NurtureStore » Sensory

Valentine playdough

Cathy @ NurtureStore — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:00:32 +0000

Oh play dough, we love you. What would the 14th February be without some valentine playdough?

It’s got to be red, or possibly pink, and some glitter only makes it better. I was thinking about adding some scent – maybe some rosewater – but I asked L what she loved and my funny little girl said ‘satsumas’, so we got as close as we could and added some orange extract.

Printable valentine playdough recipe card

Using store cupboard ingredients our easy no cook playdough recipe is ready in about 3 minutes. Download our printable valentine playdough recipe card, keep it in your kitchen and you’re ready to whip some up whenever you need a playdough fix.

For some valentine fun we had a treasure hunt to see what red and pink items we could find to add in with the playdough. Silicone and paper cake cases, foil shapes and sequins, lollipop sticks and cookie cutters are a great springboard into some play.

You could make your loved ones some cupcakes…

lollipops (a fancy plate was requested by the little baker)

and zig zag cookies…

The perfect valentine playdough afternoon tea.

Love playdough?

Love playdough as much as we do? How about a chocolate playdough recipe, snow playdough or a free ebook with a year’s worth of playdough ideas?

Follow NurtureStore on Facebook for lots more creative play ideas.

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Valentine touchy-feely hearts

Cathy @ NurtureStore — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:00:52 +0000

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Show your babies and toddlers some love this Valentines day with some sensory play that’s adaptable to include even the youngest children. These love hearts are oh so touchy feely! A wonderful creative project for kids to make and explore.

This activity is part of the heart project: a collaboration of over 100 creative ideas raising money for the American Heart Foundation. You’ll need to check back tomorrow to find out all about the project but for now, here’s how to make these touchy feely hearts.

Valentine touchy feely hearts

Start by drawing lots of heart shapes on some card – all shapes and sizes, let the kids have a go!

Spread on some strong clear drying PVA / craft glue and your love heart canvas is ready to decorate.

Invite the children to sprinkle and press on all sorts of materials. Try to provide as many different textures as you can find.

Ideas to try include
:: tissue paper :: wrapping paper :: tin foil :: sequins :: glitter :: sandpaper :: wool :: string :: card :: ribbon :: velvet :: bubble wrap :: sand :: rice :: pasta :: cotton fabric :: lentils :: silk :: hessian :: chiffon

Toddlers can certainly join in with all this and even babies might help. If your baby is too young to do some sticking they can explore some of the materials while older siblings (or you!) create the hearts for them to explore once they’re finished.

As you’re using a strong craft glue most items should stick well to the hearts and still allow you to feel the full variety of different textures. If you’re using small items, such as glitter and sequins, an extra layer of glue over the top helps to hold the materials together. Adding extra folds and crinkles to the papers and fabrics adds even more texture.

The finished hearts look wonderful as a touchy feely art gallery. Hang them where your children can reach them to feel the different textures. You could also stick them in to a journal or scrap book to create a sensory book to share with babies, but be sure to read the book along with them to make sure none of the materials get free and end up in their mouths.

This project is one of over 100 creative ideas joining the very special heart project. Find out all about it here

But if you really can’t wait, why not have a look at our other Valentine craft ideas, such as our water painted hearts and our valentine gratitude tree and our symmetry art love hearts.

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Playdough and cocktail sticks

Cathy @ NurtureStore — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:54:20 +0000

Many of the play ideas I post here happen as a result of my children taking some everyday materials and experimenting. Having a well stocked making box (which really doesn’t mean lots of expensive art materials) and permission to help themselves to some of our kitchen supplies often leads to all sorts of creativity and learning. Today’s post is an example of how a fusion of two materials can produce lots of thinking about maths, dimensions, construction, creativity, roleplay and of course plenty of fun.

Play dough and cocktail sticks

You know we use play dough at lot in our house. I think it might just be the one play material we’d pick above all others. We’ve played with it week in week out for almost nine years! I’ve talked before about how much learning can be included in playdough play but the key thing to get the most from it is to mix things up a little. In my Let’s Play Dough e-book (which you can download for free, just click on the link) I’ve given you a list of 52 different materials to combine with your dough – so if you want, you can have a whole year’s worth of new play dough experiences. Take a look and see if there’s something there you’ve never used.

This week we’ve been mixing things up by adding cocktail sticks to our playdough. If you saw our Mad Hatter’s Tea Party you’ll know the cocktail sticks were intended to make an edible hedgehog – but B knows a great playdough idea when she sees one!

She wondered if the playdough would work as a ‘glue’ to hold the cocktail sticks together – and look what happened.

Triangles and squares began to appear – and lots of wondering and experimenting started happening. Could you make it bigger? Could you mix different shapes together? Could you build up?

L was playing along to, and she discovered the cocktail sticks give your playdough extra strength, to build tall strong creatures…

and re-inforced homes for them to live in.

Mix up your play dough

Are you playing with play dough this week? What could you add in to give your children a different experience this time?

If you’ve already tried playdough with cocktail sticks maybe you could try twigs, straws, art , shells or candles?

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Playdough and art

Cathy @ NurtureStore — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:28:25 +0000

We’ve been mixing two of our favourite things this week: playdough and art. My girls love to make and create, especially if they can make something to play with too. Here’s their winter woodland with a forest of Christmas trees.

How to make cocktail stick Christmas trees

We originally made the trees to decorate our Christmas tree and the girls spent two weeks gazing at the cake, waiting for it all to be eaten so they could get their hands on the trees to play with!

To make the trees we cut out lots of triangles from white card. Then we had a treasure hunt through our drawing box to collect together all the green pens, pencils and crayons we could find. The girls set to work adding colour and patterns to make the trees – with no two exactly alike. A cocktail stick fastened on the back made the trunk and gave a spike to stick first into the icing and later into the playdough.

How to make snow playdough

We used our favourite no cook recipe for the snow playdough. For extra white dough you can use cornflour instead of plain flour, and a whole heap of silver glitter adds to the frosty effect.

Once you’ve made your winter forest you might like to make some playdough snowmen too.

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Art for children: it ain’t what you make…

Cathy @ NurtureStore — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:00:13 +0000

These photos were taken last week while L was painting and really remind me what art for children is all about. She had so much fun playing with the paint and was very focused on what she was doing. There was no chatting – which is unusual for L! – she was really in the moment, enjoying and creating.

Art for children is all about the process. It’s about making your mark, trying new materials, experimenting with the colours, shapes and feel. It’s about gaining confidence and taking risks. It’s about fun and enjoying the moment.

There was no end product in L’s art – she wasn’t interested in keeping the final painting at all. For her it was all about the doing.

We’re resolving to try lots of new art materials this year and to try all sorts of techniques.

Just for the doing.

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