Have a kool(aid) Valentine's day

We have a valentine party to attend this week with our international club. There are quite a few members in the under 5 crowd, so Sal and I got busy in the kitchen this week making our favorite koolaid playdoh to share with his valentines.

Not only is the playdoh soft and pliable, but it smells wonderful too. We chose pink lemonade and grape so that our dough would be purple and pink. 

Here's the recipe:

1 pkg koolaid

1.5 TBSP oil

2 c flour

1 c water

1/4 c salt

Mix all ingredients together in saucepan over low heat until it forms a clumpy paste like consistency. Remove from heat and knead on solid surface until smooth. 

When it was all done, I rolled it out and let Sal cut out heart shapes. We then bagged them in sandwich size ziplocs (snack size would work too) to keep then airtight.

I cut out heart tags and wrote " valentine, you make my heart squishy . Love, Sal". With my help, he stapled his tags to the top of the bags. 

Now, if I can only keep little hands away from opening all of the gifts he made his friends, we will be set! 

Pom Pom stuffing

While in California, I stocked up on some artsy stuff to bring back to do projects with Sal. My sister in law left us some Halloween themed pompoms from Target and they were the first bag opened when we got home. 

I gave Sal the bag of Pom poms and a silicone baby food freezer tray and he went to town stuffing the different size Pom poms into the compartments. In the future, I plan to give him different tools for transfer (chopsticks, tongs, spoons) and work with him on sorting by size and colors.

So, if you're looking for an easy, quiet and cheap activity for your toddler-hit up Target's dollar bins or your local craft store for some Pom poms!

Bean transfer activity

I ran across a picture of a friend's daughter transferring beans from one bowl to another with a spoon, and decided one hot humid August morning to give it a try in our household. Sal is a bit younger than the little girl, but not by far. We got out a couple bowls, a variety of "scooper" shapes and sizes, and sat on the kitchen floor. Without any instruction, Sal picked up the spoon, and started transferring beans from one bowl to the next.

Sure, beans ended up missing the bowl, followed by "uh oh", even when they were quite deliberately scattered on the floor, but we are lucky enough to have a kitchen that can be enclosed by two sliding glass doors. Really though, beans scattered on the floor aren't that messy.

In fact, Sal got our ayi's broom and dustpan and helped "sweep". 

This activity kept him busy in one way or another for over twenty minutes. Back and forth with the beans, then cleaning them up and starting all over again. 

It dawned in me that this is a Montessori activity, so I Pinterest searched more Montessori activities for the future and plan to try some. I haven't really subscribed to a particular teaching method for my son, but I guess if I am drawn to activities like this, that don't include tv, batteries or direct instruction, I may lean a bit towards the Montessori way.

I'm excited to try out some new activities especially since I'm already slowing down and looking for things to keep Sal busy within the confines of our home and limited supplies.