play – Whole Heartily

Homemade Play Dough Recipe

Part of the fun in raising Zoey is making things that delight her; I want to create fun, educational crafts for her that are made with love and will be loved! I see much play dough in our future, and while buying it is always a viable option, how fun and cost effective is it to make some on your own?

So let’s make some homemade play dough!

SUPPLIES

Large saucepan
Wooden spoon
Wax paper
Gloves
Sandwich bags

INGREDIENTS

2 cups of all-purpose flour
3/4 cup of salt
4 teaspoons of cream of tartar
2 cups of warm water
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
Food coloring

INSTRUCTIONS

Place the cream of tartar, flour, and salt in a large saucepan and stir to combine.
Slowly add the oil and water, stirring until well incorporated.
Cook over medium heat, stirring consistently, until the mixture thickens into a dough.
Remove the pan from the heat and allow the dough to cool slightly until it can be handled comfortably.
Divide the dough into equal portions based on how many colors you would like, and roll into balls.
Put on gloves and press an indentation into each ball of dough, then add 15 drops of food coloring to the indentation of each ball to start, you can always add more later.
Knead each ball of dough until the color is well incorporated. If the color is not as bright as you want, you can add more food coloring and knead again.
Enjoy!

*This can be stored in sandwich bags, one for each color. Just be sure to remove all the excess air for longevity of the dough!

Water Table Accessory and Activity Ideas

Part of the fun in raising Zoey is making things that delight her; I want to create fun, educational activities for her that are made with love and will be loved!

With how much young ones love water, water tables are perfection during the hot summer months! Set them up in a comfortable location with some shade, and watch them play to their hearts content! They can play with the table as is, or you can add accessories to make the play even more engaging and fun!

Here to inspire you, I’ve created a list of water table accessory/activity ideas to keep the kiddos entertained for hours!

**If you live in California or any other location where wasting water may be an issue, no worries! Bypass adding any food coloring to the play water and once you’re done, you can use it to water your plants!

DIY – Dinosaur Eggs with Toy Dinosaurs inside

Part of the fun in raising Zoey is making things that delight her; I want to create fun, educational toys for her that are made with love and will be loved! I loved dinosaurs as a child and quite honestly I still do! I see that interest piquing in Zoey too and of course I’m going to encourage it!

Let’s create some dinosaur eggs! We can hide them for the kids to find, and then they can excavate them for a small dinosaur toy inside!

SUPPLIES

2 cups of sand
1 cup of cornstarch
Water
Plastic dinosaurs

INSTRUCTIONS

Add the cornstarch and sand to a mixing bowl and stir until incorporated.
Stir in a little water at a time until the “dough” forms.
Take a small handful of the “dough”, place a toy dinosaur inside, then add some more “dough” over the dinosaur to cover it.
Work the sand mixture (with the dinosaur inside) in your hands to form an egg shape, then place it on a clean surface to dry.
Repeat this process until all of the “dough” has been utilized.
Place the dinosaur eggs outside to dry for about 2 days, or until completely hardened.
Hide, discover and excavate! Enjoy!

These eggs can be opened with small tools, hands or dissolved in water.

DIY – Felt Cookies

What child (or inner child) doesn’t love preparing toy food in a play kitchen?

I had a play kitchen when I was a little girl and loved baking cookies for myself, my sister and my parents. Now that I’m grown and have a daughter of my own, I want to make her some handcrafted play food so she can enjoy making meals for everyone during play, or while we cook in the kitchen next to her!

Please feel free to use these patterns to create some play food for you and yours! This pattern will make one circle cookie, one heart cookie, one star cookie, one triangle cookie, one square cookie and one rectangle cookie, each with frosting. I made one extra of each cookie shape so Zoey will have two of each. You can duplicate it as much as you want to make multiple pieces of each food!

