Creating a Small World Using Play Dough

If you have followed this blog for any length of time, you might notice a pattern. Some of my most well received ideas are formulated on rainy days. This particular rainy day, we created a small world using some chocolate play dough and some no cook blue play dough. My favorite thing about making your own play dough is that it is much softer than the one that you can buy at the store. 

For this activity, I took the cardboard base from bottles of water and made half brown and half blue. I left it there for Logan to discover, and upon his request we marched out into the rain to cut some sticks. The sticks symbolized the forest (so I was told), and the blue was the water. He took some floral rocks and aquarium gems and started to decorate his new land.

A yogurt container, a piece of scrap paper, and a straw became a boat. The gems were treasure strewn about the water and land. 

When decorating was complete, he had some of his favorite toys move in! He played with this set up on and off until bedtime. Each time the animals went on a new adventure!

As the kiddo gets older, it is amazing to see how his imagination is developing.A blank slate of two colors of play dough can be the back drop for pretty much anything.  He was the one who decided to make it water and land. What I really like about this invitation is that switching out the toys can provide my guy will all new opportunities to create new stories. 

Cloud Dough

I recently found these pictures hiding in my memory card. This activity was completed in the winter, hence the snowflake table cloth, the day that the kiddo and I mixed up a batch of cloud dough. The weather is also the reason that I did not have any baby oil, so I tried it with some left over canola oil. It seemed to just work as well, but it didn't have the same scent. This is also a good substitution if you have a kiddo that tries to eat flour the minute you blink. 

If you've never made cloud dough before, here's what you'll need:

• Four cups of flour
• 1/2 cup of oil

And that's it. I let Logan measure it all out and combine it. I add in a bunch of silicone molds and scoops and spoons.

Logan added in Chef Smurf.

Once combined, the dough is mold-able, but light and airy, just like a cloud.

Once we're are finished  playing with our dough for the day, I simple store it in a air tight container to pull out  at a later time. 

Fun with Chalk: Chalk Farm

Summer just lends itself to some good old fashioned fun with chalk. We recently went from a stone to paved driveway, and it is one of the best thing ever. That's according to me, the kiddo, and probably my husband come winter time when he has to shovel lots of snow. The best part is that it is like one gigantic piece of paper that you can draw all over, then wash off, and start again. 

One early summer day, Logan and I rounded up a bunch of his animal figurines and his Fisher Price farm and headed outside. He wanted to make pastures for all of his animals, so he started drawing each one with chalk and then carefully arranging them in their new homes. 

I wish I had taken a picture of the finished product, but we were having too much fun playing, and it slipped my mind. It got to be quite the expansive farm, rich with ponds, streams, bridges and pathways, and large trees for the animals to rest under. It was fun to watch his imagination at work, and I loved that he made sure each animal had a way to get water. His favorite part of the project were his horses, because one was sporting his favorite color.

He even had some non-traditional animals at his farm. Maybe it was an animal sanctuary, but either way, we embrace non-traditional, and any and all of the new friends that the "farmer" decided to bring home were welcomed.  

We like real life animals too. Our little puppy was having a fine time watching from his very own sanctuary!

Have you ever brought inside toys outdoors? It really gives them a whole new life, and makes them novel again!