Painted Playdough and More

We make our own play dough, and periodically it needs to be tossed and replaced.  If you are about to throw it away anyway, you might as well do something irrevocable (and interesting) with it. Here are a few ideas.

- Paint it.

- Make it into a big ball and play catch with it outside (it will definitely be ready for the trash after hitting the ground multiple times). 

- Also outside, lay it on the ground in a ball and stomp on it with bare feet (sure to be repeated amid many giggles!).  

- Take it to the sand box.

- Put it in a sensory tub with water and enjoy the sliminess. 

- Use it to make a volcano shape for this activity. 

- Make cookies or snakes or sculptures, and then set them in the sun to dry out.  Check them periodically and observe with your child how the dough changes as it sits in the sun.

- Use is as a soup or potion ingredient (along with whatever other materials you can think of).

Any other ideas?

Click here for my favorite no-cook play dough recipe!

Favorite No Cook Play Dough

This would be a sweet birthday gift - small batches of various colors of home-made play dough. My approach to play dough is very imprecise, but I roughly use this recipe from theimaginationtree.com. I like it because it requires no stove time.

1 cup plain flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup salt
1 tablespoon cream of tartar
up to 1/2 cup very hot water
food coloring

In separate bowls for each color, mix this ratio of dry ingredients, then add oil and color, slowly add water while stirring (if you get too much, just add more flour). Once it is starting to clump, kneed it with your hands. Of course there are a million variations you can add - scents, texture stuff like sand / oats / dry rice, or glitter. I guess a few drops of glycerine makes it shiny, but I've never tried that.

Melty Crayon Skillet Art

I am sure I saw this activity somewhere on the web, and I should give proper credit, but I can't seem to find the original anywhere.  Suffice it to say, this is not my idea, but it is definitely worth sharing! 

Turn an electric skillet on its lowest setting (please read safety note!).  Lay a piece of computer paper in it.  Offer your child a selection of crayons with the paper peeled off (the fat crayons work best).  Explain that the pan is quite warm and should not be touched.  Then either let your child experiment with the crayons, or if she seems unsure, you can demonstrate pushing the end of a crayon onto the paper until it becomes soft.  The crayon will then slide in a delightful way, leaving a colorful trail behind.  

I tried this with children ages 3-5.  They seemed quite mesmerized, some of them drawing round after round of circles, and others making pools of color.  

Variation

If you come back to this activity a second time, try offering only a white crayon.  Tell your child that she won't be able to see her drawing right away, but you have a trick to make it appear.  When the drawing is cooled, offer water color paints.  When your child paints on the paper, the crayoned areas will remain white.  Older children might enjoy writing secret messages!

What are we learning?

Art, Physical Science (transformation, heat, melting)

Safety Note

Please do this activity with caution.  Even older children should have constant supervision when using a skillet.  Also, different skillets surely have different temperature settings.  Mine was cool enough that there was no chance of a burn unless a child held his hand on it for several seconds.  Test yours ahead of time. 

Tin Foil Painting

It can be very intriguing to paint on something other than paper.  Foil offers some interesting qualities - shiny, crinkly, smooth (or crumpled).  I presented this activity already taped to a construction paper frame to avoid tearing, but you could also just give your child a piece of foil by itself.  Because it is so malleable, it might turn into a painted sculpture instead of a flat piece. Try a very large sheet of foil, or a small one for different experiences.  

Variations
Another option, which you can demonstrate for your child, is to spread paint all over the foil (hands work best for this), and then use a finger or the other end of a paint brush to scrape a drawing in the paint.  This is a fun way for your child to play around with writing letters or his name, too.

What are we learning? 
Art, Physical Science (properties of foil)

Magnetic Scavenger Hunt

Offer a selection of magnetic letters (or other magnets).  Tell your child that magnets stick to a special kind of metal called iron.  Model trying magnets on different surfaces, narrating as you go - "No, the magnet doesn't stick to the wooden table."  "Oh, it does stick to the refrigerator.  There must be iron in the refrigerator!"  If your child is interested, turn him loose to explore what other objects the magnets will stick to.  

Variation

If your child is a bit older and can identify first sounds of words, he can put the first letter of the object name on the object (ex. the W on the washer).  

What are we learning?

Physical Science, Close Observation and Concentration, Problem Solving, Language (names of different materials, letter names)

Colored Ice Cups with Marbles

My son, Mateo (2 1/2), basically invented this activity, and I have to say, it is truly awesome.  He started by sorting all the marbles from a Chinese Checkers game into some paper cups.  He poured water into them, and then used a paint brush to transfer water color paint to each cup.  He then suggested putting ice into the cups as well.  

We went from that to sticking the cups in the freezer for a couple of hours.  When they were frozen, we ran a bit of warm water over the cups so the ice would come out and we put them on a sheet pan.  They slid and spun and slowly melted, which was great, but the real fun came when I offered Teo a wooden hammer to smash the ice and release all the balls.  When he was done, he immediately suggested we make more, so we did. 

When the second set was done,  Teo got into the bath, and I set up a bath table by turning over a plastic tote and setting it in the tub.  Teo used a toy tea pot to pour warm bath water over the ice to melt them.  He pondered whether they would sink or float and tried that as well.  He was delighted to see the paint making color swirls in his bath water.  

Variations

I am so excited to try freezing other small objects or toys in ice.  I've seen people freeze big blocks of ice with things inside, too.  What fun!

What are we learning?

Physical Science (freezing / melting, floating / sinking, how objects move - sliding, spinning), Problem Solving,  Fine and Gross Motor and Eye-Hand Coordination (hammering, pouring), Sensory, and Color Matching / Sorting / Mixing.  

Paint Sample Color Match

Stop by the local hardware store and pick up some free paint samples.  These can be used in so many ways!  Sort yarn “pasta” to the same color “plate,” or matchbox cars to the same color parking spot.  Your child can carry around one of the samples and search for objects that are the same color.  In pairs, they can be used as a memory game. 

What are we learning?
Color matching and names.  Sorting.