Gluten free, Casein free, soy free, dye free playdough

Did you know playdough has gluten in it? Not to mention dyes. So since starting Little Bean on the GFCF. dye free diet, we have kind of discouraged the use of our playdough, both homemade and store bought. Some say the proteins in gluten are too large to go in through skin, others say they aren't. To be on the safe side, I adapted my homemade recipe for those of us with kids on this special diet.

It turned out alright! It's a little fluffier, stretchier, and a bit too sticky but the kids really seem to be enjoying it, and I love that it is completely safe for them. I guess I'll have to keep perfecting it, but for now it works for us. :)

Here's the recipe:

1 cup Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour (this is GF)

1 cup water

1/2 cup salt

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1/4 teaspoon Xantham Gum

Put all the ingredients in a pan. Stir constantly until it forms a ball, using low to med heat. We used a little cinnamon for interest, and added a bit more oil afterward to help with the stickiness.

That's it!

Update: This recipe was a flop! After it had been refridgerated for a day or so, it was too tough to play with. It was more like therapy putty than playdough. I'll have to try again another time!

Miss O's Version of The Littlest Pet Shop!

I don't know about your kids, but mine love those little squishy plastic toys you can get from the 25 cent machines. My dear husband is a sucker too when it comes to buying trinkets for them. So they both have quite the collection. Miss O made this little Lego pet shop for her squishies the other day! Cute, huh? ;)

Fire Truck Extension Activity

Remember my TOS review on the firefighting unit? We ended our unit study on fire fighters by making this fun hideaway--a fire truck for the kids to play in! For our history curriculum next year, we are using a Winter Promise curriculum called Hideaways in History. As part of the curriculum, we were sent this book, which has all kinds of ideas on different hideaways to make with and for your children. This is a GREAT and fun resource whether you use Winter Promise or not, and can be purchased through Amazon.

The kids were able to help out quite a bit, painting and cutting out different decorations for their fire truck. But mainly, they really enjoyed playing with it!

Up and My Little Wilderness Explorers

Little Bean received this nifty book from a family friend this Christmas, and has really been enjoying it. I watched Disney's Up with my husband, and let me tell you, I wouldn't let my little ones watch it. It was very suspenseful, even for me! But, the book is quite cute! It's not a story book; rather it is a Wilderness Explorer's Guide book!
Each page tells the story of how the little guy in the movie (his name escapes me) earned his badges. This page is all about the gardening badge:

And here are pages for the knot tying and sewing badges, complete with examples of different stitches and knots:

In the back, there are three pages loaded with stickers, including big round stickers with pictures that represent each badge. I cut out an old piece of butcher paper, and Little Bean enjoyed adding "badges" to his "sash". He didn't want to use up all the stickers, but later I found his open book and all the badges stuck to his paper sash!

Of course, Miss O wanted to model the sash too!

It would've been a lot of fun to try to do some of the badge requirements and add a badge each time he completed an activity, but frankly, he had already dug into the stickers by the time I thought this project up, so it was too late. He may be a little young for that yet as well, and it'd probably not be as exciting if he had to wait for each badge. It would be fun to do something like that with an older kid though. :)

Shape Scapes--A Different Kind of Building Toy

Have you heard of Shape Scapes? Shapes Scapes were created by a Los Angeles artist and feature over 90 unique and durable plastic shapes that click together. Your child can make any number of different sculptures and designs as they explore and build fine motor skills while they play. These normally run about 30 dollars a set--well worth it though if you are on the look out for a really different and interesting building toy other than the typical lego or mega block. We were super lucky to find a complete set at our local thrift store for only $2.92!! I was stoked, and the kids have had a great time playing with these!

"Animal With Big Eyes" by Little Bean:

"Clapping Man" by Little Bean:

"A Bird Resting in the Sun" by Miss O:

DIY Dollhouse--for next to nothing

I don't know how many of you love the Charlie and Lola books by Lauren Child, but in our house they are an absolute favorite. I actually discovered them in my Children's Lit class in college, and fell in love. So when I stumbled across this Charlie and Lola themed do-it-yourself dollhouse here, I knew this was something I wanted to make for Miss O. I've finally finished it, and it's sitting under our Christmas tree as we speak. Here is a link to a tutorial on how to make this super inexpensive, fun project for your little ones. In the mean time, enjoy!!

