Project Box Ideas

So often as moms we get down on ourselves for what we “should” do with our kids. We think about all the creative moms who have great make-up, a clean house, crafty kids, and paper mache pumpkins lining their entry ways.

Nota bene: I can’t help you much with the clean house or the great make-up. Sorry.

But, I have learned that with some preparation on my part, my kids end up doing a whole lot of creative things they wouldn’t otherwise do. So, I came up with the project box. My preparation for project time is handily contained in one box that stores easily and keeps everything ready for that moment we need it. I did forget to mention one thing in the video. I also like to keep on hand a plastic tablecloth. They are often on sale at Wal-Mart as the seasons or holidays change, so that’s a good time to stock up on a couple.

If you want to work on doing creative projects with your kids more frequently, I have two other ideas. First, set aside some time. Maybe it’s only once a week or twice a month, but decide that you’ll play together creatively for a period of time and schedule it. Tell the kids. They’ll hold you to it, and the anticipation and planning can be fun with older kids.

Second, learn to recognize that the time spent cleaning up is usually shorter than the time spent playing. Generally, if you do a little cost-benefit analysis, you’ll realize that it’s going to be worth it. It’s worth it for the time the kids are busy, the learning, growing, and exploring that happens, and often the time you get to yourself to do something like read. This often helps me to be more willing to allow spontaneous project play. If I’ve got at least an hour, it’s always worth the mess to play with the project box.

Finally, although my children are willing to play independently with the project box (especially as they get older), I have never regretted taking some time and playing with them. I love the conversations we have and the insights I get into their lives and minds. You can’t beat an afternoon playing with the kids!

Having said all this, I can still use any ideas you may have on fostering creative project work with kids. Please leave a comment and share what has worked for you.

How do you fit crafty kinds of things into your busy mom days?

Tags: art, creativity, fine motor skills

Encouraging Sorting Activities

I was recently visiting with my next door neighbor as we watched the kids play.  She has a two-year-old daughter and like many mothers of toddlers is on the look-out for activities that will keep her daughter busy.  My friend knows I use containers filled with rice or beans to help keep my children busy. We got to talking about how to make this type of activity work for toddlers. The trick is to use sorting objects that are not going to be choking hazards.  Frankly, I kind of avoided this activity until my kids’ compulsion to taste everything they touched subsided.  It was later than you think.

Also, although this seems odd, I wouldn’t recommend using beans in the container if the activity is for toddlers.  Maybe it’s just my toddlers, but beans can get lodged in orifices.  Rice is a lot less likely to get stuck somewhere unpleasant. In any case, here’s some sorting objects that might work for your kids.

Good objects to start out with would be the large-sized Legos (like these Ultimate LEGO DUPLO Building Set).  These Legos can be sorted by color or by size.  This can also be a good way to support learning colors.  Obviously, any other large-sized block will work.  These Legos were just really popular with Dylan and Anya.

I would also suggest trying some silverware in the rice.  Again, it’s big enough to not be a choking hazard.  Also, the differences between forks, spoons, and butter knives are apparent enough that sorting will be relatively straightforward for a beginner.  As your toddler gets better at sorting you can add in the two different sizes of spoons.  My kids got experienced enough with this that by the time they were three, I had them unload the silverware from the dishwasher for me and put it away.  I’d pull out all the unsafe utensils, set the silverware basket on the counter, scoot a chair up to the drawer, and let them be mommy’s helper.  It was great!  They are a lot less enthusiastic about it now, but it was good while it lasted.

Other things that may work depending on your toddler:

1. Assortment of large, unshelled tree nuts (walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, etc.)
2. Barrettes or hair bows
3. Straws (sort by color or cut up and then sort by length)
4. Large pompom balls
5. Other small toys like matchbox cars or action figures

Do you have any other suggestions on helping toddlers learn about sorting and practice fine motor skills?  What’s working for your kids?

