Flour, oil and water

• Play dough

  • 3 parts flour

    2 parts salt

    1 part oil

    A pinch of creme of tartar (optional)

    Food colouring (optional)

    Enough water to bring it together

    Add all of your dry ingredients into a bowl and mix in your oil, if you want your playdough to be marbled with flecks of colour though out add it here to. If you want your playdough  to be one solid colour, add it to the water and add enough water to bring all of it together into a smooth elastic dough. You will have to kneed the dough for about 10 minuets before use you want your dough to bounce back slightly when pressed.

• Moon sand

  • 1 part cooking oil

    16 parts plain flour

    Rub flour into oil a third at a time until you get a soft crumbly texture that will clump together but not hold and isn’t sticky. Use a powered colure if you wish to colure it as food die will not work with the oil. Set up with balls of tin foil for space themed fun.

• Salt dough.

  • You will need

    1 part water

    1 part salt

    2 parts flour

    Mix flour and salt in a large bowl, add the water and and combine. Allow your children to roll out, cut out and shape the dough. Place you finished items on a lined baking sheet and bake on your oven’s lowest setting for 3 hours or until the salt dough is fully dry. Allow to cool and paint.

experimenting

Compost jar

• Food scrapes

• A jar or plastic bottle (the bigger the better)

• Soil

• Paper,

Soft plastic

Add the soil to the jar and place the food scrapes, paper, and soft plastic to the top. Set your jar on top of a counter and make it a part of your routine to observe everything but the plastic degrade away.

Sun vs sunscreen

• Black paper

• SPF 50 sunscreen

Using your fingers apply the sunscreen onto half your black paper Per the instructions on the back of the pack. Place in the sun and wait 2 hours, your paper should have faded in the areas that the sunscreen wasn’t applied.

Water still

• Salt

• Plastic container

• A cup

• Water

• Clingfilm

• A marble

  Allow your child to mix the salt into the water and place into the container, add your empty cup in the middle insuring that it sinks into the water. Cover the container in clingfilm and place into the sun with the marble sitting centred over the cup. Allow the water to evaporate and drip into the cup leaving the salt behind.

Sand and soil

Sand art

• Sand

• Food dye

• Ziplock bags

• Jar

• Spoons

Place sand into a ziplock bag and use the food dye to colure it putting each colure into a different bowl to dry once coloured. Allow your child to scoop the sand into the jar.

Chai grass

• Chia seeds

• water

• soil

• water

• tray

  Make chia seed slime by mixing equal parts chia seeds and water. Chia slim into soil and spread across the tray. Keep soil most, wait a few days and allow your child to explore the lush green shoots.

Grass heads

• Cotton balls

• Grass seeds

• Paper cups

• Water

• Marker

Place cotton balls into the cup, sprinkle grass seeds over and wet it with water. Draw a smiley face onto the cup and wait for the grass to grow.

Experiments

• Flower dyeing

  • 8 white flowers

    Red, yellow, blue and green food colouring

    4 tall slim containers

    Water

    Trim your flowers to match the length of your containers. Half fill your containers with water and add one colure of die to each. Make your coloured water fairly pigmented. Add your white flowers (I’d use 2 flowers per container) and leave in a space that they can’t reach but can see. Over a few days the flowers will change form white to what ever colure you’ve dyed your water.

• Pasta towers

  • Dry spaghetti or match sticks (just the wooden bit available from most craft stores)

    Marshmallows

    Cellotape

    Give them a roll of Cellotape and a handful of the other ingredients. Instruct them to build a tower. I often do this with my 4 and 5yos.

• Obleck

  • One part water

    One part corn flour

    Food colouring, optional

    Mix cornflour, water and colouring (if used) together in a tray. Pair with sand toys or kitchen wear for gooey, slimy fun.

Grain and flours

• Crunch sand

  • 16 parts corn flour (or corn starch)

  • 1 part oil

Mix together your corn flour and oil to make a crunchy texture that will clump together and hold its shape but not become runny

• Room temp snow

  • 4 parts corn flour (starch)

  • 2 parts plain flour

  • 1 part bi-carb soda

  • shaving cream

    Mix the corn flour and plain flour together. Add the bi-carb soda and mix again until clump free, then add enough shaving cream to bring to a soft paste that resembles a soft snow texture.

• Cloud dough

  • 1 part corn flour (starch)

  • 1 part conditioner

    Mix the cornflour and conditioner untill they make a smooth past. You wont need all of the conditioner at the start, instead reserve the extra and add as the dough starts to dry out.

Under the sink

• Shaving cream paint

  • 1 part shaving cream

  • 1 part chalk

  • Paper

    Grind your chalk into a fine powder mix into your shaving cream until no lumps remain using a paint brush for best results and paint onto your paper as normal

• Bubble mix

  • 1 part dishwashing liquid

  • 2 parts water

    Dilute the dishwashing liquid with the water. I prefer the ‘Earth’ branded dishwashing liquid here in Australia.

• ‘Cleaners’

  • Spray bottle

  • Water

    Allow your child to assist you with the cleaning without the risk of actual cleaning chemicals.

Cookery

Everything soup

• Mixed veg

• Water

• Chicken stock cube

• Bread

• Butter

• Milk powder

Have your child help to peel and dice up your veg and add to a pot of cold water with your stock cube. Bring the whole pot to the boil. Meanwhile, toast and butter your bread. Once cooked, blend with half a cup of powdered milk per cup of water and serve.

Pizza

• Pre made pizza basses

• Pre made pizza sauce

• Shredded low moisture mozzarella cheese

• Shredded Cheddar (tasty) cheese

• Toppings of your choice

Ask your child to spread the sauce over your basses and coat in Cheddar cheese. Evenly ‘decorate’ your pizza with your selected toppings ensuring your child does most of the work. have the adult place the pizza into an oven cranked up as high as possible and bake until the cheese has melted and the bass has heated though.

Posh Mac and cheese

• Cauliflower

• Sweet potato

• Leek

• Elbow pasta

• Milk powder

• Shredded Cheddar (tasty) cheese

• Water

  Ask your child to help you peel and dice the cauliflower, leek and sweet potato and add them to a pot of water. Bring this to the boil. Meanwhile bring your pasta to the boil in a separate pot. Once your veg is cooked blend your veg with the milk powder, half cup powdered milk to one cup water to create a thick sauce. Add the cheese and pasta once cooled slightly so that it doesn’t split.