Charlie, in his room making sure Lola stays out of trouble!
In the kitchen together. "But, I don't EAT apples, Charlie!"

And of course, Lola's room. Painting at her easel IS her favorite and her best, you know!

And relaxing in the living room together. Lola's checking out those pink books I think!

And a top view: The dollhouse is made from foam core board from the craft store. The walls are scrapbooking paper, and the decor is from an old magazine. My dh did all the measuring and cutting to get the dollhouse to slip together correctly. I traced with pencil onto linen fabric from a Charlie and Lola book we already had, and hand embroidered the dolls. I stitched them up into stuffies on my mom's machine. I LOVE how this turned out, so hopefully Miss O will too!

Woodkin's Dress Up Dolls

I've been meaning to do a post about this toy for ages, but have just now gotten around to it. The kids and I found this little game that the thrift store for about $1.50. It was a comeplete set, so I was so excited when I found it.

What is it, you ask? It's a Woodkins Dress Up Doll. Our set includes one Woodkin wooden dress up doll, 4 magnetic interchangable faces, and 8 pieces of "clothing".
Here she is with a few of her outfits:
And here is how you play with her--open up the flap and lay a small square of cloth over her. You can also lay a smaller cloth down for shoes and socks, or even a head band. You can do dresses, shorts and tees, long or short sleeves, whatever you can think of you can try.

Lower the flap and see how cute she looks in her new outfit!

Both of the kids really like this toy. It would be a great Christmas gift for a special little girl in your life too. Check out some more sets on Amazon here.

Sorting Pretty Beads

Miss O spent some time sorting these decorative beads this week. She loved exploring the different colors, and spent quite a while working on this activity.

Flower Matching Game

I printed and laminated this file folder matching game from File Folder Fun, a GREAT online resource for FREE file folder games. If you have not been, you must check them out. I have printed many games from there, and all of them have been fun and engaging for the kids. I chose this specific one for Miss O because she has mastered simple matching, and this one requires a bit more thinking, as you have to match two colors. You may have one bee that is pink and green striped and one that is dark and light pink striped, and you have to make that distinction in order to comeplete the game correctly. Miss O did very well with this, but when she came to the last two bees, she noticed on her own that something was amiss, and was able to correct her work without my help.

Pouring Popcorn

Pouring is a classic Montessori activity which I included in both Little Bean and Miss O's boxes this week. Both of them enjoyed this activity tremendously. It was both challenging and rewarding for them. After working with this for a while, Little Bean commented, "Mom, I like the way the popcorn sounds when I pour it" and then, "and the way it feels--it's smooth and bumpy and pokey all at once." I thought it was interesting how he was using all his senses to understand and complete his work. I'm continually impressed with how such simple activities are really so much more enriching and complex in the eyes of children.

A Homemade Matching Game

I've seen these on a few sites, but I think I first saw them on Dollar Store Crafts. I decided to whip up a batch for a homemade Christmas gift, and I am really happy with how they turned out. My only complaint (and it's kind of a biggie) is that they are quite tacky, and so when you stack them up and put them a away for a few hours, they end up sticking together and you have to pry them apart. I covered each tile with a layer of glossy Modge Podge.

Anyone know what I did wrong or why they are sticking? They have been drying for 4 days, so I can't imagine it's just that they need more time to dry out. Is there anything I can do to fix this problem?? Help!

Bottle Cap Fridge Mosaic

A friend from my husband's work who drinks a lot of bottled drinks began saving bottle caps for me a few months ago because I like to use them to make matching games for the kids. Well, the kids have pretty well mastered simple matching games, and now I am left with a ton of bottle caps. Lucky me, I stumbled across a mom blogger who had turned her old bottle caps into a fridge mosaic. Sadly, I cannot remember where I saw this, so if it's you, then please do let me know so I can give credit where credit is due!

