Tag

play dough

Glittery Q-tip Snowflakes

We just got our first frost of the season this weekend. This was a gentle reminder that winter will be here before we know it, like it or not. As much as I am not a fan of the cold, I am a fan of winter crafts and nothing says winter like snowflakes. I love snowflakes. They are so pretty and easy to make and they are a great way to teach patterns and symmetry. These Q-tip snowflakes are also fantastic for working on those fine motor skills.
These Q-tip snowflake crafts are great for fine motor skills - Winter & Christmas arts and crafts for kids

Continue Reading…

Q-Tip Daisy Craft

These Q-tip daisies are an adorable craft and are great for fine motor skills.

Cotton swabs are not just for your ears. We use them in art projects often. They are great to paint with. They are fun to craft with as well. We used bare Q-tips to make these simple daisies for the spring, but you could also dip the Q-tips in paint and create other colorful flower creations.
Q-tip Cotton swap daisies. Flower arts and crafts for kids. Great for summer or spring.

Continue Reading…

Still Life Challenge

  1. Still Life Challenge for kids - Still life does not just have to be painting. Sketch, paint, cut, glue or mold a still life out of play dough or clay. Kid's and preschoolers arts & crafts - fruit

It is fascinating to watch my daughter while she creates. I love how she see things and it amazes me the details that she picks up at only 4 years old. She loves to prop things up on our coffee table and recreate them. Sometimes she draws them or sometimes she cuts out construction paper and assembles the pieces to form her project.

Last week, I did a little experiment. I put a still life on our dining room table and set out a bunch of supplies. I laid out paints, construction paper, scissors, glue, pencils, markers and clay.

img_5125

I started to paint the fruit and asked her if she wanted to join me.

img_5209

She sat down and declined the paint, but went straight for the construction paper. She cut out the shapes of the different fruits and their stems. She drew some of the fruits first and some she simply cut out.

img_5126 img_5130

She glued all of her pieces to another piece of paper to form her still life.

img_5132 img_5134

When she finished gluing, she used a marker to add a little life to her still. She gave all of the fruits faces and personalities and even made a cowgirl orange, complete with a lasso.

img_5144 img_5172
img_5170

The next day, I invited my daughter to come and look at the still life of fruit. She sat on my lap and I asked her what she saw. She named off all the fruits on the cutting board. I asked her what color the pear was and she responded that it was green. I asked her if green was the only color that she saw and she looked closer and told me that she saw brown. When I asked her where she saw the brown, she started with the stem and then went into further detail about the speckles of brown around the pear, explaining that the speckles weren’t everywhere and showing me where they were more saturated. She went on to the next piece of fruit, which was the orange. She asked me about the little dimples all over the skin. She studied each piece of fruit and made wonderful observations about every piece.

She looked over the supplies on our table and reached for the clay. We used polymer clay, but play dough would be fine as well. She carefully sculpted each piece and laid out her fruit sculptures on a cutting board from her play kitchen.

img_5177 img_5179

I watched her intently as she used a straw from her juice to carve lines into her pumpkin.

img_5180 img_5181

When she sculpted her orange, she remembered her earlier observations and used a pencil to poke little dimples into it. She worked through each piece of fruit and even sculpted the red apple, which was no longer on our still because she ate it after making her construction paper project.

img_5182 img_5193

I was blown away by her clay sculpted still life. It came out so beautifully.

Kid's arts & crafts. Use Play dough or clay to sculpt a still life. Check out the rest of our still life challenge using a fruit still life. Great for preschoolers

She loved it too. When she was finished, she grabbed a bowl out of play kitchen and cut up her fruit and made a fruit salad for the both of us to “eat”. img_5199

Still Life Challenge for kids - Still life does not just have to be painting. Sketch, paint, cut, glue or mold a still life out of play dough or clay. Kid's and preschoolers arts & crafts - fruit

Thank you as always for stopping by. Please follow us on Facebook as well.

Pizza Making Play Dough Activity

My daughter is obsessed with Play-doh. She just loves it. She loves mixing the colors together, sculpting with it & she even loves those Play-Doh videos all over Youtube.Build a Play Dough pizza activity. Play-doh food creations for kids   *This post contains affiliate links*

Last year we even made her a Play-doh themed birthday party. Last night while playing with a new variety pack, she asked me for a paper plate. I grabbed her one & asked her what she was planning on making. She said she wanted to make a pizza. “Can you help me, mama?”

Of course! This sounded like a fun project.

Start by pressing a light tan color into the center of the plate & then using a rolling pin to spread the dough out.

IMG_7490

Next , pinch the edges of your rolled out dough to make the crust.

IMG_7492

Smooth on your sauce with your fingers, utensils or use the rolling pin.

IMG_7501

Tear off small pieces of white dough & drop onto your pizza. Add pepperoni or any other toppings. As you can see by my silly girl’s face, she had a ton of fun making her pizza. Here she is rolling out broccoli for her pizza.