SUPPLIES

FeltCookies Download

Cookie patterns (see above)
Paper scissors
Pale tan felt material
Pale blue felt material
Pale brown felt material
Dark brown felt material
Pale pink felt material
White felt material
Pale yellow felt material
Scissors
Pins
Embroidery floss (pale tan, pale blue, light brown, dark brown, pale pink, white)
Sewing needle

INSTRUCTIONS

Print out the cookie pattern I’ve provided, then cut the patterns from the paper.
Pin the patterns on the appropriate colored felt, then use sewing scissors to cut the felt.
Align and pin the pale blue circle of frosting to one half of the circle of pale tan felt, then thread pale blue embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the outer edges of the frosting using a whipstitch, concealing the first and ending knots underneath the layer of cookie.
One at a time, thread three of the other colors of embroidery floss onto your needle and create randomized stitches within the frosting to make sprinkles. Conceal the first and ending knots of each color underneath the layer of cookie.
Thread a sewing needle with pale tan embroidery floss and pin the bottom cookie layer over the stitching on the back of the frosted top half.
Using a whipstitch, begin sewing around the edges of the circle cookie, concealing the first knot and end knot in between the layers.
Align and pin the pale pink heart of frosting to one half of the heart of pale tan felt, then thread pale pink embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the outer edges of the frosting using a whipstitch, concealing the first and ending knots underneath the layer of cookie.
One at a time, thread three of the other colors of embroidery floss onto your needle and create randomized stitches within the frosting to make sprinkles. Conceal the first and ending knots of each color underneath the layer of cookie.
Thread a sewing needle with pale tan embroidery floss and pin the bottom cookie layer over the stitching on the back of the frosted top half.
Using a whipstitch, begin sewing around the edges of the heart cookie, concealing the first knot and end knot in between the layers.
Align and pin the pale yellow star of frosting to one half of the star of pale tan felt, then thread pale yellow embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the outer edges of the frosting using a whipstitch, concealing the first and ending knots underneath the layer of cookie.
One at a time, thread three of the other colors of embroidery floss onto your needle and create randomized stitches within the frosting to make sprinkles. Conceal the first and ending knots of each color underneath the layer of cookie.
Thread a sewing needle with pale tan embroidery floss and pin the bottom cookie layer over the stitching on the back of the frosted top half.
Using a whipstitch, begin sewing around the edges of the star cookie, concealing the first knot and end knot in between the layers.
Align and pin the white triangle of frosting to one half of the triangle of pale tan felt, then thread white embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the outer edges of the frosting using a whipstitch, concealing the first and ending knots underneath the layer of cookie.
One at a time, thread three of the other colors of embroidery floss onto your needle and create randomized stitches within the frosting to make sprinkles. Conceal the first and ending knots of each color underneath the layer of cookie.
Thread a sewing needle with pale tan embroidery floss and pin the bottom cookie layer over the stitching on the back of the frosted top half.
Using a whipstitch, begin sewing around the edges of the triangle cookie, concealing the first knot and end knot in between the layers.
Align and pin the dark brown square of frosting to one half of the square of pale tan felt, then thread dark brown embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the outer edges of the frosting using a whipstitch, concealing the first and ending knots underneath the layer of cookie.
One at a time, thread three of the other colors of embroidery floss onto your needle and create randomized stitches within the frosting to make sprinkles. Conceal the first and ending knots of each color underneath the layer of cookie.
Thread a sewing needle with pale tan embroidery floss and pin the bottom cookie layer over the stitching on the back of the frosted top half.
Using a whipstitch, begin sewing around the edges of the square cookie, concealing the first knot and end knot in between the layers.
Align and pin the pale brown rectangle of frosting to one half of the rectangle of pale tan felt, then thread pale brown embroidery floss onto your sewing needle.
Begin sewing around the outer edges of the frosting using a whipstitch, concealing the first and ending knots underneath the layer of cookie.
One at a time, thread three of the other colors of embroidery floss onto your needle and create randomized stitches within the frosting to make sprinkles. Conceal the first and ending knots of each color underneath the layer of cookie.
Thread a sewing needle with pale tan embroidery floss and pin the bottom cookie layer over the stitching on the back of the frosted top half.
Using a whipstitch, begin sewing around the edges of the rectangle cookie, concealing the first knot and end knot in between the layers.
Enjoy!

