Colored Sensory Rice and Noodles

I am sure you have seen it before; a classic sensory material. These colors did not stay separate for long. Will dug right in...but first he had to run a few cars through of course.

This was incredibly easy to make and so much fun!...well anything with color is SO MUCH FUN!...obviously. :) We then also tried it with noodles. I liked the way the color blended with the rice a little better. It had a much better consistency and Will enjoyed playing with the rice more too, but still fun.

Here is the recipe...

2 lbs. white rice (split evenly into separate bowls)
4 tsp. rubbing alcohol, one per bowl
food coloring

* I added the alcohol to each bowl of rice first and then added 6-8 drops of food coloring per bowl and stirred until combined. You can add more or less drops depending on how deep of a color you want. Then I spread the rice out on wax paper on the kitchen counter to dry for an hour or so. That's it! I then poured it into a tub and prayed that it would all stay in there once touched by my pre-schooler.

Once again, everything is so much more fun when color is added! :)

Remember GAK!?

Ok, so if you grew up in the 90's then you should totally remember this stuff. GAK! Remember the funny smell it had? Or the weird sound it would make when you squished it into the 5 bumps in it's plastic case? HA! We loved this stuff growing up. Thanks to the Internet, I found several recipes to make it at home! Wahoo!

First, gather your materials...

1 teaspoon Borax
4 oz. Elmer's glue
1 1/2 cups of water
food coloring

Start by adding the borax to the water and stir until dissolved.

Then pour the glue into a separate bowl.

Add food coloring. Will chose blue, so we added maybe 8 drops. I can't remember for sure. Just add some and stir and add more if you want it darker. Stir until it is combined.

Then carefully add the water/borax mixture to the glue and stir. 

Stir for a minute and watch the solids start to form.

At this point we just decided to go ahead and finish combining with our hands. Oh my it was sooo slimy! :)

We eventually transferred to a dry dish and continued play for like...humm..I think he stayed occupied with this stuff for a whole hour at LEAST. Wow! This is the one fun homemade activity that we have done where it has lasted longer than 5-10 minutes! Yay for GAK! The pigs even got in the goo.

We stored it in a plastic zip-lock bag and it has not changed it's consistency in one week so far. I have no idea how long it should last. I'll let you know.  :)

Nature Collage

Contact paper + found nature objects= fun nature collage

Fun! Will kept adding to it all day, although it does perish eventually. :)

Muffin Tin Printmaking

Here is another creative idea using the $1 muffin tin...no joke, I think I use this more than anything else for kids activities; sorting, pretend, mud pies, meals, and now art! :)

First I put a thick layer of paint on each of the muffin bottoms and used Q-tips to draw simple designs.

Then press onto paper! I used a thick enough layer that I was able to press it twice without having to apply more paint.

Fun, simple, abstract art! :)

"W" is for Will

Finger painting is always a blast! This time we laid masking tape down first and then painted the whole paper like crazy. After it was all dry we gently peeled the masking tape away.  Will's eyes really lit up with amazement! Not only is the result way awesome, but it is also a good lesson on negative space. This one might need a frame to go over his bed. :)

Peanut Butter Banana Pops

Happy Monday! We had a full and exciting weekend of seeing lots of old friends at our 10 year high school reunion. It is hard to believe that it has been that long ago! It was fun to see and meet spouses and children of those I grew up with. With Facebook these days of course made it much easier to keep up with where most people are and what they are doing, but to have face to face conversations with those I have not seen in a long time was well worth it.

Well on another note, of being busy and with children always wanting something new and exciting known as a "treat" which usually includes sugar and other icky stuff...we decided to get creative with the good ol' peanut butter/banana combo and turning it into a spectacular treat for my little guy...well to him it was like the best ever...We are always looking for creative but simple, healthy snacks with ingredients that we have on hand.

1. peel banana
2. spread it with peanut butter
3. roll into goodies!

Simple as that!