Tags: fine motor skills, math, sensory activities, sorting, toddler

Puzzles

We just spent the evening at Grandma’s house putting together one of my favorite puzzles from my own childhood. My family had several of the 300-piece 2 by 3 foot sized Disney movie poster puzzles. We did the Jungle Book one on the kitchen table. It was fun to work together as a family on a project, visit with grandparents, hear about our great-grandparents, and share brownies when our work was done. It’s interesting to see how the two kids each participate in this kind of a project.

Anya is still too young for this big of a puzzle, so she helped me make brownies while everyone else started out. Once we got the brownies in the oven, Anya hovered around the table “helping” each of us in turn. She found pieces that seemed to match what we were working on. If we told her two pieces fit together, she would fiddle when them until she figured out how they fit. She lasted about 20 or 30 minutes this way, and then grandma brought out the crayons and markers and coloring books for her.

Dylan is much more persistent. He worked on the puzzle with us the entire time, but he definitely was getting bored at the end. The promise of a brownie kept him with it though. He was good at picking out all the pieces that went with Baloo and the bananas. He would stay with a piece, turning it and matching up colors until he found a place it fit. He understands the concepts of putting the edge pieces together first and using the picture on the box as a guide for the whole puzzle. And, using his dad’s iPhone, here’s his proud picture of our Sunday night project.

This is the sort of night that provides all kinds of educational benefits but no one even noticed. Lots of laughing, talking, and lovely brownies. A night well spent!

Tags: anya, dylan, fine motor skills, math, puzzles, social skills

Lacing Cards

So as I’m contemplating writing some commentary to go along with this video, it kind of seems that the movie has said it all. I’m thinking that anything I put here is likely to be really redundant or really stupid. I suppose I could have a really great night and it could be redundant and stupid. So, watch the video and tell me if you think of something I missed. And do you like these commentary things after the video? Thumbs up or thumbs down?

Tags: fine motor skills, preschool, toddler

Cooked Play Dough

After I made the video clip for this post, I came upstairs to write the actual post.  I had used up all the cornstarch when I made the batch of salt dough I talked about.  And being the compulsive garbage-thrower-outer that I am, I tossed the box.  I figured, “No big deal…I’ll just look up the recipe on the internet.”  That proved a whole lot harder than I expected.  I couldn’t find the one that had been on the box.  I searched fruitlessly for over an hour, and honestly I’m a pretty good internet searcher.  (And I swear I was only a little bit distracted by some non-related webpages…promise!)

The next morning after dropping off the kids at school, I visited two different supermarkets looking for that brand of cornstarch…except I couldn’t remember exactly which brand it was.  I was hoping to recognize the box.  I didn’t.  So I looked at all the boxes, and I still couldn’t find the recipe I wanted. When I whined to my husband, he told me that is what I got for being so bad about throwing things out that we might potentially someday need.  He said it was served me right for getting rid of his holey t-shirts that he still wore. Uhm…yeah…the same but different.

Anyway, I went back to the internet looking for recipes that I hoped would be similar.   I spent the day trying out three different play doughs that require cooking.  The kids had a great time after school playing with my day’s output, but I was still frustrated with the results and wanting that original recipe.  Finally, I decided to search again.  I typed everything I could remember about the recipe into the search box.  It was the ugliest search I’ve ever done, and I’m embarrassed to even confess to it.  In any case, the stars aligned, the bits and bytes of Google love me, and there it was!  My recipe!

And here it is for you.  I’ll also include the other three recipes with my commentary afterward.

The Recipe for Cooked Salt Dough That I Like

1 1/2 C Corn Starch
1/2 C Flour
1 C Salt
2 tsp Cream of Tartar
1 Tbs Vegetable Oil
2 C Water
Optional coloring or scent

Mix all the ingredients in a medium sauce pan. Stir constantly while cooking over medium heat. After approximately 6 minutes the dough will gather on the stirring spoon and form a ball. Dump out onto waxed paper. (I just dumped it on the counter.) Let it cool until you can handle it. Form it together into a ball and let your kids have at it. Great texture for a dough! Just the right firmness and softness and smoothness. Turns a little rubbery over time, but can be softened again by letting it come to room temperature (I assume you store it in the fridge like me) and kneading in a little water.

