Winter Playdough Fun

Yesterday, Little O woke up with the beginnings of a cold. Ugh. Pete and I decided we better play it safe and stay home so we didn't spread it to all our friends. We needed something to do that would keep Little O quiet and happy. Playdough, of course!!


I whipped up a batch of our favorite no-cook playdough. I decided to keep it white this time since we're playing with all things winter right now (winter sensory bin, snow man counting, snowflake sorting, etc.). So with our white playdough, we decided to make snowmen. I had a whole bunch of accessories to decorate our snowmen up in my craft room. Buttons, sequins, fabric strips, pipe cleaners, beads, jingle bells, googly eyes, and mini bows. I brought them down and introduced them to Little O.

I made a traditional snowman (with a bow because I wanted her to be a girl), Pete made a snowmonster.

Little O made her own version. She used googly eyes at first, but switched them out for buttons later. She also used some brown pipe cleaners and skewered her snowman. They sort of look like arms!

 After a while, we started talking about all the animals that live in the snow. Little O is obsessed with anything animal lately (well, always, really). So I made a polar bear. She said and signed bear. And Pete made a penguin.

We had so much fun as a family with this activity. I've kept all the accessories downstairs so we can create more snow animals with white playdough this week. I'm also thinking we should make pretend sugar cookies and decorate them with sequins and glitter. Check out some of our other winter-themed activities here.

Art Party Activities for Toddlers

Little O is going to be 2 in less than a month! WHAT??? Where did the time go? I feel just a few months ago I was planning her 1st Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday party. I can't believe that was a whole year ago.

I showed you the invitations I made for this year's art party last week. I've finalized my plans for the arts and craft projects for the toddlers attending the party, and I created signs for each station.

The plan is to open up all three stations at the same time and let the kids move freely from one to the next at their own pace. Each activity can be child directed with parental support for those who need it.

At the drawing center, I am planning to cover the whole table with white butcher paper and tape it down underneath. Little O has a hard time keeping the paper still when she's coloring, so I thought this would be the best solution, plus, it would keep the table clean. For drawing supplies, I'm providing crayons and markers in assorted colors, stamps and a variety of stamp pads, and stickers.

I'm really excited about the sculpting table. I'm making homemade playdough (since some of Little O's friends still like to experiment by tasting things). This is my favorite no cook playdough recipe from The Imagination Tree. I like to add the color to the water before adding it to the dry ingredients. I found this keeps my hands clean. In addition to the playdough, I'll provide a selection of cookie cutters, rolling pins, and other playdough toys. For an extra element, I'm planning to add pipe cleaners and feathers so the kids can make some interesting creatures.

The last table is the painting table. I was going to make homemade paint, but I haven't found a recipe that I love yet. So I opted for washable tempera paint. I found some really awesome bottles that have glitter mixed in. And of course I'll have the basic primary and secondary colors as well.

Earlier this week, I went shopping for some of the supplies for the stations. I was really excited when I discovered cute little smocks (just the right size for toddlers) at the Dollar Tree. I had been planning to make smocks for each child as the party favor, but there was no way I could make them for $1. So I went ahead and picked up 12. We may not have all 12 kids attend the party, but I'll keep the extras for play dates at our house. While the invitations did say to wear "art clothes," I'm sure most of the parents will be happy to have a little smock for their kiddos to wear.

I'm getting really excited about Little O's art party. She's going to love it!

Tutorial: Caterpillar Bug Jars

I'm working furiously to finish all the crafts I have planned for Little O's birthday party. Check out the invitations I made a few weeks ago. I have two weeks left. I think I can do it. If she takes some really LONG naps!

Today I worked on the centerpieces for the four tables in the party room. I decided on caterpillar bug jars to continue the Very Hungry Caterpillar theme.

You will need:

1. An assortment of pompoms. I used red, green, and yellow. The red one (for the head) is a slightly larger size than the green and yellow. I think it would be just as cute if all the pompoms were the same size.
2. Googly eyes
3. Pipe cleaners (one per caterpillar)
4. Hot glue
5. Plastic jars (you could use glass, but since mine are for a baby party, I opted for plastic). I got mine in the painting supply section of Hobby Lobby.
6. An assortment of green card stock
7. Scissors or a Cricut (I used my Cricut)

First, I hot glued the pompoms together to create the caterpillar body. Then I glued the googly eyes to the head.

Next, I attached the antennae. These are made out of black pipe cleaners. I placed the pipe cleaner under the caterpillar in the joint between the head and the first body segment. I wrapped the pipe cleaner around the "neck" and twisted it to hold it in place.

After securing the pipe cleaners, I used a pencil to curl them into antennae.

Here's what they looked like when they were finished.

I used my Cricut to cut out leaves to decorate the inside of the jars. I used dark green and light green and two different styles of leaves.

Here's the finished product. I think they turned out really cute. The caterpillars are a little larger than I had originally planned, but I like them anyway.

Jessica

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