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Posts Tagged ‘Christmas holidays’

School Christmas holidays will soon be here and little kids the world over may soon be chanting, “Mummy! I’m bored!”

So, here are a dozen or so play-time ‘recipes’ to help keep your children entertained this winter.  Learn how to make homespun goop, papier mâché, cinnamon ornaments, soap crayons and much more. Pull out this article and stick it to your fridge – it will be one of your best weapons against the ‘boredom’ gremlins!

Washable window paints
A selection of tempera paints (powdered or premixed)
Clear dishwashing liquid
Mix powdered paints with dishwashing liquid until they resemble house paint. Ensure that you line the window sashes with masking tape & spread newspaper under the window area to protect flooring. To erase paint or touch up mistakes just wipe paint away with a dry paper towel.

Home-made coloring books

Go online and download a dozen or so coloring book pages and collate them into a coloring book. Put this aside for rainy days or for long car/train/plane journeys. Little boys love images of cars and trucks while little girls prefer coloring book pictures of fairytales and princesses. At sites like Hello Kitty Coloring Pages you’ll find the best .

Cinnamon Christmas ornaments
3/4-1 cup applesauce
1 (4.12-oz.) bottle of ground cinnamon
Mix applesauce with cinnamon to form a stiff dough. Roll out to 5mm thickness. Cut with cookie cutter and make hole for ribbon using the end of a drinking straw. Carefully put aside to dry for several days – turning occasionally. This recipe makes twelve sweet-smelling ornaments/drawer scenters.

Goop

2 packets of cornflour
2 cups of water
Several drops of food colouring

Place newspaper or plastic sheets on your work surface. Mix the ingredients in a fairly large bowl. Children love goop’s squishy consistency. You can also use colored or plain black paper to make goop paintings if you wish. To remove goop from carpets, allow it to dry, then brush or vacuum. The brilliant thing about goop is that it may be re-used after it has dried out. Crumble it to a powder then restore it to the original consistency by adding water a tablespoonful at a time.

Funny putty
2 tablespoons of white glue
1 tablespoon of liquid starch
Food colouring
Mix glue together with the desired food colour. Pour starch over top. Swish so that all the glue is covered. Let set for 5 minutes. Squeeze off extra starch and then knead until mixed.

Bubbles
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of glycerine
2 tablespoons of liquid dish soap
Mix water, glycerine and soap. Pour in sugar. Add food colouring if desired.

Papier mâché

1 cup flour
1 cup warm water
1/2 inch strips of newspaper
Balloon/s

In a large bowl, mix flour and water – add more flour is mixture is too sloppy (dripping). Place newspaper strips into mixture until well soaked, then smooth onto blown up balloon. Cover balloon completely twice, letting dry in between layers. Do not cover the balloon’s knot. Dry in a warm place for around two or three days then hold the knot and pop the balloon with a pin. Paint, glitter and decorate the balloon as is or cut in half so you have a bowl/hat shape to embellish.

Modelling/play dough
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
water
food colouring

Mix the ingredients and knead to a dough consistency. To speed up the drying, place the dough artwork in the oven on a low heat.

Soap crayons

1 3/4 cups of soap flakes

50 drops food colouring
1/4 cup water

Mix water and soap flakes together. Add food colouring and put mixture into an ice cube tray. When hardened, pop the ‘ice cubes’ out. These soap crayons are fun to write with on the tub and tiles during bath time. If grouting stains, simply spray with a weak solution of bleach.

Sand dye

Fine sand

Water

Food colouring

Paper cups

Plastic spoons

Fill paper cups half full with sand. Next, add water to the cups to completely cover sand. Add food colouring until you get the desired colour. Stir with a plastic spoon and let set for 15 minutes. Pour off the water, spoon sand onto paper towels and then spread the sand out to dry. Use sand to make pictures (spread glue on paper and sprinkle sand on top) or to fill pretty bottles in layers.

Cornstarch Art/Finger-paint

3 tablespoons of cornstarch

1/4 cup cold water

2 drops of dishwashing liquid

1 cup boiling water

Food colouring

Combine cornstarch and cold water – stir until smooth. Add dishwashing liquid. Pour boiling water into the bowl and stir until the mixture thickens. Add food colouring and let cool. Use as you would finger paint.

Puffy Paint

Flour

Salt

Water

Tempera paint

Mix equal parts of flour, salt and water in a bowl. Add a tiny amount of tempera paint to the mixture and pour into a small plastic squeezy bottle. Repeat this over and over to make as many colours as you wish. Squeeze liberally onto heavy paper or even cardboard to make designs. Mixture will look great when it hardens into puffy shapes.

Colourful Salt

1/2 cup salt

5 to 6 drops of food colouring

Add food colouring to salt. Stir well. Cook this in a microwave oven for 1-2 minutes or spread on waxed paper and let salt air dry. Store this in an airtight container and use as you would glitter.