DIY – Felt Pancakes

What child (or inner child) doesn’t love preparing toy food in a play kitchen?

I had a play kitchen when I was a little girl and loved preparing pancakes for myself, my sister and my parents. Now that I’m grown and have a daughter of my own, I want to make her some handcrafted play food so she can enjoy making meals for everyone during play, or while we cook in the kitchen next to her!

Please feel free to use these patterns to create some play food for you and yours! This pattern will make one pancake, one dollop of syrup and one pat of butter. I made two extra pancakes for a stack of three underneath the syrup and butter. You can duplicate it as much as you want to make multiple pieces of each food!

SUPPLIES

PancakeButterSyrup Download

Pancake patterns (see above)
Paper scissors
Light tan felt material
Dark tan felt material
Light brown felt material
Yellow felt material
Stuffing
Sewing pins
Sewing scissors
Sewing needle
Embroidery floss (light tan, dark tan, light brown and yellow)

INSTRUCTIONS

Print out the pancakes pattern I’ve provided, then cut the patterns from the paper.
Pin the patterns on the appropriate colored felt, then use sewing scissors to cut the felt.
Thread a sewing needle with yellow embroidery floss and pin the two layers of yellow butter to one layer of the syrup.
Using a whipstitch, begin sewing around the edges of the butter, attaching it to the syrup, then tie it off underneath the syrup layer.
Thread a sewing needle with light brown embroidery floss and pin the second brown syrup layer over the stitching on the back of the first.
Using a whipstitch, begin sewing around the edges of the syrup, concealing the first knot and end knot in between the layers.
Thread a sewing needle with dark tan embroidery floss and pin each dark tan toasted circle of pancake to a lighter tan larger circle.
For each half of the pancake, completely sew the darker tan circle onto the lighter tan circle using a whipstitch, then tie it off underneath the lighter tan circle.
Thread a sewing needle with light tan embroidery floss and pin the two halves of the pancake together with the stitches concealed between the two halves.
Begin sewing the two halves together with a whipstitch. About 3/4 of the way around the pancake, stop sewing and gently stuff the pancake. Once you’re satisfied with the fullness of the pancake, complete stitching around the pancake and concealing the first knot and end knot in between the layers.
Enjoy!

DIY – Felt Bacon and Eggs

What child (or inner child) doesn’t love preparing toy food in a play kitchen?

I had a play kitchen when I was a little girl and loved preparing eggs and bacon for myself, my sister and my parents. Now that I’m grown and have a daughter of my own, I want to make her some handcrafted play food so she can enjoy making meals for everyone during play, or while we cook in the kitchen next to her!

Please feel free to use these patterns to create some play food for you and yours! This pattern will make two eggs and two pieces of bacon. You can duplicate it as much as you want to make multiple pieces of each food!

SUPPLIES

EggsandBacon Download

Eggs and bacon patterns (see above)
Paper scissors
White felt material
Yellow felt material
Dark red felt material
Pale pink felt material
2 pinches of stuffing
Sewing pins
Sewing scissors
Sewing needle
Embroidery floss (white, yellow, dark red, and pale pink)

INSTRUCTIONS

Print out the eggs and bacon pattern I’ve provided, then cut the patterns from the paper.
Pin the patterns on the appropriate colored felt, then use sewing scissors to cut the felt.
Thread a sewing needle with yellow embroidery floss and pin the egg yolk to a piece of the egg white.
Begin sewing the yellow yolk onto the egg white felt using a whipstitch. When you reach 2/3 of the way around the yolk, stop and place a small pinch of stuffing underneath it, then complete the circle and tie it off underneath the egg white layer.
Thread a sewing needle with white embroidery floss and pin the second egg white layer over the stitching on the back of the first.
Using a whipstitch, begin sewing around the edges of the two layers of egg white, concealing the first knot and end knot in between the layers.
Thread a sewing needle with pale pink embroidery floss and pin two pieces of marbling onto one side of two different bacon strips.
Begin sewing the pale pink marbling onto the dark red felt bacon using a whipstitch. When completed with each streak, tie it off underneath the bacon layer.
Thread a sewing needle with dark red embroidery floss and pin the second bacon layer over the stitching on the back of the first.
Using a whipstitch, begin sewing around the edges of the two layers of bacon, concealing the first knot and end knot in between the layers.
Enjoy!

