Creative Ways to Spend a Sick Day

How do you get through sick days?

With Spring just around the corner, I thought that maybe maybe maybe we would be the lucky ones who made it through winter without getting sick. Wishful thinking! My oldest came down with a fever the other day and we’ve been holed up at home, gathering our energy and drinking lots of fluids.

I have an arsenal of indoor activity ideas, but to be stuck inside all day long…that’s another story. Lots of tea, patience, and cuddles are in top order.

There was a break in the day when we felt a little better. So we threw on our rainboots for some puddle stomping. Fresh air always helps, doesn’t it?

Bring Books to Life

The other day I fell in love with this article on Little Stories called How to Pretend.The idea that really stuck with me was about acting out books to bring them to life.

To pull this off, I found a big box of stuffed animals in our closet — little friends that we haven’t seen in ages. That alone was thrilling to my kids. And then we picked out a few favorite books with animal characters that we could bring to life with our toys and puppets.

I envisioned that I would lead a puppet show of sorts while reading the books, sort of like a librarian or preschool teacher telling a story through a felt board. But my 3 year old wanted to enact the roles while I read. I live for these moments that surprise.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (affiliate) was especially good for putting all of our toys to work. We don’t have a cat stuffed animal, but my kids were happy to substitute bunny. They really loved this and I’m sure we’ll do it again on our healthy days too.

It looks like we’re home for one more day, just to be safe.

I have a fun Saint Paddy’s Day photo booth invitation set up, but not too many more ideas.

What do you like to do with your kids on sick days? How do you keep them happily engaged indoors all day long?

More Sick Day Ideas

I was interviewed in this article, Screen-free Alternatives for Sick Days, at The Washington Post, where I share simple and engaging ideas (that don’t take tons of energy) such as playing with play dough, creating with stickers, making tape roads, and playing with a sensory bin. Click over for more ideas.

6 Kids Valentines Day Activities

By Rachelle 11 Comments

We’ve been crafting up a Valentine’s storm, which mostly means that three-year old N has been collaging all our self-serve bits and bobs of Valentine goodness into a taped-up, glued, and spackled hodge podge of Valentine craziness. In other words, we’ve been having fun, but it’s not something anyone else would likely take inspiration from or worth blogging about!

That said, we have been playing with an amazing batch of Valentine play dough that’s always good for open-ended exploration and imagination-building. And, for my 1.5 year old, it’s great for hand-eye coordination and fine-motor skill development.

I keep my play dough in a big sealable bowl or zipped bag, and it will last for months. I use this recipe, and it’s hands-down the best one out there for the play dough job. Here are the ingredients, but click over to the recipe for all the deets:

The Ingredients

2.5 cups water
1 1/4 c. salt
1 1/2 tbsp. cream of tartar
5 tbsp. vegetable oil
2.5 cups flour
Food coloring or liquid watercolors. I really like Wilton Icing Colors or Liquid Watercolors (from Discount School Supply), which make gorgeous shades of play dough to match any occasion, mood, or toddler request.

For our Valentine Play Dough Station, I made a batch of white dough and a batch of dark pink, and then the kids helped me loosely mix them together to make this fun, mottled Valentine concoction. Oh, and we added peppermint oil to the mix to give it a nice, fresh smell. This would be perfect for Christmas too…something to keep in mind for later.

I gave my kids a new set of heart-shaped cookie cutters, which proved to be too difficult for my little one to effectively use on her own. But that didn’t stop her from trying! I cut a few shapes for her, which she really enjoyed pulling out of the dough and then breaking into three or four pieces. Some of the hearts were too challenging for her to pull out on her own, so I’d break the dough walls, which helped her remove the hearts somewhat intact.

She also enjoyed playing with the rolling pin and practiced rolling snakes.

I was recently asked which of our art materials is absolutely indispensable, and while there are many, play dough is one of those materials that appeals to a wide variety of ages because the threshold is so low. Very young children know exactly what to do with it, and as children get older their ability to manipulate it and use it for imaginative play grows along with them.

Play dough, I love you…Happy Valentine’s Day!

Interested in more Tinkerlab-style Valentines?

Deconstructed Valentines

Valentine Garland

Self-serve Valentines

All-in-one Valentine Envelope

Valentine Snack

Happy Valentine’s Day!

30 Valentine Activities for Kids

By Rachelle 25 Comments

This mother-lode of Valentine activities for kids (toddlers, preschoolers, and any other hands-on kids) covers everything from cards to treats. With 30 Valentine activities for kids here, this should keep us all busy until St. Patrick’s Day!

