19 September 2011

doing it for da kids

Yes, I've been disgracefully absent in blogatron land but here's a little update of stuff happening in the stamer world. Firstly Mr Karl started working on the Looooong overdue cubbyhouse construction. He's made a sterling start with mainly recycled bits and bobs that have been slowly filling up the backyard sheds (yes we have 3). We are lucky to have a massive yard that resembles an old run down farmlet with weed crops and rotting debris. Don't get me wrong though, I love it very much, it is wild and woolly and requires a lot of maintenance which is tricky when you have little time to spare. The warmer weather has prompted me to get parts of the garden back into shape, sweep, shift around pots, weed, cutback overgrown unknown specimens and get some edible goodness back on the scene. I was too tempted on the weekend and quickly fired up the sprinkler for the kids enjoyment, a bit naughty I know with water restrictions and all but you should have seen their faces when the water shot out, it was magic! They've never experienced the joy of sprinkler action but they certainly made up for lost time and went bonkers!!! As a kid I enjoyed endless hours of fun slipping around on wet grass and hurdling through the water and making crazy contraptions inspired by Almost anything goes. One of my fondest backyard memories involved dangling the hose from the top of our massive steel slide and pouring down shampoo (and I vaguely remember silly putty) to create the ride from hell, unbelievably none of my four siblings or I gained a broken bone, stitches or concussion but I do remember I had my first (and hopefully last) taste of being winded, not a good experience. I'll flip if my kids ever try stunts like that.

My motherly art teacher instinct has been getting a good work out lately. I came across a brilliant playdough recipe that has change my life. It is super dooper easy, I promise... 
Here's the recipe, go make it, your little ones will love it! 

Uncooked Playdough
2 cups of plain flour

4 tablespoons of 'cream of tartar'
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 cup of salt
2 cups of boiling water
food colouring

Pop it all in a mixing bowl and mix!
It looks as though it is not going to mix well at first but hang in there and throw it onto the bench to knead, and it will come together really good and proper.
Don't put things in like rice as it tends to go mouldy.
Add peppermint oil for a great smell and even longer lasting playdough...
For added goodness my ever excellent teacher colleagues always give me the best advice and their secrets of the trade. One of their favourite playdough modifications is to add a few drops of essential oil for smelly goodness or add sand for texture or glitter for added razzle dazzle. I'm sure there's a thousand more things you could do to liven up the playdough experience, shoot them my way, I'm always learning xo

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