How to Clean – Classic My Little Pony Toys

Growing up reading The Velveteen Rabbit and then watching the Toy Story films, I became convinced (as I’m sure many children do) that toys are alive, and they have feelings. This made giving them up extra hard, and although I had to say goodbye to a lot of them over the years to keep my room and storage from overflowing, I did save many that were meaningful to me in the hopes I could pass them on to my future child (like I believe Andy should have done in Toy Story 3). Now our daughter is here and I cannot wait to share some of my beloved toys with her in the hopes that they will be beloved to her too!

I dug through my parent’s garage and found my classic My Little Ponies from the 1980s and 90s! In my memory they were in perfect condition, in reality they had been kept in a cardboard box way up in the rafters of a hot garage for about 25 years; they were all covered in grime and in need of a good cleaning.

How to Clean My Little Pony Toys

I set to work cleaning and styling my My Little Ponies for Zoey and, after a fair amount of effort, they are ready! Now I want to help you restore your Little Ponies so you can share them with your little ones, or collect them for yourself, the choice is yours!

First thing’s first let’s assess these ponies! Separate them into two groups based on these questions. Are they superficially dirty and just need a good wash? Or do they need to be taken apart for a deep clean? The best way to tell if they need a deep clean is discoloration at the base of their tail that indicates rust growing from the metal washer inside. There is also a chance you’ll wash a superficially dirty pony and realize it needs a deeper clean so it’s best to start cleaning these ponies first.

*These are not methods to use on a flocked pony. I do not own any flocked ponies so I was not able to test cleaning out on them.*

SUPERFICIAL CLEANING

How to Clean Classic My Little Pony Toys - Streaky Before and After

SUPPLIES

Magic Eraser sponge
Castile soap or shampoo
Toothbrush
Conditioner
Comb or wet brush
Paper towels
Hand towel
Drinking straws (curly haired ponies)
Bobby pins (curly haired ponies)

INSTRUCTIONS

*Do not submerge this pony in water, you are not taking the superficially dirty ponies apart so you do not want to get water trapped inside. Use a small stream of water from your faucet to first wet the pony and then to rinse the soap, shampoo and conditioner off.*

Wet a Magic Eraser sponge and use it to gently clean the pony’s body. Use more scrubbing force on any stubborn marks, but avoid scrubbing too hard on the eyes and cutie marks (symbols).
Use a small stream of water from your sink’s faucet to lightly rinse the pony.
With a toothbrush and Castile soap or shampoo, gently clean the pony’s body, then lightly rinse.
At this point if you feel the pony needs a deeper clean see DEEP CLEANING below.
After you’re satisfied with the condition of the pony’s body, wet the mane and tail with a small stream of water from your faucet. Avoid saturating the base of the mane or tail.
Using Castile soap or shampoo, wash your pony’s mane and tail, and rinse.
Apply conditioner to the mane and tail. Allow it to sit for a minute or two, then use a wet brush or a comb to gently brush through any tangles.
Allow the combed and conditioned mane and tail to sit longer. How long depends on how smooth or coarse your pony’s hair is to begin with. I let one pony’s coarse hair sit in conditioner overnight, it did help, but at a certain point their synthetic hair may be damaged beyond full repair.
Gently rinse the hair out when you feel it’s time. Use a hand towel to dry the body and give the hair a couple of squeezes to remove any excess water.
While the pony’s hair is still damp, comb through it again so it’s smooth and set its hair.
For straight-haired pony manes – cut a strip of paper towel about an inch to an inch and a half thick. Wrap the pony’s mane around its neck and secure it by wrapping the paper towel over the damp mane, around the neck, and tying it in a knot.
For straight-haired pony tails – cut a strip of paper towel about an inch to an inch and a half thick and place it between the pony’s legs in preparation. Wrap the tail around one of the pony’s hind legs and secure it with the paper towel.
For curly-haired pony manes and tails – cut up several drinking straws into fourths (roughly 2 inches a piece) for curlers. Separate out your pony’s mane and tail by how many curls you want and use each piece of straw to curl a strand of hair from the tip to the base and secure it with a bobby pin over the hair, and through the straw. You can curl it over or under, dependent on your preference.
Allow your pony to completely air dry (overnight or 24 hours) then remove the paper towels or curlers. For the straight-haired ponies, I usually run a comb through the mane to give it just a little bounce, but I leave the tail alone. If you comb the hair too much it will lose its curl. For the curly-haired ponies you can leave the curls as they are, or using a loose toothed comb, gently comb through them to loosen them up, again if you comb the hair too much it will lose its curl.

