Motor Skills & Sensory Play

In reading my friend's blog, among others, I've come to realize that I've waaaay underestimated what my children can do.  I've set out to remedy that.  Step one: introduce scissors, construction paper, and glue sticks.  

She had a blast with it.  It didn't take her long to move beyone glue-ing with the glue stick to simply playing in the glue.  Who am I to say anything?  I was still playing in glue in sixth grade.  This leads me to step two: sensory play, with oobleck (or gloop, or slime, or whatever you want to call it).  

It's a non-Newtonian fluid (meaning that it doesn't act like normal fluids) made by mixing cornstarch and water.  (Brandon taught me that term, I had to throw it in there.)  We did 1 cup of water and about 1.75 cups corn starch, and a dab of yellow food coloring.  It was kind of a pain to mix because we dumped all the cornstarch into a bowl, then added the water all at once and started mixing.  It's not easy to stir something that gets hard every time you try to pull the whisk through it. At first, I thought that we should have added the corn starch to the water a little bit at a time, but apparently, you're supposed to add the water to the cornstarch a little at a time.

This was another big hit.  It's so neat to play with that stuff.  It's oozes slowly when left alone, but gets hard when you push or squeeze it.  I practically had to drag her away from it, even with the promise of a bath.  Kaylie got bored after only 20 minutes, though, and started throwing globs of it all over the floor.  The good news is that this is stuff is a breeze to clean up.  Just let it dry completely, and it just sweeps away.

So much fun!  We've also been letting Elora play with moon dough, paint, and  Perler beads.  It's keeping her entertained, and helping her master her fine motor skills.  +1 for fun parenting!

PS:  Don't forget about the giveaway!  You have until Friday to win a custom designed printable of your choice from The Green World Shop!

Egg Happens. So Does Spaghetti Sauce.

I was holding Elora, getting her juice out of the fridge, and not paying attention.  This was the result.

The little stinker picked it up, and just as I realized what was happening, very deliberately dropped it on the floor.  I guess it's my fault for leaving the eggs so conveniently in the fridge door, huh?

I've also discovered that my child loves tortellini.  It's been just us girls for a few days (Brandon is still stuck in Denmark because of the ash) so I picked up some of those fresh pasta things from the cooler section at the commissary, along with a jar of Prego.  Each package is the perfect amount for Elora and me to share.  We tried one for dinner Friday night, and she loved it so well, she licked her plate.

 She made quite a mess with that sauce, I tell you.  But it was nothing to the mess she made with it Saturday.

When she was done, I cleaned her up a bit, let her drink her milk, and then put her straight into the bath tub.  There was so much sauce debris that after I'd let the water out, I had to rinse the tub.  And I laughed the whole time.  :)