What Is This?
Got your imagination? Okay! Let’s go…
Pick a Cloud… Any Cloud
I know, I know. It is winter in the Northern Hemisphere. The last thing we want to do is sit outside and gaze at clouds.
Although… did you know that kids who play outside tend to be less anxious? They also tend to have better motor skills, better attention spans, have more friends, and rate higher in terms of self-worth. Plus, playing outside reduces depression. Parents included.
So get out your winter gear–or if you live in a lovely warm climate break out your sunscreen you lucky ducks–and let’s get out there!
What Does This Cloud Look Like?
This is a FUN game that probably every kid has played, either in their head or with friends.
Now that you are all bundled up warm, pick a snowbank and lay down. No, really. Line up with your kids and gaze at the clouds. What does that cloud look like to you? How about to your kids?
Crappy cloud day? All right. Pick a snowdrift. Walk around and look at the landscape. Do you see animals in the drift’s shapes? Got trees? What do the trees look like? Maybe it even looks like a knight racing off to save the kingdom!
How about you? What games do you play? Besides clouds, what other things can you find shapes in?
Thanks for playing along!
Easy Homemade Playdough Recipe
How to make your own homemade playdough. It’s easy! All you will need are these ingredients:
500 mL (2 cups) flour
500 mL (2 cups) water
250 mL (1 cup) salt
30 mL (2 tbsp) oil
60 mL (4 tbsp) cream of tartar
Food colouring (if you want to make coloured playdough)
Combine the above ingredients in a pot and cook it on the stove over medium heat. Heat until the dough starts to leave the side of the pot. Cook for a few minutes more. Let it cool. Once cool, knead the playdough until smooth. It is now ready.
Hint: After playing with your playdough, store it in a sealed bag. It will last a long time.
What’s so great about playdough for kids
Kids looooove the tactile experience they get from playing with playdough. It’s like handing them this ooey gooey blank slate and saying, “Have fun!” They love that playdough can be anything at all!
Playing with playdough is a great sensory activity for kids and promotes spatial and fine motor skills. It’s great for any age and is non-toxic meaning it isn’t a big deal if they or the dog eat a little bit of it.
As well, it is cheap, keeps well, and you don’t need to have fancy toys to have a BALL with playdough. Hand your kids a rolling pin, a potato masher, some plastic utensils, a couple of cookie cutters, and heck, even a couple of plastic figurines and see what they come up with.
I’ve spent hours upon hours playing with playdough. (Oh, and so have my kids.) How about you?
Do you have a favourite Playdough recipe? Share a link to it in the comment section!
