Friday, March 07, 2008

Fix-it Friday in March

It isn't too late! Write a post on something you know how to do, or something you enjoy or just link to something informative. Come back and leave a comment and I will make sure you are linked up at the top!
Eliza's Mom wrote us a song! Go check her out.



Fix-it Friday



A long time ago and in a galaxy far, far away. Okay, not in another galaxy, but sometimes it does feel like a lifetime ago, The Tangled kids were little. Okay, okay, most of them are still little, but then they were YOUNG. Very young. Pygmy Child was 8 when I had JJ. Five kids, 8 and under. Homeschooled no less. I was busy, but my first business was always raising my children. I am HUGE believer in having fun. Everyone should have fun. Kids and moms. As a young mother, I had a chance to be mentored by some really extraordinary people. One of them was Bev Bos. She was a preschool teacher that taught in a nearby town and also gave workshops. Art for art's sake, and child initiated play are two of her favorite sayings. I learned how important a child's play is to their wholeness as a human, how important getting dirty is to a child's growth and how to set a stage where children can blossom. Her book Don't Move the Muffin Tins is well worn, stained and dog eared from much use. If I could recommend just ONE book for parents with toddlers/preschoolers/young children on how to do enriching activities with their child, this book is it.
One of my most amazing memories of her workshop was the big bubble. I stood in the middle of a small wading pool that had an inch or two of bubble solution in it. There was a hula hoop on the bottom and a folded towel on top of that so you didn't slip. I stood on the towel and two other people grabbed the hula hoop and slowly pulled it up. Before I knew it, I was standing in the middle of a huge, iridescent bubble. The rainbows shifted and melted on the surface of the bubble in front of me and the light was as if I had never seen light before. It was magical. For a child, you would ask them where they were floating off to in the bubble and have the describe what they were seeing in their imaginations as they floated along.
So for Fix-it Friday, I am sharing with you my favorite play dough recipe and a couple of awesome websites to help enrich the child in all of us!

The Best Play Dough Ever!
4 cups flour
1 cup salt
4 cups water
4 tablespoons oil
1/2 cup cream of tartar
Mix all ingredients in a sauce pan. Cook and stir over low/medium heat until dough is completely formed and no longer sticky. Allow to cool until just warm and knead it well. You can add food colors if you want to color while you are cooking it, or knead it in after if you want to use one batch with different colors. Be aware though, if you add food color after, you will get it all over your hands! So wear gloves, or have colored hands for a while.

Here is a link to a bunch of bubble related activities, including some recipes for homemade bubbles:Bubbles

Here is a great guide to encouraging children to create:
Guiding Children

Okay, enough talking! Go play!

7 Kids Who Want To Play:

elizasmom said...

Hey — I almost did a playdo thing myself for this Friday! Making your own is SOO easy. We will have to try the bubbles when it gets warm.

I am going to do another recipe, I even have the photos ready, but I ned to assemble my post — it'll be up later tonight.

Anonymous said...

Yea Bev Bos! And try adding a package of unsweetened Kool Aid to the playdough. Gives you colr and smell. (Your recipe is large. You may need 2.)

Jillybean said...

I'll have to try the kid in a bubble thing with Max. It sounds like fun.

Katie said...

sorry, couldn't manage to make this week. I was too busy driving around the countryside in a minibus dropping off runners for the race I was helping with. Hopefully I'll be back next week!

Jessi Louise said...

I love doing stuff like this with the boys. We will definitely have to try the bubble thing and they are always up for play dough. Thanks for the recipe!

Amber said...

OOhhh! I want to do the bubble thing this summer! I let my kids play play dough with leftover fondant...

Miss Melissa said...

I want to do the bubble thing after all the evil snow melts.

Also, I got one of those awesome loom knitting things because of you. I am now a yarn addict and the proud owner of the entire "Knifty Knitter" line. I thank you milady, because now I knit instead of munching chips when I miss the evil ciggy butts. :)