Play Dough...the good stuff!

As you may have read on a previous post DH and I are trying to be better at budgeting and saving money so we don't go broke before he graduates from school in 3 years. Well, part of that saving money plan involves me not going out and shopping so much with DS. The problem with this is we both get incredibly grouchy when we are stuck in the house all day.

Why are we stuck in the house all day you ask? Well there's this little thing called "fall" which I have been looking forward to for months. It is now October and guess what? Its not here yet. Its still in the upper 90s daily. Which means its still too hot for me to take DS to the park or let him run around outside. Its just too hot and he gets overheated very easily.

Which brings me back to my main point. We were stuck inside the house with no errands to run and DS and I were getting grouchier by the minute. What to do...what to do....Ah hah!! A blast from my past. Homemade Play Dough! I used to love the stuff when I was little. It feels and smells so much better than the store bought stuff too. So I whipped up a batch and within minutes we were squishing, rolling, pounding, and pulling a great big mound of beautiful wonderful play dough. It kept DS entertained all the way up until naptime. He did try to eat it a few times (which is fine because its perfectly safe, just probably not good in large amounts) and soon decided that wasn't such a good idea because playing with it was so much better.

Anyways, this recipe for homemade play dough saved us both that day. Maybe one day it will save you too. Don't doubt the dough.

Homemade Play Dough

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup salt
1-2 pkg. kool aid mix in whatever your preferred color is (the powder stuff)
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 cups boiling water

Bring a pot of 2 cups of water and vegetable oil to a boil. While you are waiting for the water, in a large bowl combine the flour, salt, and kool aid mix (how many packages you use depends on how intense you want the color to be). When the water is boiling add it to the dry ingredients and mix. Allow the mixture to cool a bit and then get in there with your hands to really incorporate the color. Once cooled you're ready to play!

If you store this dough in an air tight container it should last about 3 weeks. Enjoy!!

Toddler Learning

I am currently working on trying to find good ideas for teaching DS (Dear Son) the basics. He's 16 months old and I know once toddlers hit about 18 months their language is supposed to begin to blossom. I want DS to have a good head start in life since he will be one of the youngest kids on his class when he starts school. Also, when volunteering to help in the junior nursery (18 months-2 years) at church there were several kids in there who were great with their alphabet and their colors. I was shocked! I am a first time mom and I definitely don't want DS to get behind. So I've been researching various blogs and internet topics and trying to come up with some ideas for my son.

Now, like most toddlers, he has an attention span of approximately 60 seconds. So my goal is to chose one letter a week that corresponds with one color a week and a special word that goes with the letter of the week. Throughout the week I plan to point out words that start with that letter and things that correspond with the color of the week.

So to start out easy I'm going with the letter A. Here is the plan:

A is for Apple

 

Letter of the week: A

Find the letter A in his picture books

Print out Letter A printable and post on fridge for the week. Help DS to identify it       

 

Color of the Week: Red

Ideas: Make homemade red playdough

Identify the color red on toys and picture books

Try coloring an apple picture with red crayon

 

Number of the Week: 1

Count items around the house we only have 1 of

Show him one on his fingers

Look at the number 1 in his picture books

 

Word of the Week: Apple

Show him apples when we are out shopping and at home

Give him apples for snacks

Identify pictures of apples in picture books

 

Obviously when he gets a little bit older and has a longer attention span and better motor skills we will incorporate coloring sheets, matching activities, etc. I really like the printable "mommy school" packets put together by Alison on her Oopsey Daisy blog.

 

Right now I think that is too advanced for him, so we're just going to focus on incorporating the leter A "plan" into our daily conversations and activities.