Fantastic Goody Ideas:
*nuts of any kind {walnuts, sliced almonds, chopped peanuts, etc.}
*seeds of all kinds {sunflower, chia, pumpkin, etc.}
*whole oats
*raisins or other dried fruit
*crispy rice cereal
*chocolate chips

Really you could roll it in whatever you want. You could even use almond butter or sunflower butter instead. We rolled ours in walnuts and mini chocolate chips for a special treat. So really it could be as healthy or not healthy as you make it. :)

{Can you guess his name is Will?}...:)hehe

The Mud Tub

Yes, another sensory tub. :) He keeps asking me for more! But hey, it's free, it's easy, and we usually have everything we need on hand..and lately he has been coming up with the ideas.  So here it is...Dirt we found outside, water, tools and toys. This was of course before he really dug into it. :)

Mouldable "Sand"

Also known as Cloud Dough, it is mouldable, soft, silky, fragrant, fluffy...it is really quite interesting. No it is not really sand, but you can play with it like sand. It moulds together, but falls apart easily. Humm...not really sure how else to describe it.  You might just have to try it for yourself. It's only 2 ingredients! 2 1/2 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of baby oil.  I have also seen people add glitter to it. The baby oil is the best part. It makes it super soft, smells so good, and leaves your hands feeling all silky. 

This kept Will busy for a while. I think a couple dinosaurs and other toys made it in the tub at one point as well.  I love that simple things like this with ingredients I have on hand create so much entertainment for these littles...oh wait, and for me. I was totally having fun squishing it between my fingers! Who wouldn't?!

Kinda fun! :)

The Busy Ice Block

It has been extremely HOT outside! Going to the pool, running through the sprinkler, and eating popsicles are all great on days like this but this week I found a new idea on pinterest...freeze a handful of objects/toys in a tub of water. Then when it is frozen take it out in the sun on a hot day. As it melts give your toddler a variety of tools to figure out how they can get the objects/toys out. We had fun with this one!

We started with a couple of metal spoons, a pie server, a toy hammer, and a wooden stick. He had fun chipping the ice away as it melted, but then we moved on to bigger and better...

A real hammer! Once we got that out we quickly broke through. That was an exciting moment. :)

What do you like to do to stay cool on the REALLY HOT days?

The Nibble Tray

Sometimes Will eats better if he can nibble here and there. The kid is constantly hungry!...but super picky right now. From top to bottom: red peppers, celery, carrots, ranch dip, frozen pineapple bits, walnuts, BBQ sauce, ham pieces, hard boiled egg, frozen peas, almonds, pear slices, granola bites, raisins. He gobbled it all up and was a happy little 3 year old doing his business playing around and coming back for a bite of something here and there. He was satisfied...although he did not touch the red peppers for some reason and left most of the peas as well. So funny how loves one food one day and then a week later won't have anything to do with it. :) funny kid. i love him.

Indoor Activities

row row row your boat...

a spin on the old alphabet puzzle; searching for letters in the sensory tub of beans

...and hammering in the foam letters.

This just might be the most colorful Mater EVER! It now lives in Will's room where he has made a bed with stars on the ceiling and has taken naps. :) His little "tent."

And while having a family art night coloring Mater Will turned to me and said "Look I am Rudolph the blue nose reindeer!" I love that kid! :)

For the Love of Playdough

Will would sit all day and play with playdough...that is of course if I am sculpting everything he demands me to. :)...

Our family of snowmen. (Dad is the green one because we ran out of white playdough)

My attempt at Buzz Lightyear. :)

Our cupcake creations. Mine is white cake with strawberry frosting and sprinkles. Will said his was a green monster cupcake with lots of blueberries. :)

...My cutie...

NEW!- in shop...Back to School

It is just about back to school time and my shop is full of fun colorful accessories to jump start the year. Above is Will's "special new snack bag," as he calls it. :) We carry it everywhere!...and it is so much better, and more fun of course, then going through so many plastic baggies. I have a variety of different patterns to choose from and some fun sandwich wraps as seen below.

...and some felt crayon rolls!

There is nothing more exciting for my 2 year old than to whip this cool roll out while traveling or at a restaurant, etc...to keep him busy. He also just has fun organizing the crayons in the little pouches. :) You can check it all out over at my shop!