Crafting

You have probably already seen that “two ingredient play dough” recipe floating around. If you haven’t, don’t worry, I’m going to give it to you. If you have, I have some tips to make the experience fun and successful for you and your kiddos.

I found this recipe from Discover, Play, Learn.

Best Homemade Play Dough

1 1/2 cups cornstarch

1 cup conditioner

BEFORE YOU START:

Take off any jewelry and/or rings. You do not want to have to clean them out later.

Prepare to get messy.

I made my play dough with a 2 year old (and even let my 10 month old try), so I chose to do the mixing and the food coloring myself. I let Ellie pour the ingredients in the bowl and watch me closely as I kneaded.

NOW LET’S START:

Combine the ingredients in a bowl and knead to combine.

It will be super messy. The cornstarch fluffs up everywhere as you knead, so knead with caution. Like homemade frosting, I find that the recipe will need a little tweaking. The first time I made this I used a really nice conditioner (because I had it laying around), so the measurements were perfect. The second time I used Suave conditioner, which wasn’t as thick, so I had to add a bit more cornstarch.

You will know that your measurements are perfect when the play dough no longer sticks in clumps to your hands. I followed this recipe exactly and then shook bits of cornstarch in the bowl until it stopped being so sticky.

The more you knead the softer it gets.

GET IT PERFECT

I noticed after we started playing that the play dough was a little runny, so I added pinches of cornstarch and re-kneaded until it thickened.

You could do the …

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Well here are a few easy, last minute activities you can do with your kids.

Turkey hands. Trace your hands and draw a turkey!

   …

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Ellie loves leaves, so I decided to make Turkey leaves. It was very easy to do and there are lots of ways you can adapt the craft to fit the needs of your artists.

Supplies:   …

Next time someone you love (especially your child or grandchild) is having a birthday and you want them to feel extra special, you can make the birthday girl or birthday boy a personalized birthday shirt or onesie. We started a fun tradition for one of my granddaughters on her first birthday and we are going to continue the tradition this year, next week. Here is the ruffled onesie I made for her last year and she wore it with purple baby leggings.   …