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How To Make Play Dough In The Microwave

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A blast from the past:  every elementary school teacher and mom needs to know that making play dough is super easy when you do it in a microwave. That is why I am re-posting the microwave play dough recipe for you here today! 
I love making play dough. In fact, I am making some today!  There is something fun about developing this colorful toy by yourself,  knowing that a child  you love will have hours of play ahead of him. Making microwave play dough is by far the easiest way!
Microwave Play Dough Recipe #kids #preschool

 

Th classic recipe is cooked on the stove, which works great but it takes a lot of “elbow-grease” stirring and stirring. So, when I came across a recipe for MICROWAVE play dough, I had to give it a try.
Oh my goodness, is this so easy and the play dough turns out just as pliable and deeply colorful as ever. I won’t be making the old recipe again!

This blog contains Amazon affiliate links. ♥

 

Melissa and Dough Play Dough Tool Kit #ad

Great tools for cutting, rolling and sculpting homemade play dough from Melissa & Doug!  #Ad

 
McCormicks Neon Food Coloring
preschool, DIY play dough, play doh

Microwave Play Dough Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup water
1 generous T cooking oil
1/3 cup salt
*Bleached flour is whiter and gives you a truer color.
**Neon food coloring is the most vivid.
Alex Toys wooden modeling clay tool set #ad

Alex wooden dough tool set makes homemade play dough so much fun!     

Directions

Use a microwave-safe mixing bowl. This process takes about 5 minutes including prep.
Combine water, oil, food coloring and stir.
Add cream of tartar, and stir again.
Add salt, stir.
Gradually add flour and stir as you go along to prevent lumps.
Microwave on high for 30 seconds.*
Stir.
Another 30 seconds.
Stir.
A third time, 30 seconds.
Stir.
A fourth time, 30 seconds.
Stir.
It will now be in a ball.
Let sit for 2 minutes.
*Tip: Cooking time may vary depending upon microwave ovens and/or the bowls you use. I have found that sometimes I have to add another 30-60 seconds. So, consider total cooking time to be between 2 – 3 minutes at 30 minute intervals. 
Remove from bowl and put the play dough ball on a dinner plate to cool.*
Wrap cooled play dough in plastic wrap or a zippered plastic food storage bag and store at room temperature.
*I spray the plate with cooking spray to make it easily removable from the plate.
Little Quack Books
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Enjoy!

 

Paint With Q-Tips – Letter Q Preschool Activity

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Painting dots with  Q-tips is a simple fine motor skill activity for 3 and 4 year olds to do and, guess what, children and adults of ALL ages love it, too!

Q painting for kids #preschool
Our letter Q day in preschool this year was Q is for Queen. We made a really cute queen paper bag puppet as our craft. Since there really wasn’t enough about queens to fill up the day, we branched out to more Q words: Quick, Quack, Quail, Quarter, Quilt and Q-tip. Painting dots with q-tips is a fun fine motor skill activity for 3 and 4 year olds.

This blog contains Amazon affiliate links. ♥

Washable tempera paint for kids #ad
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Tip: Happily, this painting exercise is neat enough that we could skip the smocks however I would advise having plenty of baby wipes on hand to get those cute little painted fingers clean!
Q tip painting for kids

Q is for Q-tip and Quilt Preschool Painting Activity

Supplies

Q is for Q-Tips and Quilts Printable*
preschool craft, preschool painting, preschool activity, kids painting activity, Letter Q

 

preschool craft, preschool painting, preschool activity, kids painting activity, Letter Q

 

Kids painting their craft with q tips and tempera paint

easy to paint plaster stones for kids art

Directions

Print the FREE PRINTABLE (here) onto cardstock.
Put “blobs” of paint on a plate to dip in.
Give each child enough cotton swabs for a clean side for every color.
i.e.  four colors of paint = 2 q-tips
Child dots paint inside of the letter Q.
Tip: If you are aiming for it to look like a quilt, help them think it through. They should concentrate colors in groups. I found that my 3 year olds really didn’t do that and some even rubbed the paint on instead of dotting it. No problem!   EVERYONE had FUN! 

 

Every craft time comes with cleanup!  LOL  

Shark vacuum cleaner with LED lights

Great at picking up pet hair of all kinds (and people hair, too!)

 

The Kindness Quilt story book for kids #ad
Stitchin and Pullin storybook about quilting #ad

 

Enjoy!

signed from SInea

 

 

 

ESSENSON Modeling Clay Kit – 62 Colors Air Dry Magic Clay, Best Gift for Boys & Girls Age 3-12 Year Old, DIY Molding Kids, with Sculpting Tools, Decoration Accessories, Kids Art Crafts

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H is for Helicopter Preschool Craft

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 Letter H is for Helicopter craft made with craft sticks, cotton balls, colored paper and lots of glue! This craft works very well for H is for Help, too!

H is for helicopter preschool craft #kids #helicopter

The Letter H lesson in my preschool class last week was based on the word HELP. We learned about all sorts of ways people can get and give help. We studied first responders as well: firemen, police officers, life guards, crossing guards, doctors, nurses … we really worked H is for Help up one side and down the other.

I got a great book about helicopters – High Flying Helicopters (Amazing Machines) –  to read to my little students. We learned that helicopters are often used to rescue people and animals.  And, over the years I have read a great little story book to my kiddos called Elecopter!  It tells of an ELEPHANT HELICOPTER who rescues (helps) others.  Totally fun!

This blog contains Amazon affiliate links. ♥

 

Elecopter childrens book

I always read this book to my little ones on HELICOPTER day!  

 

 

Green toys helicopter toy #kids #ad

Quite by accident, I discovered that one of our classroom dads is an Army Chaplain. When she saw the photo of a big military helicopter carrying a heavy vehicle, little Miss E cried out “My daddy does that!”  That was a fun moment 🙂

To fill out the lesson we learned the simpler parts of the aircraft: cockpit, tail boom, tail fin, rotors and landing skids. And then we made this simple craft!

Lesson for children about helicopters with simple craft #preschool

H is for Helicopter Preschool Craft

Supplies

Light blue card stock

Colored paper: white, goldenrod or orange, red
Craft sticks
Cotton balls
Black marker
Glue sticks
White glue
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Lego helicopter set #toys #LEGO #ad
Directions
Label the blue card stock “H is for Helicopter” – optional
Print templates for the helicopter
Goldenrod or yellow paper for tail boom and body
White paper for the cockpit
Red paper for the tail fin
Cut out the parts
Glue the helicopter parts onto the blue card stock using glue stick.
Take two or three cotton balls and stretch them a little.
Glue stick them on for clouds.
Using white glue, paste one craft stick on for the first rotor blade.
Add a big blob of glue into the middle of that stick, making an “X”
Draw in the line connecting the rotor blade to the body of the helicopter.
Draw in the landing skids.
Done!
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Free Helicopter Craft Printables

Helicopter 1 – Tail Boom and Body

Helicopter 2 – Cockpit

Helicopter 3 – Tail Fin

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