Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Make Your Own Bathtub Fingerpaints

I saw this recipe and thought, "huh, why not make one more thing for my kid to create a mess with?" The beauty of this one is that the main ingredient is soap! So really she is making a mess and cleaning it up all at the same time.

What you need:
-1 cup of handsoap for each color you want to make. Clear or white.
-Cornstarch
-Food coloring
- Container for each batch you make. I was puzzled as to what to use. After perusing the aisles at the dollar store, I settled on those squirt bottles you use for condiments. Red for catsup, yellow for mustard and a clear one. That way Jacq could squirt the liquid out and it was already in a storage container to use again.

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First, get a bowl and add one cup of soap. One softsoap container equals one cup. Add one teaspoon of cornstarch.

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Add a few drops of food color. I added 4 drops per batch.

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Mix it all up. I had to work it pretty well to get all the clumps out of the cornstarch.

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Then I used a funnel and poured them into the condiment containers. Red in red, yellow in yellow and I did blue in the clear container.

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Jacq had a blast with these in the tub. She used some foam brushes and her fingers. There was no staining on the tub or on skin!

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Just make sure to give your tub a good rinse after you get your little one out. There was quite a bit of soap reside and could cause your little one to slip the next time they get in the tub.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Ongoing Project: Contact Art

This is a great project for busy toddlers. Very easy and little mess involved.

What you need:
-Contact Paper
-Scissors
-Scrap paper, tissue paper, stickers, pom poms, etc
I cut out some pictures from magazines, used some goggly eyes and pieces of yarn.
-Masking tape

First cut up tissue paper, wrapping paper, magazines, construction paper, use whatever you have in your craft supplies. I used an empty wipe box to put them in.

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Next, find a low, blank spot of a wall. Cut a piece of contact paper (any size you want), tape it to the wall with the sticky side facing out.

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Let your little one explore the fun of 'sticky' and adhesive surfaces. Jacq stuck the papers and other objects all over the place.

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She didn't try to peel anything off except for the pom poms. So I don't think I'll use those next time.

Here is what it looked like when she was done. I am actually going to leave this up for a few days and keep the box on the floor so she can add to her masterpiece when she feels like it. When it is done I will add another piece of contact paper over it so I can save it.

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Sunday, August 24, 2008

Craft Time: Grandma's Goldfish Pond

Today my mom and my step dad came over. My mom use to work with little ones so she had this great craft idea. Jacqueline had a blast and got to spend some quality time with her grandparent's.


What you'll need:
-paper plate
-blue paint
-paintbrush
-aquarium rocks
-glue
-goldfish (i used the colored ones)

First, paint your paper plate blue to act as water.
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Next cover the bottom 1/4 or so of the plate with glue.

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Start adding the rocks. I added a few round glass stone thingys that I had.

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Then put a few drops of glue around the rest of the plate and let your little one stick the goldfish on.

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The finished product.

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It took a few hours to dry completely. My mom recommended that we punch a hole on the top and use some string to hang it from the ceiling. Thanks mom, we had a great time today!