IMG_7522

My daughter had a brilliant idea. The play dough pizzas were the perfect recipe for a fun evening together. Build a Play Dough pizza activity. Play-doh food creations for kids

Build a Play Dough pizza activity. Play-doh food creations for kids

Build a Play Dough pizza activity. Play-doh food creations for kids

Thank you as always for reading. Please visit us on our Facebook page as well.

Printable Face Play Dough Mats

Free Printable mats for Play dough & for drawing inspiration for kids. Arts and crafts and creative activities

I have a play dough obsessed child. She loves all things play dough. Last year her birthday party was even, you guessed it, play dough themed.  We have tried many different play dough activities, but we have not really ever worked with play dough mats. Since my daughter loves making people, I thought that face mats would be a great idea for her.  Get your free printables at the end of the post.

Free Printable boy & girl face mats for Play dough & for drawing inspiration for kids. Arts and crafts and creative activities.

We started with a lot of dough. We rolled out the colors that we wanted. It made it easier to work with.

IMG_5401 IMG_5403

I helped her get started with the face and showed her how to spread the play dough out.

IMG_5406 IMG_5417

She spread out her dough & formed little eyes & a mouth for her little girl. She used a plastic knife to cut away any excess. She wanted to give her a shirt too. She made sure that the shirt had a flower on it too. She did a great job.

Free Printable face mats for Play dough & for drawing inspiration for kids. Arts and crafts and creative activities

 

Later that evening, she used wanted to draw on one too. She made a rainbow girl with rainbow hair. She was very proud.

IMG_5444 IMG_5446

Use laminate sheets over the printables to make them reusable. Laminate will make for easy clean up with the play dough. You could also use dry erase markers on it, to color & draw on it over and over again.

Download your free printables here.

Play dough mat (boy)Play dough mat (girl)

Thank you as always for stopping by. Please follow us on Facebook as well.

 

Paper Plate Play Dough Nature Island

This is a wonderful activity for toddlers and preschoolers. Gather items from nature and form these beautiful nature items with play dough and paper plates.Paper Plate Play Dough Nature Island - This kid's craft & activity combines art, fine motor skills, sensory & nature.Great for toddlers and preschoolers

My daughter and I do arts and crafts project just about every day. Many times, I take inspiration for our projects by things that happen over the course of our day. Sometimes, I just get a random idea and many times my daughter calls the shots.  I had an idea last night to make nature fossils out of play dough, assorted leaves, flowers and small pebbles. We made homemade play dough. We added some cinnamon to change the color and add a lovely smell. We rolled out the dough & cut a circle out of the dough to imprint onto.

Continue Reading…

It’s A Play Dough World

PlayDoughPark.jpg

 

I am currently living in a Play-Doh world. My living room is filled with containers & baggies filled with dough. Most containers are filled with multi-colored globs of dough that have been blended and smashed together. There are cutting tools, stamps & dough presses covering our tables & floors. It is easy to say that my daughter is obsessed with Play-Doh. Her birthday this year was even Play-Doh themed.

There is a kid’s television show that we will watch together called ‘Art & Music’. It is a lovely show that shows different mediums of art put to music. On every episode there is a segment called Clay World. They create amazing scenes & people right before your eyes. This is my daughter’s favorite part of the show. She oohs & aahs over their creations & tries to recreate them. I speak about inspiration often & it seems that even the youngest of artists get inspired.

Last night she asked me if we could make a Play-Doh village together. How could I say no to that?

 

We started with a pond laid out on a piece of poster board.

IMG_9286

Mai helped me form rocks to place around the pond.

IMG_9289

We rolled out a strip of mismatched green & sliced out grass blades.

IMG_9290

I worked the grass around the pond and rocks.

IMG_9291

I formed a walkway.

IMG_9294

Mai wanted to make ducks for the pond. She formed one with a cookie cutter. She got upset once she realized that it could not stand up in the pond.

IMG_9297

I showed her how to make a little duck that could float in the pond. She was a quick learn & made several little ducks to put in the pond.

IMG_9302

 

IMG_9304

We added a walkway to our pond & then pressed green dough around to form more grass.

IMG_9299

 

IMG_9301

Mai helped me press & work some brown dough around the side to form dirt.

IMG_9313

We added an additional path to the side & a stream.

IMG_9315

Mai made us a banana boat to put in our stream. That’s me in the orange. Mai is driving the boat of course & daddy & her cousin Sebby are in tow. I love that little girl’s imagination. Before she went to bed last night, she asked to add a zoo to our park. “Tomorrow baby girl.”  I really am living in a Play-doh world.

IMG_9318

 

Thank you as always for stopping by. Please follow us on Facebook as well.

IMG_9316

Play-Doh Birthday

Play-doh birthday party ideas

*This post contains affiliate links*

Picking a theme for Mai’s 3rd birthday was an easy decision. You have all heard me talk about our daughter’s love for Play-Doh. It only made sense to celebrate her special day with her favorite activity.

Continue Reading…