If you’re so inclined to roll up your sleeves and make something for Valentine’s Day, here are thirty Valentine activities for kids to get you started…

Valentine Cards

How to draw cut out a heart for preschool children, TinkerLab

Make a Valentine Card and Envelope from one heart (above), TinkerLab

Deconstructed Valentines: perfect for toddlers!, Tinkerlab

Self-serve Valentines Station, Tinkerlab

Cards from the Heart: Cut heart shapes from your child’s artwork, The Golden Gleam

Stained Glass Valentines: Peephole cards and tissue paper, Creative Family Fun

Valentine Hearts on a Canvas, Red Ted Art

5 ways to make Valentines Cards, Mama Pea Pod

Set up a Valentine Writing Center, Growing Book by Book

Valentine Sewing Cards for Preschool Children, TinkerLab

Easy Valentine Bookmarks: An awesome no-candy Valentine gift idea, TinkerLab

Valentine Gifts

Heart Blotto T-shirt, The Chocolate Muffin Tree (photo above)

How to Make a Heart Doily T-shirt, The Artful Parent

Make a Jar of Hearts for Dad, The Outlaw Mom

DIY Valentine Heart Puzzle, Allyou

Valentine Heart Gift Bag, Nurturestore

Child-sewn Felt Hearts, MamaSmiles

Heart-shaped Birdseed Cakes, Little Wonders’ Days

Heart Mobile, Rainy Day Mum

Homemade Heart Soaps, Sunhats and Wellie Boots

Magazine Tree of Hearts, Putti’s World

Valentine Crafts and Decorations

Valentine’s Day Garland, Kiwi Crate

Heart Snowflakes, Let Kids Create

Child-made String of Hearts Garland, Hands on as we Grow

Owl-shaped Valentine Craft, This Simple Home

Valentine Activities for Kids

Valentine Play Dough Station, Tinkerlab

Valentine Sensory Bin, The Iowa Farmer’s Wife

Lacing Valentine Card, The Outlaw Mom

Valentine’s Art Journal, Mommy Labs

Valentine’s Day Sensory Box with pink rice, Pink, and Green Mama

Simple Word-matching Game, The Homeschool Den

Valentine Treats

Valentine Snack with Toast, cream cheese, and sprinkles. Looks just like a cookie!, Tinkerlab

Sweetheart S’mores with heart marshmallows, graham crackers, peanut butter, and strawberries. A Mom with a Lesson Plan

Stained-glass Cookies: So pretty!, The Outlaw Mom

Delicious Mini Heart Pies, TinkerLab

The Best Homemade Playdough Recipe (super soft, lasts for months)

By Rachelle 94 Comments

At TinkerLab, we love making playdough, and today we’re sharing what is easily the BEST playdough recipe ever. I’ve been making this recipe for over seven years, and haven’t looked back since. The recipe was handed down to me by a preschool teacher, and it can’t be beat. I’m so confident about this recipe, in fact, that there’s a copy of it in my best-selling book, Tinkerlab: A Hands-on Guide for Little Inventors.

Why this is the best playdough recipe

It’s easy to make (see our no-cook version of the recipe below)
It will last for months if stored in a sealed container or bag
It’s inexpensive. Compare it to store bought dough and you are saving loads of cash.
The texture is divine. It’s soft, pliable, and fun to work with.

Our Plan

My plan was to make a simple batch of play dough to replace the sparkly dried out purple stuff that happily met our cookie-making, glitter infusing, practice cutting, snowman-making needs over the past two months. I asked my daughter what color she would like this time around, and she answered with…

ALL of them.

Ahem. Right.

The way I have always made playdough requires that I add the color to the whole batch while it’s cooking, making it difficult to make multiple colors. But by some lucky, happy accident we managed to add the ingredients in the wrong order, which is no doubt the result of making dough with a two year old while chatting with my mother-in-law and goo-gooing at my baby! But, as that same luck would have it, I think we landed on the best playdough recipe yet. The texture is buttery and I was able to deliver on the multiple colors request.

And this ingredient, my friends, is the secret to having strong, smooth playdough that won’t crumble.

So, without further ado…The Best Playdough Recipe

Ingredients

This post contains affiliate links

2.5 cups water
1 1/4 c. salt
1 1/2 tbsp. cream of tartar
5 tbsp. vegetable oil
2.5 cups flour
Food coloring or liquid watercolors. I’m a fan Sax Concentrated Liquid Watercolors and Wilton Icing Colors, which make gorgeous shades of play dough to match any occasion, mood, or toddler request.

Steps

Mix everything but the food coloring together in a large pot until somewhat smooth. It will be lumpy. Not to worry, the dough will get smoother as it cooks.
Cook the dough over a low heat. Mix frequently. The water will slowly cook out of the mixture and you’ll notice it starts to take on a sticky dough appearance. Keep mixing until the edges of the dough along the side and bottom of the pan appear dry. Pinch a piece of dough. If it’s not gooey, the dough is ready.
Place the dough on a counter top or large cutting board that can withstand a little food coloring.
Knead the warm dough until it’s smooth and then divide it into the number of colors that you’d like to make. I divided mine into four balls, flattened each of them, added a little bit of food coloring or liquid watercolors, and then kneaded it in. I added more food coloring to get the desired shades of yellow, pink, teal, and lavender.
Play with the dough right away or store it in a large Ziplock bag or sealed container. Unused, it’ll keep for months. For play dough tool ideas, you can read this post.

There you have it, rainbow play dough (aka the best playdough recipe ever).