This is SO easy to make. I just stuck a small piece of sticky back magetic tape to the back of each cap and that's IT! The kids have really enjoyed this. They split the magnets off between them and make different shapes or long lines of caps on the fridge. Miss O is fond of separating them by color, while Little Bean likes to make "Mickey heads" out of three bottle caps. Who knew something so simple would be so entertaining to them?!?

Playing School

After school time one day last week, I caught Miss O and Little Bean at their desks, pretending to have school time. Little Bean was the teacher, handing Miss O tangram pieces and directing her where to put each piece! So cute!

Oh, the possibilities of cardboard boxes!

Last week I whipped up this cardboard house for the kids and their playgroup friends, and it was a big hit! What have you made from old cardboard boxes?

Another Homemade Bubble Wand

Not the best picture in the world, but what you see here is a bubble wand--made out of several plastic straws, snipped in half and taped into a circle with scotch tape. I saw this idea on this blog, and thought I'd give it a try. This worked really well; it produces tons of tiny bubbles, and bubbles all connected together into one big bubble. The thing I liked about it was that it was really easy for the kids to do; even Miss O, who usually can't make a traditional bubble wand do much, had an easy time with this one. The one flaw was that they didn't know which end to dip and which end to blow. Each time they'd end up dipping the opposite end in until both ends were covered in bubble goo. If I were to make these again, I'd some how color code the blowing side versus the dipping side. Happy bubble making! :)

A Few Rock Friends

I came across this post recently and knew it was something I wanted to make for the kids. She has a great tutorial on how to make these, so I'll let you visit her blog for that.

Instead of the mouse picnic theme the original poster went with, I decided on an ocean theme for our rocks. The kids and I went out searching for rocks in the park near our home, and then took them out back to wash them. I filled a plastic tub with soap and water and let them scrub down the rocks. Then, while they were busy watching a movie I cut out simple ocean themed shapes from fabric and adhered them with ModgePodge.

I was pretty happy with how these turned out, but as my husband pointed out, a rock, no matter how cute, is still a rock, and there is always the chance that one of the kids might decide to throw it (not good). We decided to use them in the lentil trays, because knowing my kids like I do, they are only going to throw a toy if they are upset and fighting over it, and that never happens when they play with the rice and lentils because they play separately. Another option I might do is to use them as decoration in my son's room, which is fish themed. They'd be cute sitting up on a shelf, just as display items. At any rate, I thought these were fun to make, and I was certainly satisfied with the project. Thanks, Red Bird Crafts, for sharing!

Activity Packs

I first saw these activity packs for traveling here (sorry, I couldn't find the exact post she made about them, but she does have a search feature, so if you are interested, do take the time to look at her post about it because she did a wonderful job with her kits), and knew it was something I would like to try one day when our family had a chance to travel, so I filed the idea away for a while, and was finally able to try it this week on the kid's first airplane ride. The trip included two plane rides, the first for about 4 hours, and the second close to 2 hours, so we had plenty of time to see what worked and what didn't.

I managed to fit quite a few activities into these two tiny backpacks, and the kids were able to carry their own toys for the entire trip. We also came home without having lost any of the pieces--amazing!

Here are the activities in their ziplock bags. I stuffed half into Miss O's backpack and and half into Little Bean's backpack. In addition to what you see here, I included their tiny blankies and some silly putty (the silly putty was a big hit with the both of them).
In one bag, a tiny potato head and some parts. This was brought out only once and only for a few minutes; I've definitely decided not to hang onto these much longer:

Some colorforms--silly faces. This is part of a new game I purchased on Amazon for them. They enjoyed this one both on the plane and at the hotel.

A purse filled with goodies. This was a favorite with Miss O. She played with the contents for over an hour on one flight.

Stringing. I thought I'd give this a whirl, but Miss O only played with it for a few minutes, and Little Bean, not at all.

A magnet board and some fish and silly face magnets. The silly faces didn't get played with at all, but Little Bean played with the fish magnets for a LONG time on the way home.

Rush Hour. I thought Little Bean might enjoy just playing with the cars or arranging them according to the cards. He did try this a few times, but not a whole lot.

A mini homemade felt board and some felt. This came in handy several times, both on the plane for Miss O, and in church last Sunday for Little Bean.

What kinds of things do you bring on trips to keep the kids busy?