One of the challenges for me has been to carve out time with just the big girls. My time and energy is monopolized most of the day by 2 little guys (well - honestly the littlest one in our bunch). I have been trying to skip the nap for mommy when I put the boys down for rest and do something with the girls.
One afternoon, we decided to make some play dough. I have had this recipe for years and have never done it. Not sure why...just too busy, I guess. But when you are cocooning at home and looking for something to do...you bring out all your ideas and try to keep the little ones entertained.
This is a fun book with cool recipes for all your homemade goodies. Our next project will be homemade bubbles. I'll let you know how it turns out.
The girls often enjoy working in the kitchen with me and although this was fun, it wasn't quite as fun as making brownies or cupcakes and getting to lick the bowl clean.I made a REALLY big batch and here is the recipe I used to make enough dough for all the kids to share.
4 cups boiling water
2 cups salt
4 cups all purpose flour
4 tablespoons alum
4 tablespoons veggie oil
Remove the boiling water from the stove and add the salt. In medium bowl mix the rest if the ingredients. Add the salted water and mix the dough. Add food coloring if desired. Kneed it by hand when it has cooled a bit.
2 cups salt
4 cups all purpose flour
4 tablespoons alum
4 tablespoons veggie oil
Remove the boiling water from the stove and add the salt. In medium bowl mix the rest if the ingredients. Add the salted water and mix the dough. Add food coloring if desired. Kneed it by hand when it has cooled a bit.
Once the boys got up from their rest time, they got to play with it too. I just had to let them know we don't eat it. And as you can imagine around here, I act all of those concepts out to communicate to them what I need to get across.
I love how these kinds of activities bring all the kids together and allows them to bond and connect as siblings.
If you look closely, you will see little man Tate smiling (well, kind of a smile that says "watch out, I am a handful"). He is so fast it is hard to catch him smiling. Well, that and I am using my phone as a camera. I still haven't gotten back to taking the time to uploading real pictures. Good thing I can snap a shot and email it to myself. At least I am documenting our life here at home.
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