each child with a bucket to keep the treasures as they find them!

For more great ideas and articles, visit the Fit For Life website. I particularly like their article on swimming lessons without the hassles.

Shopping List Game

Our new nightly routine is to play a game with our three year old before putting her to bed. This way she gets an extra half an hour after her brother goes to bed and some quality time with us. It seems to be working quite well and the Shopping List memory game is her absolute favourite. Every player gets a trolley and a shopping list, then you take turns in turning over the pieces to find the items you need. If somebody else turns over an item that you need, you must remember where it is when it comes to your turn. The first person to fill their trolley wins.

A range of the Orchard Toys board games are available at Windmill Toys

GALT Floor Puzzles

We recently bought this floor puzzle for our three year old daughter and she absolutely loves it. She does it every night before bed. It's not super easy and they are not the traditional square shaped pieces so she has to think about it, but she is so proud when she completes it on her own. We also have the smaller farm version.

We bought ours from our local toy shop but I haven't seen them anywhere else. May be worth asking at your local shop though as GALT is a pretty popular brand. I also found them online at Always on Sale

Playdough Recipe

Could be the pregnancy but I'm feeling a little Suzie Homemaker today so thought I'd make the kids some playdough. I am so sick of buying commercial dough that dries out really quickly so I thought I'd try this recipe from Frills in the Hills

I highly recommend this recipe. It is easy and fairly clean to make, plus with a little less food colouring than the original recipe it makes a bright pink colour that my daughter loves.

Ingredients:
2 cups white flour
1/2 cup salt
4 tablespoons cream of tartar
2 cups water
2.5 teaspoons vegetable food colouring (we used rose)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Method
In a saucepan:
1. Mix flour, salt, and cream of tartar.
2. Add water, food colouring and oil.
3. Cook and stir over medium heat for 3 to 5 min.
4. When it forms a ball in the center of the saucepan, turn out and knead onto a lightly floured surface - careful as it's pretty hot.
6. Store in plastic container or ziplock bag.

Easter Activities

Make some Bunny Ears

Do an Easter Egg Pasting

Easter themed Colouring In

Make a Bunny Mask

Decorate Easter Eggs

Make an Easter Sign by painting the mdf shape with chalkboard paint and using twine or rope to hang

Other Activity Ideas