Play Time Ideas – Play Dough – Make it Special

By Gayle Geisenheimer

Bringing out the play dough always brings a few smiles at my house. The play clay available in the stores comes in bright colors with fancy (and expensive) kits and tools. Try making homemade play dough. It’s easy to prepare a few large batches. It works well for me because I usually have a “large batch” of kids in the yard too.

Gather these ingredients: Flour, Salt, Food Coloring, vegetable oil and Cream of Tartar

In a two quart saucepan add 1 cup of flour, 4 teaspoons of cream of tartar and 1 cup of salt. Mix dry ingredients together. Measure 2 cups of water (with two drops of the liquid food coloring of your choice added) Drop in two tablespoons of vegetable oil and stir to mix. Add the liquids slowly to the dry ingredients in the saucepan and stir till combined. Heat over medium heat stirring often until the dough begins to form,starts to pull away from the side of the pan, and becomes a bit dry. Remove from heat and place on counter or board. Knead until smooth and cool. Keep cooled dough in plastic containers or plastic bags to keep soft and “playable”

Now, forget the fancy plungers and character kits sold in the store. Use a shoe box or Plastic storage box to create a special kit your kits will love. Look through the kitchen drawers, you’ll be sure to find some safe gadgets to inspire creative dough play. My kit contains two small rolling pins, some rounded plastic knives, spoons, melon ball gadgets and a collection of plastic lids and cookie cutters. Boys and girls love rolling out the dough and cutting out the different shapes, gingerbread boys and animal shapes. They use the melon ball utensil to form meatballs and cut strips of dough with the plastic knives. Search neighborhood yard sales for cookies cutters and plastic trays and such for your homemade fun dough collection. I also include Styrofoam meat trays (trays on which you get meats & produce at the market) I put my trays through the dishwasher to make certain they are germ free for the little ones. These trays make a great surface for each child to roll out his play dough and/ or collect and display the “cookies” and other goodies they make. Add some plastic candle holders or any cake decorating goodies you’ve saved over the years. Children enjoy adding these to their “pretend” cakes and pastries.

Most often I observed the kids using the old cupcake trays and cookie sheets to “bake” their creations in their imaginary ovens.

Do you think only girls will like making cookies and play clay pies? You’ll find the little guys are just as interested in pretend baking.

There are of course many things children will want to do with their play dough. You may want to try this with your mixture if your little one needs some help learning to cut with scissors, or needs to strengthen his/her hands. I was once caring for a young boy who, according to the Pre-K Teachers, had trouble cutting with scissors. The paper seemed to always slip out and he had a weakness in his hands. Cutting play dough is an excellent exercise for this problem. I rolled the dough into long robes and had the youngster use scissors to cut the clay into small pieces.

The idea was a good one. The child’s cutting improved; he gained some strength in his hands and most importantly, loved the activity!

When I play with the children I find they enjoy rolling out the dough and making their own pizzas and meatballs. Hotdogs, tacos and cupcakes are next on the list of favorite things to make with the mixture. Give these ideas a chance at your house and invent some news ones too.

I only use play dough at the table on the deck whenever weather permits. When my children were small, I learned quickly the mess it makes in carpeting. So that would be my only advice about limiting its use…otherwise the sky is the limit with home made dough. Children have great ideas for using the mix for creating a good time. Make a batch today – and let the fun begin!

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Copyright 2005
Gayle Geisenheimer
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Playing Inside Family Games

Family Game Night – A Great Way To Spend Quality Time With Your Kids

A great w ay to spend quality time with your kids is to start playing
inside family games. Give it a try – Playing games together is a lot of
fun for everyone involved.

We recently started to play board games on a regular basis in our family. Even I was surprised how great of a time everyone involved is having. Not only was it a lot of fun to play board and card games, but we also got to chat about our day and anything else that’s going on in our busy lives.

How do you start your own game night? It doesn’t have to be complicated at all. Start by picking one night a month that everyone will be at home. If you have busy teens in the house, you may want to let them know about a week ahead of time that you expect them to stay in that night. With younger kids it’s usually just a matter of finding a night without soccer or swimming practice and your husband doesn’t have a late meeting or bowling night with the guys.

Choose some games ahead of time and make sure all the game pieces are complete. You don’t want to find out that you can’t play monopoly, because someone took all the little houses out of the box years ago. Think about what games you have around the house and take a look at what shape they are in. When it comes time to choose the actual games, keep all players in mind. If you have younger children, you may want to start with games like memory, Candyland or Go Fish. Older kids may enjoy the game of life, mystery or card games. Choose at least one game that each family member will really like to make sure everyone is having a good time.