Salt and Cornstarch Dough

2 C Salt
2/3 C Water
1 C Cornstarch
Additional 1/3 C COLD water
Optional coloring or scent

Mix salt, 2/3 C water and any optional colorings or scents in a sauce pan and heat until fairly warm. Remove from heat. In another container, mix together cornstarch and 1/3 C COLD water. Add the cornstarch mixture to the salt water, stirring constantly. Return pan to heat and stir until the mixture forms a smooth mass. Cool and play.

Commentary (because you’re dying to know what I think): I scented this dough with a hefty splash of vanilla extract. My kids said it smelled like cookies. They didn’t really like this dough though. It’s texture is rough because of all the salt. It’s sticky to work with, but it doesn’t stick to your hands. In fact, your hands end up with the satiny feel of cornstarch. The dough is also very soft, so it doesn’t work terribly well with cookie cutters or spatulas. All in all, probably my least favorite of the doughs I’ve tried.

Baking Soda and Cornstarch Dough
1 C Baking Soda
1/2 Cornstarch
3/4 C Water
Optional coloring or scent

Mix the baking soda and the cornstarch together in a saucepan. Mix the coloring and scent into the water and then pour into the pan, stirring constantly. Cook over medium heat while still stirring. When the mixture gathers together, remove from heat and let cool. Knead into a ball and give it to the kiddos.

Commentary: This play dough is more like a soft clay. It was very smooth and nice to the touch, maybe slightly sticky at first. This dough has one major challenge. If you overcook it at all it becomes crumbly or prone to cracking. You can smoosh it back together, but it doesn’t really hold as well as a traditional play dough. Even knowing this, I think I overcooked it a bit.

We had a really good time smashing the dough flat and then writing in it with toothpicks. Dylan practiced spelling words and Anya wrote numbers and drew shapes. Anya also spent a good deal of time putting this dough through my garlic press and making worms, pasta, and hair–a grand combination.

I colored this batch with a black cherry Kool-Aid packet. It fizzed when I added it–probably some kind of chemistry thing going on with the acid in the packet and the baking soda. But it didn’t seem to have any particular effect on the outcome of the dough. My kids definitely liked the deep pink color and the cherry smell. To sum up: second favorite dough.

Flour and Salt Dough
3 C Flour
1 1/2 C Salt
6 tsp Cream of Tartar
3 Tbs Oil
3 C Water
Optional coloring or scent

Dissolve salt in the water in a large pot. Add the other ingredients. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the dough pulls away from the sides and forms a ball. When cool enough to handle, knead for 2-3 minutes until it resembles the texture of Play-doh. Store in a sealed container. Should last for 3 months.

Commentary: This recipe started off rather badly for me. I couldn’t ever really get the salt to dissolve in the water, even after I brought it to a boil. Finally, I became worried that I was loosing too much liquid as steam, so I added in the other ingredients. Then it was pretty much instantly cooked. I really do think that I lost too much fluid.

This was a smooth dough that was pretty stiff and firm. It was also fairly dry to the touch and not at all sticky. I added in about 2 tsp of cinnamon and a scant teaspoon each of ginger and cloves. My kids said it smelled like a candle. It was a nice brown color from the cinnamon.

My gripe about this dough is mostly that the recipe was rather hard to do. Also, the longer the kids played with it the drier it got. So toward the end, the dough was kind of hard to smash all together again and reincorporate into a single lump. Again, I’m pretty sure this is due to loosing too much water at the start. Over all, not a huge fan.

Do you have another recipe I should try?  Let me know.  You know how…leave a comment.

Tags: fine motor skills, sensory activities