DEEP CLEANING

SUPPLIES

Hobby knife
Needle nose pliers
White vinegar
Bucket/container
OxiClean
Magic Eraser sponge
Castile soap or shampoo
Pipe cleaner
Toothbrush
Conditioner
Comb or wet brush
Paper towels
Hand towel
Drinking straws (curly haired ponies)
Bobby pins (curly haired ponies)

INSTRUCTIONS

*It is OK to submerge this pony in water, you are taking the deeply dirty ponies apart so everything will be allowed to dry inside and out. To deep clean the really dirty ponies you’ll need to remove their heads and then tails.*

Lean the head from side to side to see how attached it is and where. Carefully insert the tip of a hobby knife into the glue spots and cut them loose. BE CAREFUL not to slice into the inner rim of the neck that holds the head in place without the glue. If you do (and I accidentally did it) be extra careful when removing the head so you do not rip the inner rim open more or completely off.
Once the head has been removed take a pair of needle nose pliers, reach into the pony, grasp and pull the tail out through the neck.
Place the metal clamp holding the tail together and the washer into a bowl or cup of white vinegar and allow them to soak for at least 30 minutes or longer depending on how much rust there is.
Remove them periodically to rub them with a toothbrush to see how much rust can be removed. When you’re satisfied the rust has been removed from the metal clamp of the tail and the washer, take them out, rinse the vinegar off and dry the metal thoroughly.
With a toothbrush and Castile soap or shampoo, completely clean inside and outside of the pony’s body. If the toothbrush cannot reach into the legs, fold a pipe cleaner in half and twist it together, then clean down into the legs. Rinse thoroughly.
In a container or bucket, mix OxiClean with warm water and place the pony (head, tail and body) into the mix to soak overnight.
Once done soaking, rinse and drain the ponies.
Wet a Magic Eraser sponge and use it to gently clean the pony’s body. Use more scrubbing force on any stubborn marks, but avoid scrubbing too hard on the eyes and cutie marks (symbols).
Wash the pony again, see step 5.
Allow all the components of the pony to completely dry before reassembling. This could take up to 24 hours.
Reassemble the pony starting with the tail, poke one side of the tail’s metal clamp into the hole and use the pliers to pull it all the way in. I decided to leave the washer’s out of the tail, but if you want to replace them you will need to use the same method to pull the tail through the hole in the washer within the body.
Washer or not, center the metal clamp and pull the tail taught.
Replace the pony’s head. I am not replacing the glue at this time, but if you wanted to secure the head, you can use super glue. BE CAREFUL! Do not get too much glue on the neckline or it will seep out the sides, creating problems for your hands and the pony’s body and hair. I recommend applying the glue around the rim of the neck with a toothpick and then inserting the head, holding it’s hair and your hands out of the way.
Once your pony has been reassembled and the super glue (if you used it) has dried you can style the hair.
Using Castile soap or shampoo, wash your pony’s mane and tail, and rinse.
Apply conditioner to the mane and tail. Allow it to sit for a minute or two, then use a wet brush or a comb to gently brush through any tangles.
Allow the combed and conditioned mane and tail to sit for longer. How long depends on how smooth or coarse your pony’s hair is to begin with. I let one pony’s coarse hair sit in conditioner overnight, it did help, but at a certain point their synthetic hair may be damaged beyond full repair.
Gently rinse the hair out when you feel it’s time and use a small towel to dry the body and give the hair a couple of squeezes with the hand towel to remove any excess water.
While the pony’s hair is still damp, comb through it again so it’s smooth and set its hair.
For straight-haired ponies manes – cut a strip of paper towel about an inch to an inch and a half thick. Whichever way you want the pony’s mane to fall (sometimes it’s already decided for you) wrap the pony’s mane around its neck in that direction and secure it with the paper towel, by wrapping the paper towel around the neck and over the damp mane and tying it with a small knot.
For straight-haired ponies tails – cut a strip of paper towel about an inch to an inch and a half thick. Place the paper between the pony’s legs in preparation, then take the tail and wrap it around one of the pony’s hind legs. Secure the wrapped tail with the paper towel and tie a knot.
For curly-haired ponies manes and tails – cut up several drinking straws into fourths (roughly 2 inches a piece) for curlers. Separate out your pony’s mane and tail by how many curls you want and use each piece of straw to curl a strand of hair from the tip to the base and secure it with a bobby pin over the hair, and through the straw. You can curl it over or under, dependent on your preference.
Allow your pony to completely air dry (overnight or 24 hours) then remove the paper towels or curlers. For the straight-haired ponies, I usually run a comb through the mane to give it just a little bounce, but I leave the tail alone. If you comb the hair too much it will lose its curl. For the curly-haired ponies you can leave the curls as they are, or using a loose toothed comb, gently comb through them to loosen them up, again if you comb the hair too much it will lose its curl.

