The Artful Parent

Kids Pottery Wheel GIVEAWAY by Craft Project Ideas

Several months ago, I wrote about Maia's love affair with a kids pottery wheel.

In case you're wondering if this is the sort of thing a blogger might write about in the excitement of early use and then abandon, this has definitely not been the case. Both the love affair and the wheel are still going strong.

Getting Over My Clay Hang Up (& a Pottery Wheel for Kids)

It's confession time.

I have a bit of a hang-up about clay. Maybe even a big one.

It's the texture. And the mess. Which is kinda crazy when you consider that I have absolutely no hang up about any other art messes. Paint? Bring it on! Shaving cream? Let's squirt it all over!

But clay? Ugh. I don't even want to think about it.

Maia, on the other hand, LOVES clay. Loves the texture and the mess. So I'm trying hard to get over my clay thing. Trying to at least make it available more and to not worry about the mud in my house.

Some Fancy Playdough Play

Maia's first day of summer vacation was earlier this week. The day unfolded, slowly and gently, without a plan of any kind. Pajamas were worn well into the day. There was lots of art, plenty of playtime, and some reading, swinging, and baking as well.

All in all, a good start to summer vacation.

39 Ways to Play and Learn with Playdough

After posting about cooked versus no cook playdough recipes the other day, I thought I'd follow with a round up of ways for kids to use and play with the playdough. I began with links to my many playdough posts, but then went a little crazy and added all kinds of other playdough fun found around the web. Enjoy!

Use playdough to explore art concepts

• Make mosaic art with the playdough (from Putti Prapancha)
• Explore color mixing with playdough (from At the Butterfly Ball)
• Playdough dress up (from Inspiration Surrounds... Creativity Abounds)
• Make a playdough maze (from Squashed Tomatoes)
• Roll the playdough into balls, snakes, and snails (plus a kool-aid playdough recipe, from The Chocolate Muffin Tree)
• Make your own natural dyes for the playdough (from Mini Eco)

No Cook Versus Cooked Playdough

You know how much we love the cooked playdough recipe we've been making forever. It's the play clay from MaryAnn Kohl's First Art, and I've posted about it here and here as well as probably about 20 other times. It's awesome. The texture is smooth and playdough rubbery, the batch makes a more than generous amount to play with, and it lasts just about forever.

How does no cook playdough compare?

We've made five different no cook playdough recipes so far. Some use cold water, some use boiling hot water. Most of the other ingredients are the same but vary slightly in amounts. The recipes with the cold water are grainier and a bit drier in general. Here's the recipe for the no cook playdough I like the very best, using the hot water method.

Guest Post: How to Make Gooey, Slimy, Icky (& Wonderful) Gak

I am excited to share a series of guest posts with you by other Artful Parents and teachers while I step back from the blog a bit this month! I hope you enjoy the new perspectives, different ideas, and fresh energy that each brings to this space. And I encourage you to leave a comment to continue the discussion, add your own viewpoint, or simply say thanks!

Guest post by Molly McCracken

Of late, my son's very favorite activity is playing with cornstarch and water.  He can sit with a bowl for hours and fiddle with the messy goo.  Cornstarch is a great science experiment (learning about a non-Newtonian liquid/suspension that acts almost as if solid and liquid) and can also be used for many great art projects (driveway paint, chalk).  However, it is rainy today, we have no cornstarch in the house, and I wanted something to keep him occupied for a few moments.  I knew that there was some sort of similar experiment with Borax, which we have in the basement, so I decided to see if we had the rest of the ingredients needed to make something interesting. 

Quick internet search (thank you Steve Spangler Science) and we have the recipe for Gak.

Model Magic: Crayola vs Homemade

We've tried Model Magic in two forms in the past week: the official Crayola version and a homemade recipe that I found on Southern as Biscuits. I'm not sure why I've avoided buying Model Magic before now (maybe I just figured it was another play clay and I'm very happy with the playdough we make ourselves), but I finally broke down and bought some for the girls for Christmas. And then when I came across Kristi's DIY recipe, I added it to my list of activities to try over the holidays and thought it would be fun to compare the two.

Playdough Snowmen in Mason Jar Snow Globes

Last year we made candy cane playdough as gifts for kiddo friends. This year we've been making playdough snowmen in mason jar snow globes. Next year we'll probably try a non-playdough idea, but we've sure had fun with these last two.

Lacy Punched Salt Dough Ornaments. Beaded Ones, Too!

I had some salt dough left over (wrapped and refrigerated) from our stamped salt dough extravaganza and on a whim invited a friend over for some salt dough fun yesterday. She wanted to try stamping the dough, while I tried a couple of new ideas I've had in mind. Our toddlers wove in and out of the action with playing, snacking, fighting over toys, and working with the salt dough themselves.

Use stamps for unique holiday cookies

Stamping cookies is a fun and simple kid activity. Who knew?

Want a smiley face on your cookie? Just for fun? Or maybe a star or other holiday image? You can do what we did and make your own food coloring stamp pads (watered-down food coloring + piece of felt) and get out your collection of stamps.