Sensory Play |

Ice Cream Dough

July 28, 2015 By Callie Leave a Comment

Ice scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream dough!!!! Play dough!!! I just want to know why all these cool play dough recipes weren’t around when I was a kid??? Jelly!!!!

How cool is this-play dough that looks like ice cream? It was super easy to make too.Oh and it’s no bake….so I made it in five minutes.

Ingredients:

Conditioner-hair-the cheap kind

Corn Starch

Measure out 1 1/2 cup of corn starch. Dump into a medium mixing bowl. Add 3/4 cups of conditioner. Mix. The key is to not over mix until it’s smooth but just enough to mix the ingredients together. I also added a bit more conditioner-but just a tiny smidge.

You can add smells such as vanilla and chocolate, etc…with extracts, cocoa powder and jello. That being said we are still only 2 years old and I wasn’t about to have Row trying to eat it. I do however wished I had used some unscented conditioner because ours smells a bit like flowers. Hahahaha

The ice cream dough is so easy to make! There is also a cold version which I’m looking forward to making as well.

Row had fun…and yes she tried to eat it when I showed her it could go in a cone. Parenting fail….

Happy Mixing!

Baby Doll Water Table Play

July 14, 2015 By Callie Leave a Comment

My girl is obsessed with water! She would be in a pool/sprinkler/water table all day. Yes I did say IN the water table. The teacher in me yearns to make cool “centers” to swap out to make her play more meaningful.

I jumped on Pinterest and found some super cute ideas for water play. I particularly liked the ones with dolls because that’s what Row seems to be into right now. Dressing, undressing, making me redress, diapering, making me rediaper. You get the picture. How many others are there out there???

I hopped on over to the store and picked up some baby doll bath time essentials. I’ve included affiliate links in case you want to easily snag your own supplies.

Here’s what we got:

Baby doll-this one had a training diaper that could go into the water table without being removed

I set everything up and let her have at it. You could also add soap for fun! She had a blast. I was also able to integrate vocabulary and background knowledge by labeling the items as she used them and narrating what she was doing. For example, use your toothbrush to brush the baby’s teeth. You can also talk about positional words while playing. Pour the water ON the baby. Brush the baby’s teeth IN her mouth.

We had a blast and it was something new and different. I also love that everything is small enough that I could easily store in a small tub and bring out occasionally.

What fun things do you do in your water table? I’m thinking about mud or jello next!!!!!

What’s Row wearing? Matilda Jane Divinity Tank

Saint Patrick’s Day Sensory Bag

March 10, 2015 By Callie Leave a Comment

When Irish eyes are smiling….we make sensory bags with gold glitter!

I love what a sensory bag does for littles-the discovery, the sensation, the fun!

I love what a sensory bag does for a Mama-ten to twenty minutes of entertainment, a chance to talk about senses and colors and oh so much more, the inexpensiveness of it and oh yes it takes like three minutes to make.

Supplies-

Gallon Ziploc bag-the real deal so it won’t break

duct tape if you don’t trust your little from ripping the top open-I’m eying you boy moms.

hair gel

green food coloring

glitter-gold

a small St. Paddy’s day trinket-we used gold coins.

All of this can be found at your local Dollar Store as mentioned in my previous post.

Add supplies one by one in the bag. I did not mix anything up because I wanted Row to do that once the bag was closed. I simply dumped everything in and sealed.

And let them go! I loved the look on her face as the clear gel turned completely green. We talked about colors, shapes, and the sense of touch. A great extension for older kiddos-btw they love this stuff too. List words that start with “G”, describe attributes of the sensory bag.

Easy, fun, and lasts!!!!!

Are you doing any fun activities for St. Patrick’s Day? I used to make rainbow layer cakes in college-that was always cool!