How to Clean Classic My Little Pony Toys - Firefly Before and After What My Little Ponies do you have? How did they turn out? I hope you and your loved ones enjoy them! I plan on giving mine to Zoey within the next year, after she stops sticking absolutely everything in her mouth !*face palm*

DIY Tinker Bell Peg Doll

DIY Tinker Bell Peg Doll Part of the fun in raising Zoey is making things that delight her; I want to create lasting, meaningful toys for her that are made with love and will be loved! Wooden toys are classic and beautiful, when created and treated right, they can last a lifetime; so let’s make some!

It’s no secret that Cameron and I love Disney. Zoey’s middle name was inspired by one of my favorite Disney princesses, Belle, and that Belle in her name has also led to another Disney nickname, Tinker Bell. I cannot wait to create a whole set of peg dolls for her, but these two characters hold the most significance until she begins watching the classics on her own.

We’ve created a Peasant Belle Peg Doll, check her out!

This week I’ll be sharing the steps I took to create a Tinker Bell peg doll for Zoey.

DIY Tinker Bell Peg Doll

SUPPLIES

Blank peg doll (I used a “small angel” or “girl” shape/size)
Small, flat & fine tip paint brushes
Paint palette (or a tray for your paint)
Green non-toxic acrylic paint
Yellow non-toxic acrylic paint
Light brown non-toxic acrylic paint
Light blue non-toxic acrylic paint
Light pink non-toxic acrylic paint
White non-toxic acrylic paint
Black non-toxic acrylic paint
Non-toxic varnish (I used Duraclear Ultra Matte Varnish)

INSTRUCTIONS

With a pencil, lightly sketch Tinker Bell onto your blank peg doll.
Begin painting your peg doll with the base layers first. I started with the green of her dress, the white of her wings and the yellow of her hair. Allow this paint to dry before moving on to avoid smudging, then apply a few more layers of each until you’re happy with the colors and textures.
Paint the very bottom and edges of the peg doll green to signify her slippers.
After the base layers have dried, paint a border of darker green on the edges of her dress. If you don’t have a darker shade of green, you can create some by adding a small amount of black paint to the original green and blending.
Paint an accent of lighter green on the inner layer of the dark green border of her dress. If you don’t have a lighter shade of green, you can create some by adding a small amount of white paint to the original green and blending.
The wings can stay matte white, or you can add a pearly white finish to give them a sheen. Once the wings have dried, border and accent them with light blue paint.
Paint light brown accents on and around the hair.
Once the hair has dried, paint a small light blue ribbon around Tinker Bell’s bun.
Taking something small and round (I used the opposite end of one of my smaller paint brushes) dip it in black paint and dot the two eyes. Using the finest tipped paintbrush you can find, give her an eyelash or two on each eye.
Once the eye paint has dried, add a highlight dot to each eye with a fine tipped paintbrush and white paint.
Using the same method as the eyes, dip the opposite end of a slightly larger paintbrush into light pink paint and dot the blush under each eye.
With a little white paint, give her a few sparkles of pixie dust on the hem of her dress or wherever else you feel it will look right!
Allow for all paint to completely dry, then apply a varnish and allow it to dry. You can apply as many coats as you want for the finish you want, just allow them to dry in between applications and before handing her over to your child.
Voilà! Tinker Bell is done and ready to be played with! Enjoy!

