crafts

9.3.10
homemade play dough

Riley is off to school for a full day of first grade (sniffle..sniffle) leaving her two biggest fans behind. There they stand every morning, at the end of our street, waving frantically as the bus pulls away.  Yet another day without their team leader, facilitating the day's events.  What to do?  Plan a Pinkalicious Day!   That's what!

As part of our Pinkalicious Day, we ate pink rice crispy treats from our fabulous friend Kristen. Her two girls also participated in our Pinkalcious fun and she was kind enough to send over some yummy Pinkalicious themed snacks! We also ate pink fruit kabobs consisting of pink grape fruit, strawberries and watermelon.  Of course we read Pinkalicious (the picture book) and then colored some Pinkalicious printables AND made some pink play dough.  The girls are still talking about it!  

The play dough took all of 10 minutes to make and left us with only one pot to wash.  Here is the recipe!!!  Happy Pinkalicious Day to all!

home made play dough (cooked)

3 cups water
1.5 cups salt
3 cups flour
6 t cream of tarter
3 T  oil (I used canola)
food coloring (a few drops of any color)

1. In a pot, over low heat, dissolve salt in the water.
2. Pour remaining ingredients into the pot.  (add food coloring as it thickens) 
3. Stir constantly over medium heat until a ball forms by pulling away from the sides.  
4. Knead the dough mixture until the texture matches playdough (1-2 minutes).

Store in plastic container.  Should last for at least 3 months.

5.12.10

narragansett bay wall mural: day 2

I love when I have one idea in my head and the kids ideas take over and our project evolves into something totally different.  That seems to be what happened yesterday.  Of course I was ready to teach my kids about the bay but know very little myself!  We all sat down and learned from our best friend:  google.  Great springboard for their new ideas!

Save the Bay had some great info on sea life found in the bay and we found a few youtube videos discussing the sea star problems at some North Kingstown beaches.  The girls had the great idea to print out the pictures of the sea life we were finding and post it next to their mural.  Then, we will add bits of info/facts underneath the pictures in the days to come.

Hermit Crab!!!

We cut up a paper plate and some card stock to make these.  Just colored and glued the pieces together!

Quahog!!!

We found a cute craft that showed how clams move, eat, etc.  The triangle is their "foot" that digs, the straw is their siphon that is used to suck food into their stomach (yellow circle). 

Done...for now!  The eelgrass was made from green construction paper ripped in strips.  The sea stars are handprints and fingerprints.  Hermit crabs and quahogs were glued on too!

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5.11.10

narragansett bay wall mural:  day 1

It was almost a year ago when we started this seasonal project.  I found a roll of paper, taped it on the wall and a few hours later had a homemade pumpkin patch "growing" in our kitchen.  It literally did "grow" over the course of that season.  The girls spent hours adding scarecrows, drawing apple trees, and gluing on colorful leaves from outside.  This art project occupies hours of their busy toddler minds.  And so our seasonal tradition began!

Yesterday we started our Narragansett Bay wall mural.  Living down the street from the bay, we take frequent walking trips to play on the beach.  I decided to use this wall mural to teach them a little bit about the habitats and ecosystems that exist in their own backyard.

The first day of the wall mural involves getting the paper taped up (which is an accomplishment in itself with 3 helpers 5 and under) and painting the background color.  The girls mixed all different shades of blue and green and made a ginormous mess.  Washable paint is your friend.

This morning we are finishing hermit crabs and making eel grass.  Pics to come!