Favorite Play-dough recipe

I received this recipe for play-dough several years ago when I was taking my oldest daughter to Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) classes when she was about two years old. It has been my go to recipe ever since. I love the consistency of it and it tends to last for a very long time. When it comes to play-dough the ideas of what can be created with it are limitless and only restricted by your child's imagination. Not only is it fun to play with but it also works as a great stress reliever and helps strengthen the muscles in your hands.

Cooked Play-dough

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 tbsp cream or tarter
1 cup water
1 tbsp vegetable oil

1. Put the dry ingredients in a saucepan and mix well. Add wet ingredients to saucepan and mix well, again.
2. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until it forms a ball. The dough is ready when the mixture begins to pull away from the sides and when the wet parts begin to look dry. Do not overcook the play-dough or it will become very grainy feeling.
3. Turn the dough onto your counter and knead it until smooth. It will be quite warm to the touch at first, so be careful.
4. Add food coloring, glitter, extracts, etc. after the dough has cooled.
5. Store in an airtight container or bag. If you are in an area of high humidity, storing it in the refrigerator will help it last longer. It will usually last a couple months. It is time to toss when the play-dough starts looking dry and crusty or when it gets very sticky and gooey.

This recipe will yield enough play-dough to make about 3 tennis ball to baseball size balls of play-dough. So it is enough for several children to share or make it into different colors. When I make it for the classroom, I usually double the recipe so I have enough for six children to play with it at a time.

I really like to use the gel food coloring that comes in a squeeze bottle to color my play-dough because of all the different colors you can get (and I use it exclusively in my cake decorating). You can find it at your local craft store like Michael's and Hobby Lobby or order it online through many baking websites. Since it is so concentrated a little bit usually goes a long way. So start out with a small amount and add more as needed. It will also get darker after it sits for a little while.

If you choose to add glitter, you'll need A LOT of it. This is a situation where a lot of glitter goes only a little way.

Some themed play-dough ideas I have used in the past or plan to use are:
Snow-light blue with silver glitter
Chocolate-brown with chocolate extract
St. Patrick's-green with mint extract & gold glitter
Space-Navy with multi-colored glitter
Easter-pastel colors
Rainbow-red, orange, yellow, green, blue & purple with matching glitter
Patriotic-red, white & blue with silver glitter
Beach-white and add play sand instead of glitter
Apple pie-1/2 white with apple pie seasoning or cinnamon and 1/2  red
Pumpkin pie-1/2 white with pumpkin pie seasoning and 1/2 orange
Candy cane-1/2 red  and 1/2 white with peppermint extract
Watermelon-pink or red scented with watermelon extract, green and a small amount of black

Here are just a few fun accessories you could provide for children to use when working with play-dough.
-Popsicle sticks
-Tongue depressors
-Toothpicks
-Cookie cutters
-Lengths of dowel (1" wide or larger)
-Garlic press
-Potato ricer
-Dull knives
-Small containers
-Caps from jars & bottles
-Straws
-Small rolling pins
-Forks
-Small rubber animals
-Pipe cleaners

What other fun themed play-dough ideas can you come up with? What additional items can you think of that children can use with their play-dough?

I Love to Read Month

10 Reasons to Read to Your Child
1. Because when you hold them and give them this attention, they know you love them.
2. Because reading to them will encourage them to become readers.
3. Because children's books today are so good that they are fun, even for adults.
4. Children's books' illustrations often rank with the best, giving them a lifelong feeling for good art.
5. Books are one way of passing on your moral values to them. Readers know how to put themselves in others' shoes.
6. Because, until they learn to read themselves, they will think you are magic.
7. Because every teacher and librarian they ever encounter will thank you.
8. Because it's nostalgic.
9. Because, for that short space of time, they will stay clean and quiet.
10. Because, if you do, they may then let you read in peace.

-from the UNBASHED Librarian Magazine, No. 39

February is known as "I love to read" month in schools. It all leads up to celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2. A lot of schools have various activities throughout the entire month to get their students excited about reading. Even if your child is not yet in school there are many things you can do at home, also, to celebrate the love of reading. Check out this list of  fun things that Baby Center.com has put together. Some of my favorite ideas from off the list are serve a meal from a book, play dress-up and act out a book, have a reading picnic and build a reading fort in the bedroom. Also, check with your local library to see if they are offering any special programs during the month for children, such as puppet shows, visiting authors or special story times.

Do your children have any favorite book that they like read to them? I would love to hear about them so I can try to get them added to our classroom library.

Welcome

Welcome to my Wee School blog! I have set up this blog to share information with the parents of my students about all the fun activities that we have planned at Wee School. I also hope to use this blog to share additional information that I hope will be helpful not only to the parents of my students but also other parents and teachers that may read here.