DIY Tinker Bell Peg Doll

DIY Edible “Sand” for Sensory Playtime

DIY Edible Sand for Sensory Play It’s the middle of Summer and I would love to take Zoey to the beach for the first time, but just about everything she picks up is quickly introduced to her mouth! I understand she’s figuring things out (and more power to her), but I’m not super enthusiastic about her ingesting beach sand. So, until she gets a little less eager to put everything in her mouth, why not bring a little beach experience to her?

Part of the fun in raising Zoey is making things that teach and fascinate her. We can make edible “sand” that’s fun to play in and safe to eat out of graham crackers and oatmeal; let’s make it!

Check back next week for the homemade teething cookies I made with the remaining edible “sand”.

DIY Edible Sand for Sensory Play

SUPPLIES

1 box of graham crackers.
2 cups of oatmeal (I used whole grain old-fashioned oats)
A food processor
A mixing bowl
A mixing spoon
A container for playing in the “sand” (I used a heavy casserole dish)
Beach or ocean themed toys (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

Open the graham crackers and blend them in the food processor until they are a fine sand-like texture.
Remove the graham crackers from the food processor and pour them into a mixing bowl.
Measure the oatmeal into the food processor and blend it until it is also a fine sand-like texture.
Remove the oatmeal from the food processor and add it to the mixing bowl with the graham crackers.
Using a mixing spoon, stir the graham crackers and oatmeal together until well combined.
Pour the edible “sand” into the container you’ve chosen for your baby to play in. I used a heavy casserole dish since Zoey’s not strong enough to flip it yet. You can always double or triple the graham cracker and oatmeal ratio if you want to fill a larger container.
Arrange beach and/or ocean themed toys in the sand for your little one to play with (optional).
Introduce the edible “sand” to your baby and enjoy!

Tabletop Game – Let’s Play Blokus!

Tabletop Game Blokus by Mattel Games I’m always on the look out for a fun, entertaining way to pass the time like a good tabletop game! Blokus was introduced to us by my husband’s parents and we enjoyed playing it so much we purchased it straightaway!

Tabletop Game Blokus by Mattel Games Blokus is a two to four player strategy game that can be played with reckless abandon, or the studied care one would reserve for Chess or Checkers.

Players each choose a color and a corner, then decide who goes first; turns proceed clockwise around the board. To begin, each player must use their first turn to lay down a piece that covers their base corner’s square. Play then continues with each player placing one piece each turn that must touch the corner of one of their colored pieces, but only the corners! Full sides of the same color may not touch one another.

Tabletop Game Blokus by Mattel Games When a player reaches a point where they cannot place another piece, they are done. The game ends when no player can place anymore pieces. Once the game ends the players count the number of squares in their unplayed pieces, the player with the lowest number of squares left, wins!

Tabletop Game Blokus by Mattel Games My only complaint is based on the packaging or storage. The version we purchased has no storage for the 84 colored pieces which is surprising and disappointing. I use four sandwich bags, one for each color to store them. This cuts down on the amount of time spent sifting through the pieces before starting each game!

Tabletop Game Blokus by Mattel Games If you’re looking for a fun, fresh take on a timeless strategy game that feels like a spiritual successor to Checkers and/or Chess, check out Blokus!