Cloud Dough!!

Of course I found the recipe for this very simple play medium online. I saw it on Pinterest and had to make it. I get like that. You know, excited. Especially when something is this easy to make. This is called Cloud Dough and it is just:

8 cups of flour (I used whole wheat, it looked more like real sand)

And 1 cup Baby Oil

Seize the Moment(s)!

This one is pretty simple. No high-techiness to it whatsoever! My 4 year old asked me if we could make a car out of paper. And Voila! Here it is.

The only thing remarkable about it is the great talk we got to have about 3 dimensional objects. She now knows about height, length, and width. The point of this post is definitely not my great art work, but rather, if you can seize a moment like this, even a crappy paper car can be a learning experience!

Crayola Window Crayons

Draw on the Glass!

OK, so this one isn't so much a project, but I had to write about it, because my daughter LOVES these
Crayola Window Crayons! She draws on the mirrors and the windows. And they are super easy to clean. Just use a little window cleaner and they melt away. She spent over an hour expanding on this princess costume we made for her on the mirror. Really great for the imagination. I think I like to use them just as much as she does.

Paper Boats And What Else Floats?

Our Random Boating Experiment


We were reading one of my daughter's short storybooks and at the end of the book there were instructions on how to make a paper boat. So, of course, we just had to try it out! We made the paper boat and filled her sensory bin with water + some blue food coloring to make it look like the ocean (per Caitlyns request). This was awesome by itself and it kept her enthralled for about 10 minutes, but it turned into so much more than a paper boat on water!

Lava Lamps

I think I saw this one on Pinterest and just had to try it with my girls. We also had a friend over too, which explains the other older child.

This is our homemade lava lamp experiment. This is basically just water, oil, food coloring, and Alka-Seltzer. There are several learning moments to be explored with this one. First there is the concept of density. Water and oil do not mix. Secondly, you can use the food coloring to mix colors. And then there is the reaction between the Alka-Seltzer and water that makes the bubbles. We loved doing this and still have them sitting around to use again!

                           Here Caitlyn is adding red to the blue because she wanted purple. This one is made with baby oil.

Ice Painting

What you need:

Ice tray

Water

Food coloring

I can't even remember where I saw this one. But I really like the idea of painting with ice. It turned out to be a perfect time to learn about mixing colors and making new ones. Here she is making purple.

Window Clings

Window cling project

Light Box

Our Routine

I got this idea off of a group on Facebook that I am a part of. I don't like the idea of a strict schedule for kids. If they get on a strict schedule there is no room for exploring and spontaneity. Not to mention the inability to adapt when the schedule changes for some reason. However, I do think it's a good thing if they know in general what they can expect to come next. Caitlyn has thrived on this interactive board. She can move the pieces herself and has started doing the items without me having to ask her to. Also, we use the free time slots (sunshine) for playing! Lots of playtime in our day :)

Water Beads



Water beads after about 10 mins in water

After reading about water beads on the blog Play At Home Mom, I had to get some for Caity! These things are awsome and also the idea for the light box came from that blog as well. They really are a great resource!

Colorful Butterfly

We made this filled butterfly with colored sugar instead of sand. It's nice to be able to use whatever you have on hand. I didn't get any shots of my oldest mixing out the colors or filling this up. I wish I would have thought of the camera sooner. Super easy to do. We just happened to have this plastic butterfly left over from another project.