Of course board and card games aren’t your only options when it comes to family game night. Younger children will enjoy simple games like “Simon Says” and of course charades are always a favorite. Other ideas are hangman, tick-tac-toe and “I Spy”. I’m sure once you start playing some of these games, you’ll remember some other old time favorites.

Get some sack foods like chips, popcorn and pigs in a blanket for everyone to munch on while you are playing. You could even fix a few different types of appetizers and skip dinner. Grab some ice and a few different sodas and you are all set for game night.

Pick a comfy spot for your game night. The kitchen table usually works well for board games, but your living room coffee table may work as well. You can even throw a few pillows on the living room floor and hang out there to play games.

That’s all there’s too it. Just get everyone playing and see for yourself what a great time you can have with game night. They’ll be ready for more next month, or you could even make it a weekly event. What a great way to reconnect with your family and enjoy each other’s company.

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The American Picnic – Make Yours Memorable

by Beverly Marshall

Potty Training Tips
Potty Training Advice and Tips From Moms & Dads Like You.

We love spending time outdoors and if you are expecting a large group; you need to be somewhere you can accommodate all of the people. A picnic can be anything you want it to be. There are a host of picnic ideas available, depending upon time of day and how formal or casual you want your picnic to be. If you are having a picnic for just your family; you might try to find some of the fun new gear available; such as a portable gas grill, picnic backpack, folding picnic table, fancy acrylic dishes and glasses, sleeping hammocks and more. If you are planning a picnic for a crowd there are more details and extra planning that are needed. The following are a few ideas for your picnics to help your next event be special:

• Host dinner picnics in the park under the stars. It could be romantic picnics, or family reunions. Band concerts are held on summer evenings that your guests could listen to.

• Hold rainy day picnics especially for the kids. If the kids can’t enjoy the outdoors, spread a big blanket out in the family room and get together all of their favorite picnic food. Play a few impromptu games and then nap time later. They will feel that you did something especially for them.

• Are you watching calories so burgers and brats won’t do? Try low carb, less fat or vegetarian picnics. Beans and tortillas, lots of salads and veggies could be on the menu instead of all that heavy BBQ. Keep dairy products and mayo limited as they don’t do well in the heat.

• One idea is a total family affair including the kids. Let them help you with all of the details and the cooking preparation. It will be an event they will look forward to and remember for a long time.

• Come up with a cultural theme for your next picnic. Do you want it to be TexMex and steak fajitas or Italian with lots of wine? Make it cowboys and cowgirls for the kids or Spongebob, Garfield, etc. You decide on what’s fun for everyone.

• Include water if you can; picnics are more fun and refreshing when they are at the beach, lake, ocean side or poolside. Bring games that are good in the same such as volleyball or badminton.

• Plan the picnic around an outdoor festival. Music is a great entertainment and you can still talk at the same time the concert is going on.

• If the picnic is for the company; be a little more conservative in taste, and plan games that are good for all ages. Keep everyone involved and give out prizes.

• Get the kids involved in a craft projects including sea shells, sandcastles, nature walks, scavenger hunts and more.

• Decide if you want to do pizza or potluck, burgers or filet mignon, wine and cheese or a full course meal, sushi, tapas and more. Food is the biggest decision for the picnic so put some thought into it. Your picnic could be a success or failure depending on what kind of food you serve.

• Be creative when it comes to games. The same old things like croquet or softball is just fine, but how about coming up with new games like bocce ball or give lessons on tennis and golf that people normally don’t have time for.

• Allow for down time too. Busy people just want to relax and sit in a chair. Respect the wishes of those that just want to sit and watch instead of constantly participating in the activities. Many just need to veg for a while. It’s good to have activities for people to participate in; but don’t over do it.

• Plan some type of shelter if possible in case it rains or if some just need to come in out of the sun. Many older people cannot sit out in the sun all day and will need some shade.

Your picnics can be anything you want them to be; elegant or casual, well planned or impromptu, kids included or just dinner for two, wedding receptions or birthday parties; it doesn’t matter the ideas for picnics abound. Just get a little creative with your ideas to make it extra special for everyone and a time your guests won’t soon forget.

Beverly Marshall is a successful freelance writer offering guidance and suggestions for consumers buying patio and outdoor furniture, outdoor kitchen ideas gas grills, picnic tables, hammocks, above ground pools and more. She gives information and tips to help you save money and make informed buying decisions.

Additional Resource:

The Definitive Kid Party Craft Book!
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