"Hands on" Fun

Besides the kids learning about measuring out recipes and feeling new textures, these things keep them busy for hours!

1. Cloud Dough
We filled up an empty toy bucket, laid out a towel on the floor and broke out some of our smaller beach toys. This is by far Vans favorite of them all.
Cloud Dough is easy to vacuum up and leaves a fresh smell to the room!

Mix together 8 cups of flour with 1 cup of baby oil.

2. Rice Tank
Carolina rice, I find to only be tasty in rice pudding. So when the big bag was on sale at the supermarket I bought it strictly for play.
Dumping half of the bag into a large jar with a few drops of rubbing alcohol and food coloring I shook it a ton and left it laid out on a towel overnight to dry.

We went with a grassy green.
Van sat, wrist deep at the counter with an aluminum pan full of rice and little dump trucks every afternoon for about a week!

I warn, this isn't as fun to clean up.

3. Oobleck
This was NOT Vans favorite, but by far mine! One late night we whipped up a batch with friends and couldn't keep our fingers out of it!
Mix together 1 cup of water and 1 1/2 cups of cornstarch in a bowl.
Then, just dig in. Scooping it up as an almost solid and watching it drip through your fingers as a liquid is wild. If you've got a speaker available place your bowl of oobleck atop and watch it dance!

4. Goo
Van quit this before it was even done being made. I didn't push it with hopes that he'll be intrigued about it when he sees us playing in it later.
This goo makes a slimy and cold feel that their little hands are really not used to.
Mix together 1 teaspoon of borax in 1/2 cup of warm water. Pour into a bowl with 8oz of school glue. This will instantly become stringy.

5. Bored Bags

Ok, so we only did this once. But maybe my ONE idea could get your ball rolling!

I had three kids for the day and they were getting bored with everything offered to them. While they watched a movie I whipped up some cupcakes.. Felt cupcakes.

I grabbed every color of wool felt I owned and started cutting. Cupcake shapes, frosting shapes, stripes, polka dots, sprinkles, hearts and other shapes that they can get creative with. I laid out the pieces for them and let them get to building and my, were they some interesting looking cupcakes! When they were done "baking" we cleaned up the pieces into a ziploc.

Two other ideas I had were decorating a big felt Christmas tree with cut-out ornaments, and decorating a big felt face. Cutting out shapes for your template is easier than you may think.

Everything doesn't have to be perfect, just obvious. If I kid doesn't know that those are eyes for their cut-out face they will be easily confused.

Wool felt is cheap! Michaels sells small sheets and Jo-Ann's sells it by the yard.

Have fun! It's easy!