Last weekend Mike took Nadia on a Daddy/Daughter adventure (separate blog post coming) and so Amelie and I had some Mommy/Daughter time. I thought we could make a Gingerbread Train since she loves them so much. I also knew that she would enjoy getting to do something on her own.
She was really funny wanting me to squirt icing here and there and she kept whispering to herself, “Dis candy not for eating… only for train. Dis candy not for eating… only for train.” She also hates her hand getting dirty, so each time she put a piece of candy on she would say, “Oh no! Icing!” So I gave her a wet washcloth to wipe her fingers on and then she started trying to negotiate with me, “Why not me lick my hands mama? I just lick them. It’s nummy in my tummy.”
Once we finished she was so proud and she looks at it every day and says, “I like my choo choo train. So pretty.”
I have been telling Nadia for quite some time that we could make homemade silly putty and then you know, life happens and suddenly two months have passed. She mentioned it again last week and I thought it would be fun to do on a day when we had a free afternoon. I googled it and we prepped the ingredients. Are you ready? Two tablespoons of Elmer’s Glue All (not school glue) and one tablespoon of liquid starch.
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Put the ingredients in a bowl and stir for 10 minutes.
Then knead and knead and knead. We didn’t have any regular food coloring so Nadia asked for glitter. Then I told her she had to knead and knead and knead some more until it felt like her other silly putty.
At this point the glitter was well mixed, but it needed some more kneading. Nadia did all of the stirring and kneading and it kept her very busy.
Then she made a snowman, but he “melted” because it’s not as firm as the factory made stuff. I thought this was adorable. The day she made this she played with it for at least an hour. She has played with it constantly and wants to make some in colors soon.
You know Amelie wanted to be in on the action so I put her in her chair because she still loves Playdoh and it kept her from grabbing at Nadia’s project. This is some that our friend Sarah gave her. It is the most wonderful playdoh!! I had to get the recipe from her and here it is. You should make it and then store it in a ziploc or other container. We have been playing with it for over a month.
1 1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup salt
2 teas cream of tarter
1 1/2 cup water
1 1/2 TBSP veg oil (or canola or something of the like)
Dump into a small/med sauce pan and heat on med and stir occasionally until it starts forming a dough-like mass – than stir so it doesn’t burn. Once it looks like it’s smoothing out and no liquid pools and it’s very thick, playdoh looking… take off heat – scrape out onto a plate or board and just let it sit until cooled a bit.
Add color while warm, just to mix it easier. I use old school food color droppers and add one color in the saucepan – less mess to get a nice bright base color than doing afterwards. Then I add some more color to sections to make more colors, if you wanted. I add the glitter after it’s cooled on the plate for around 10 minutes. it seems to last awhile! PS for really fun colors, I use a neon set of dye droppers, so fun!
I have no idea how I found this last week, but it looked so cute. You take equal parts corn starch and water, then stir together and add your food coloring. Next time I will double this per color so the girls have a lot more to work with.
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Here is what we started with – corn starch, water, big brushes, tablespoons and food coloring.
Amelie decided to paint her hands instead of the driveway. So that night she was rocking the Smurf hands even after washing her hands with 3 different kinds of soap. The problem? I didn’t have regular food coloring so I “thought” it would be okay to use my Wilton icing gel food coloring. So I am going to buy some regular food coloring for next time because the girls loved this activity.
The PALS group at Scottish Rite had a Christmas party at the beginning of December. We didn’t go for Amelie since she doesn’t know that she is different now, but for Nadia to see other kids (and adults) with limb differences. She has started to notice when people comment about Amelie and has even asked, “When are Amelie’s hands going to be like mine?” That lead to a great discussion with her about how we are all different and that is how God made us. They had food and a Santa which really got Nadia excited. Amelie on the other hand screamed in terror at first. In the end Amelie took the gift from Santa’s elf and waved at him, but that was it.
Amelie showing her new bear the Scottish Rite Kaleidescope.
We headed home and I set the girls up to decorate a gingerbread house. Amelie did a great job on her first try and put all the candy on herself. I was on “icing duty” and heard a lot of “can you put some icing here mommy?” I let them each do half and it was really cute.
