Make It Monday: Kool-Aid Play Dough

Happy National Play Dough Day yesterday! The kids and I love play dough. They'll play with it for hours, giving me time to get some things done. Sometimes they'll talk me into playing with them. We'll make all sorts of yummy treats, silly creatures, shapes, or letters. A big chunk of soft dough is fun to squish around and roll into a ball. It's also really great for strengthening hand and finger muscles and helps with fine motor skills. See, it's not all about fun!

We love to make our own play dough. The texture is so much better than store bought. Along with our regular dough recipe that we usually make, we've made gingerbread scented play dough as well. This time, in honor of National Play Dough Day, we made Kool-Aid play dough. Combine the joy of play dough with the scent of Kool-Aid and you get an activity that produces many smiles!

My kids did all of the dumping, pouring and stirring (except Zac did not pour the boiling water.) Remember to use your own judgment. I did the kneading since the dough was so hot. Once it cooled a bit, they enjoyed smooshing the warm dough on their bellies though. Silly kids.

We made a batch of cherry, lemonade, and blue berry. Smells yummy! The boys each chose their favorite colors. Alyssa originally picked pink lemonade because of her favorite, but Jake talked her into regular lemonade so it would be close to red, white, and blue. So patriotic! 

Tons of play doughy fun! They really do smell fruity. Jake asked, "Are you sure we can't eat it? It is dough." Then he asked to keep the dough in his room so he could smell it at will.

Yeah, they liked it. 


Do you have a favorite play dough recipe?



No Cook Kool Aid Play Dough
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 cups boiling water
1/4 cup salt
1 packet Kool-Aid
1 Tbsp. cream of tarter
1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:
1. Mix all dry ingredients into a large bowl and stir.
2. Add oil and boiling water.
3. Mix well until dough begins to form and let cool slightly.
4. Remove from bowl and knead until you reach desired consistency, adding a little more flour if dough is too sticky. Keep in air-tight container or bag.
adapted recipe

Make It Monday: Gingerbread Play Dough

The kids and I baked up a batch of gingerbread cookies. But instead of cookie dough, we used play dough; and in place of the sprinkles we used googly eyes and beads. And technically, instead of baking we smashed them up to make them again and again! Either way, the house smelled delicious!

 They were so excited to make the dough. We even had a couple extra helpers.

Dump the dry ingredients into a bowl. Jake was impressed by how pretty it looked with the different shades of brown.

Use your big strong muscles to mix it up.

 Add the wet ingredients.

 Combine well. Once it gets too thick to mix with the spoon, knead the dough with your hands.

They had a very hard time waiting until the dough was completely cool before they started cookie preparations. In fact, they didn't wait. They dough was still slightly warm when they first rolled out their dough and began cutting their shapes.

We had our very own bakery setup in the kitchen. 

 We baked up some traditional gingerbread men . . .

 and Christmas trees.

And some not-so-traditional cyclops trees with pink bellybuttons . . .

 and even a pet rock cookie.

We certainly have been busy. We are now officially open for business and taking orders for all your Christmas needs! 

The kids (ok, me too!) had so much fun rolling, cutting, and decorating our "cookies." They really did look and smell like the real things. Jake asked a few different times, "Can we bake these for real? They smell so good!" A tablespoon or two of some of these spices might be a little costly to be used for something like play dough, but I expect it to last a long time. In fact, the play dough we made last year is just about on its last leg. It's survived 3 kids for over a year. Definitely cost effective. I actually ended up finishing off a few of our spices to make this dough, so I'd better add them to the grocery list for our annual baking extravaganza coming up! Besides, now we'll have fresh spices for our real baked goods.

My favorite part was a conversation that took place between the 2 kids -

Jake: "Look, the candy canes look like J's for Jesus."

Alyssa: "And for Jacob!"

Jake: "Yeah, but Christmas isn't about me. It's all about Jesus."

And he couldn't be more right.



Gingerbread Play Dough
Ingredients:
2 c flour                                           1 Tbs cinnamon
1 c salt                                            1 Tbs nutmeg
2 Tbs cream of tartar                      2 Tbs vegetable oil
2 Tbs ginger                                    1 1/2  c boiling water

Directions:
1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Add in the vegetable oil and boiling water.

3. Mix well. Once the mixture becomes too thick to stir with a spoon, use your hands to knead it until it is soft and thoroughly combined.

4. Allow mixture to cool before playing.

Things That Make Me Smile 10/21/11

1. Jake asked, "Was it in the 1950's when there were pirates?  . . . Or was it when Jesus was born?"

2. Alyssa: "What's in my ear?"

Me: "Your finger?"
Alyssa: "No."
Me: "Earwax?"

