Making Play dough Ingredients, 2 cups of plain flour 1 cup of salt, 2 cups of water 2 tbsp. oil, 4 tsp. cream of tartar Food Colouring 1 Mix Together ingredients in a bowl 2 Cook in microwave for 5 minutes or stir in a saucepan until dough is formed 3 Leave to cool and enjoy!
Making Gloop! Mix 2 parts cornflower with 1 part water. Go slowly with the water at first. You are aiming for a runny mixture but it will also be fairly stiff as you dig in to it with the spoon. It can be mixed in a large bowl but is best played with in a shallow dish or on a deep sided tray. It is right when the gloop looks like a liquid and appears runny but when you dig your hands in it feels solid. You can pick up a fistful and even roll it in to a ball but then it simply runs through your fingers. Children love exploring this with just their hands, although you can add scoops and spoons if they are initially unsure.
Bubble Play You can have lots of fun with a bowl of water and some washing up liquid. Add some food colouring and use some paper to make prints of the bubbles to stick on your fridge!
Making Papier Mache Use wall paper paste or make your own glue with flour and water. Cover strips of newspaper with the glue and make your own models. You could try covering a balloon, letting it dry and then decorate it.
Preparing Lunch Hand over the bread or crackers, spread and their favourite fillings and let them make their own lunch! Your child s proud face will make up for the mess!
Large Art!! Roll out lengths of lining paper and let their imaginations take over foot prints, hand prints, they could even ride their bike over it!
Making Coloured Water Give your child lots of containers, some different food colourings and get them to mix the colours. It will seem like magic as they create lots of colours!
Making Miniature Gardens Fill an old container or tray with soil and use twigs, stones and leaves to create a mini garden. The children could use some of their toy figures to play in it.
Top Tips for Messy Play Use plastic aprons or one of Dads old shirts. Play outside you could use large sheets of paper to help your child develop their gross motor skills. Protect your surfaces using plastic sheets/old towels/newspaper
Raisin Rising Science Experiments Pour clear lemonade or sparkling water into a clear glass. Drop 4 or 5 raisins into the glass. Watch as the raisins rise and fall! Mini Ocean Fill a clear plastic litre bottle ¾ full with water. Add blue food colouring then add cooking oil. Leave about 1 inch at the top of the bottle. Look how the oil and water do not mix. Tilt the bottle back and forth to cause a wave effect.
Popcorn Dance Fill a small glass jar ¾ full of water. Mix in 2 tablespoons of baking soda and mix well. Add a couple of drops of food colouring and 10/15 popcorn kernels. The add a few drops of vinegar, the kernels will start to move in a few minutes. Volcano Place an empty baby food jar on a tray. Surround the jar with playdough and form it to look like a mountain. Put a drop of red food colouring and a tablespoon of baking soda in the jar, then add some vinegar to it to make it erupt. Sink the orange Float an orange in a bowl of water and try and make it sink. Now peel the orange and put it back in the water and watch what happens!
Ice Sculptures Several days before undertaking this activity freeze some water in plastic containers in varied shapes and sizes, for extra interest add some food colouring. Use gloves and mittens to protect hands, unmold the ice on a table. Experiment with salt and water to see how it affects the ice. (Salt helps make ice melt) Musical Jam Jars Fill jars with varied amounts of water, add food colouring to form a rainbow of different colours. Use a metal spoon to tap each jar gently, talk about the sounds and different pitch each jar makes.