Homemade Play Dough

I have twin boys that just turned 4 and a daughter that is 9. I sometimes have a little difficulty getting the boys to patiently wait for their "schooling" while I work with my daughter. I am so blessed that the boys love "school". We don't do any official curriculum, but we have certain things we work on regularly: saying their abc's, counting orally and with objects, spelling their names orally (and now starting to write it), reading books, coloring, etc. The problem is sometimes they are done with a independent activity before I can finish with my daughter.
I love the idea of them having an activity box, and often times they will get out their blocks and play with them. But I recently found something they love even more - play dough!

I had seen recipes for homemade playdough on the internet and decided to try it. I wasn't sure how it would go, but it was worth a try. I made a batch last night with things from my kitchen (plus I purchased some Alum out of the spice section of the grocery store). There are lots of recipes on the internet - you can just google "homemade play dough" like I did. Most of them called for large amounts of flour (like 4 cups) but I wanted to try smaller version first. So, here's the recipe I found online and used:

Alum Playdough

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

2 tablespoons of Alum

1 cup water

2 tablespoons oil

liquid food coloring

Pour dry ingredients into large pan. Stir together to mix. Stir oil and food coloring into the water. Pour liquid into the dry ingredients while mixing, squeezing and kneading the playdough. If too sticky, add more flour. Keeps best in the fridge.

I found that we did need like an extra tablespoon of flour.. and there was enough for each of my 3 kids to have plenty to play with. You could add a little extract to make different scents - but I didn't want to entice the boys to eat it. It is all natural since all the ingredients are edible and from the kitchen, but I don't believe it would taste very good. Perhaps that would be for an "older crowd". They sat and contently played with it for a couple hours last night (until bedtime).

The boys weren't sure what to do with it at first, and I decided next time I would give them some cookie cutters to use with it. I also noticed that as I put it away - the dough was a little dry. It will probably need some more water and a little oil when we get it out again. You could also do different colors to give some variety.

Until next time, much love and God bless.

Courtney Short-Prudhomme

Homeschooling Mom Extraordinaire

Inexpensive Resource: Beads

Beads: Small but Mighty!

Curriculum can get expensive, and some people cannot afford to buy fancy lessons with fancy pieces, but here's a simple item that can teach many things! Beads!

Of course, children who still have a tendency to put things in their mouths should not play with beads, but you know when your child is ready. (And, word to the wise, you might want to make sure your three-year-old doesn't shove them up his nose... not that we had that happen.... or, um.. anything.)

A bag of beads is pretty cheap, but have so many uses. First of all, the obvious. Beads are great for sorting colors. Give your child a handful of beads and ask him to sort it out. Don't tell him how to sort him out, though. See what creative way he comes up with.

Don't be too much of an adult that you don't take the time to join in the fun. I usually participate in most of my children's activities as well. While he's sorting his beads, you can be sorting a pile of your own. Maybe he'll pay attention and copy you, maybe not. After a while, ask him how he's sorting his beads, and then explain how you are sorting yours (by color). Ask him, "What is your favorite color bead?"

Beads can also be used to make letters and shapes. Take a piece of paper and draw the letter your child is learning on it (big enough, but not too big that you won't have enough beads to "trace it" with). Have your child trace her finger over the letter, and then place the beads along the lines of the letter.

Use the beads to form pictures, maybe yellow beads to shape a sun, blue beads to shape clouds, green beads for grass and so on. If you just let your child use her imagination (no directing and correcting every little thing) as she plays with the beads, she'll probably come up with some cool ideas.

Give your child a string (a shoelace or piece of yarn works) to thread the beads on. This takes quite a big of coordination! Some children will naturally make a pattern, some will not.

Beads are great to use for math as well. This gives them a visual as you add and subtract beads. There are so many different ways to use beads. The possibilities are endless! Try coming up with your own ideas (maybe even a game) using beads.... and let me know what they are!