No-cook Best Playdough Recipe:

I’ve been making this dough for a few years now without too many changes. After investing in this amazing BPA-free electric kettle, I was wondering if I could make this playdough off the stove top. So I did some experimenting, and low and behold — this recipe can be even easier and still the amazing dough that we all love. Here you go: No-Cook Playdough recipe.

More Playdough Recipes

How to Make Cloud Dough, the easiest dough recipe that calls for oil and flour.

How to Make Goop with just cornstarch and water.

Make amazing scented pumpkin spice playdough.

How to make Gluten-free Cloud Dough

Glowing Playdough

DIY Masa Playdough, made with masa harina

How to make Salt Dough with just salt, flour, and water.

What Else Can you do with Liquid Watercolors?

Liquid watercolors can be used for so many other recipes and projects such as:

Painting with Straws
Doily and Watercolor paintings
Marbleized Paper
Colorful Goop, a seriously amazing sensory experience

Celery Science Experiment

By Rachelle 32 Comments

While I’m an art educator by trade, having small people pull at my pants has turned me into a mini-alchemist who’s suddenly found herself reading books to her kids about Galileo and brewing all sorts of concoctions in our kitchen (vinegar and baking soda, anyone?). Preschoolers are simply curious and see no boundaries between art and science, making this celery experiment a wonderful early STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) activity for young children.

The celery science experiment is easy to achieve with basic kitchen materials and it’s embedded with all sorts of opportunities for introducing the scientific method (in short: asking scientific questions, making predictions, and conducting an experiment).

Supplies

Celery with leafy tops
Clear glasses
Water
Food coloring

The Celery Science Experiment

N poured water into three glasses. about 3/4 cup in each.

Then she added a few drops of food coloring — 5-8 drops, but who’s counting! — into the glasses and stirred with a piece of celery, which was left in the glass. And then we talked about what might happen if we left the celery in the colored water for a while.

We oohed and ahhed over the lava-lamp effect of the food coloring as it hit the water.

The Scientific Method: Make Predictions

We started off with red, yellow, and green, but N really wanted to mix colors and added blue and red to the green water (far right). We revisited our earlier discussion and made predictions about how the celery might change.

While waiting for something to happen, I chopped the celery heart off the bottom of the stalk and set up a printing activity.

N humored me by making a few prints and then asked if she could play with colored water. Totally!

While I only have one photo of this, it was probably the highlight of the afternoon.

When we checked the celery a couple hours later, this is what it looked like. I put a leafy top next to it so you can see how subtle the change is. Hmmm. While I could see the change, I wasn’t sure it would make a big impact on my daughter. And then I realized that I should have just put the leafy parts in the water for a more dramatic result. Done!

A few hours later the blue/green had the most pronounced shift, but the red and yellow were visibly different too.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the red and blue-green died celery tops, about 16 hours after the stalks had been sitting in the water. N seemed to appreciate the difference, but wasn’t nearly as impressed as her dad and I were.

Why does celery absorb food coloring?

In terms that preschoolers can understand…

Plants need water to survive and they draw water up from their roots through their capillaries. The capillaries are hollow and act a lot like a straw. Adding color to the water helps us visualize this usually invisible process.

Pom Pom Christmas Bauble Ornaments

By Rachelle 4 Comments

Oh what fun! When the holiday season gets a little bit too busy, I like to retreat with a hot cup of tea, cozy socks, and a juicy magazine. And when it comes to crafting, I try to keep things super simple so my mind doesn’t feel that intense overwhelm that can come with doing too much. In that spirit, this Pom Pom Christmas Ornament Bauble has got to be one of the easiest ornament crafts around. To set this up requires little effort, and the result is charming.

Supplies

Note: This post contains affiliate links

Clear plastic ornament balls like these.
Small pom poms like these
Ribbon
Low-heat glue gun << We used this dual temperature glue gun from Elmer’s

Set-up and Steps

Clear the table and set up a bowl of pom poms, a few clear ornament balls, ribbon, and the low-heat glue gun.
Invite your child to create an ornament.
Fill the ornament with pom poms.
Tie a ribbon around the top loop.
Add pom poms to the ribbon with the glue gun.

Creativity Corner

Sometimes kids will come up with their own ideas that stretch outside the bounds of what you may have in mind. I love these moments and encourage them as they help children develop their independence and imagination. If your child wants to add sequins or buttons instead of pom poms, or wants to fill the ball with glitter, be open to the possibility that your child may come up with his or her own ideas. This is a great opportunity for playful crafting. Encourage creativity and imagination!

Glue Gun Crafts with Kids

Scrap Wood Sculptures: Glue Gun Skill Building Activity

Build Found Object Junk Critters

More Ornaments with Kids

Salt Dough Ornaments. These are gorgeous and last for multiple seasons.

Pipe Cleaner (Chenille Stem) Ornaments with beads

Stacked Felt Ornaments that teach sewing basics.

DIY Fabric Ornaments, beginning sewing project.

More Pom Pom Ornaments!

Click here to learn how to make another super easy Pom Pom Christmas Ornament with Pinecones…