Alyssa: "No. Seeds. But they don't grow into lots of ears. They just grow into one ear."

3. Jake said, "I can't wait for my adult teeth to grow up."

4. Our pet hamster, QT died this week. Alyssa was devastated. It was slightly humorous since they never played with it. I asked her, "When was the last time you talked to her?" She said, in a very sad weepy voice, "When she was running around in her ball . . . when she was alive." Then she didn't want to sleep by herself. I told she could sleep with a stuffed animal. "But I want someone to sleep with me . . . who's alive." She was very dramatic the rest of the night. Jake, on the other hand, who kept the hamster in his room, asked, "Can we flush it?!?" 

5. Jake said, "Band-aids don't taste good even with cinnamon on them."

6. Dancing with Zac in the living room and seeing his faced filled with laughter and joy.

7. Zac has become addicted to play dough. Every day this week, first thing in the morning, he went to the cabinet where the play dough things are kept and pulled them out. He has sat at our kitchen table for hours this week mashing and exploring and rolling. The other two have joined in. I love watching the three of them playing together and giggling. Play dough is so beneficial in aiding creative play and for building fine motor skills. It makes a mess of the table and floor, but it cleans up easily. Their smiles and enjoyment far outlast the mess.

42 Months

We had reason to celebrate . . . Alyssa turned three-and-a-half!

We started the celebration with a nutritious delicious breakfast. We replaced our beloved letter-shaped pancakes with balloon ones and topped them with powdered sugar and chocolate sprinkles. (Hey, at least I overrode their choice of pop for a beverage!)

We spent the day reading books, putting together puzzles, playing the Wii, playing dress-up, and filling the house with the delicious smells from our play dough bakery, "Leafs' Treats." The pictures show our very own cinnamon rolls, strawberry pie, and apple pie (featuring 2 kinds of apples.) Also for sale in our bakery are cookies, rolls, cakes, doughnuts, and ice cream. We were very busy rolling, cutting, preparing, and baking. It was worth it! It was all sooo delicious!

 

We always give the half-birthday-ers one present. Alyssa was very happy to get clothes for her baby dolls. And for a total of $3.00, Mommy was pretty happy, too. 

Our little Sweetie Pie wanted personal pizzas for dinner. Fresh homemade dough, tons of cheese, and lots of favorite toppings - what could be better?


And for dessert?

Ice cream cones???

Nope! Ice cream cone cupcakes with pink icing and sprinkles! Yummy!

Happy 3-and-a-half birthday, Alyssa! We've enjoyed calling you ours for 42 months. Looking forward to many, many more. 

Want to read about more half-birthdays?  Jake 4 1/2 and 5 1/2 (rainbow cupcakes), Alyssa 2 1/2 (cream-filled cupcakes).

Pantry Surprise 6/7/11

Kool-Aid, chai tea mix, Crystal Lite, play-doh rolling pin,  Ovalti - Wait, play-dough rolling pin???

Yes, doesn't everybody keep their play-doh toys in the pantry? 

Oh, it's just my kids?

Want to see more? You can find more Pantry Surprises here.

Pantry Surprise 4/15/11

The interesting thing is that they hadn't even been playing with play-doh. Apparently those toys have a dual purpose. Play-doh spaghetti anyone? Mmm, makes my mouth water.

Missed the first pantry surprise? Read it here.

Make It Monday: Play Dough

Monday is our arts & crafts day (a.k.a. Make It Monday) for our homeschool. The kids absolutely love play dough, so I thought it would be fun to make it. Here is the recipe we used:
 

Ingredients:
3 cups flour                                2 tbs vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups salt                            1 tbs cream of tartar
3 cups water                               food coloring

Directions:

Mix all of the ingredients in a large saucepan. Cook over medium low heat until the dough comes away from the edges of the pan and it becomes difficult to move the spoon. Remove from heat. Cool until it can be handled. Place on counter or wax paper and knead 3-4 times. Store in an air tight container.
 

We cooked the dough for 10 minutes. I personally did not like the consistency once it was cooled, so I added approximately 2 tablespoons of flour while I kneaded it many more times. The finished product was perfect play dough: easily malleable and not sticky. 

 

 

They had so much  fun playing with cookie cutters, straws, and various Play-Doh® toys. In fact, they played for 2 hours, stopping only when I cleaned it up for dinner. The project was a success and we will definitely be making play dough again!