Baby Angels Blog

CREATE AND PLAY DOUGH!

This project appeals to children of all ages. Kids love helping to mix the ingredients and then playing with the dough once it’s cooled.

1. Homemade Play Dough Recipe:

3 Cups Flour
1 1/2 Cups Salt
2 Tbsp. Cream of Tartar
3 Cups Water
3 Tbsp. Oil
Food Coloring (optional)
Extract (optional)
Glitter (optional)

Mix dry ingredients in a non-stick pot. Measure water into a separate container and add food coloring for color or extract for scent. Add water and oil to dry mixture and cook over very low heat until dough becomes solid (this will only take a few minutes). Remove the dough from heat, knead until smooth, and let cool. (Glitter can be added when play-dough is cool.)

2. Lay a plastic tablecloth down and provide the children with accessories for manipulating the dough. You can usually find a lot of fun tools right in your kitchen: plastic cookie cutters, rolling pins, spatulas and muffin tins.

While they’re busy playing with the first batch, consider making another batch in a different color. You can then send a small amount of each color home with each child at the end of the playdate.

MAKE-YOUR-OWN MUSICAL INSTRUMENT

This project is fun and easy! Kids will love dancing around to their own beat.

Things you’ll need:

Paper Plates
Rice
Clear Packing Tape
Stapler/Staples
Buttons, sequins, feathers, ribbons and other decorating items
Children’s Scissors
Glue

1. Spread a plastic tablecloth over the kids’ craft table or other work surface.
2. Give each child a minimum of 2 paper plates.
3. Supply the children with art supplies (glue, glitter, markers, construction paper and scissors) for decorating their plates.
4. When they’re done decorating, tape the plates together so that the concave sides of the plates face out. Be sure to leave an open space for pouring in rice.
5. Pour in rice.
6. If necessary, reinforce tape with staples.
7. Staple on ribbon or streamers if available.

Once they finish making their instruments, they’ll want to try out their new creations. Have a parade!

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION

Here’s a constructive activity that will occupy budding young actors and actresses for hours! They can dream up tall tales and bring them to life in front of the camera.

1. Help the children pick a story on which to base their movie. They might choose to re-enact a fairytale or a story they’ve read, or they may want to create an original story.

2. Once the children agree on a story, have them tell you what it is. Encourage them to have a beginning, a middle and an end. For example: Beginning (Scene I): The fairy princess is trapped in her castle; Middle (Scene II): The princess is saved by a brave prince; End (Scene III): The princess and the prince get married and live happily ever after.

3. Provide them with butcher paper, poster board or a large piece of cardboard and art supplies so that they can create a backdrop for their movie set. They can even make signs to put up in front of the camera like the name of the movie, the scene, or their names.

4. Give them a bin of dress-up clothes so that they can pick out their costumes.

5. Let them practice a few times, then give them a time when “filming” will begin.

6. Once filming is complete, schedule the big premiere, maybe that’s another playdate project for next time!