The minute I started seeing blog entries about light boxes, I thought A & J would love one. There began my search on my most suitable options. I knew that purchasing one already made was not in my budget. After a month of looking around the web and looking for suggestions, I opted to construct my own. I laugh at the word construct because I don’t even own a saw, so how was I going to actually build this thing?
If you’ve ever stepped foot into a preschool, elementary school, or anywhere that has young children in November you will most likely see turkeys. You’ll see them in all colors and made out of almost anything. I’ve seen a turkey made out of men’s ties. (If I can find the photo I’ll post it.) It was really cool. Most often you’ll see turkeys made of little handprints. I personally think they’re pretty cute, some would say that their stifling children’s creativity. I recently read a blog post that I can identify with, so my philosophy is why not use handprints? It’s a tool that’s always with the child. To me it’s a perfect gateway to self expression. 
As a child I loved play dough! It’s no wonder that my kids always have play dough on hand. It’s super easy to make and there are so many developmental benefits to playing with play dough. I recently added a Fall twist to the homemade play dough recipe that I use. (Recipe included at the end of this post). I added nutmeg and cinnamon to the dough. In addition to the scented play dough I gave the children different tools and accessories. I loosely suggested that they make turkeys and the results were pretty unique.
Looking online for some ideas for A & J to try out. I kept coming across something called “cloud dough”. My most recent excursions got me to TinkerLab where Rachelle wrote about trying “cloud dough”. It’s a simple mixture of 8 cups of flour and 1 cup of baby oil. The cloud dough sounded like a lot of fun so I thought we should give it a try. Well it definitely did not disappoint and I know they will be asking to play with it again. In using the cloud dough I was able to incorporate a lesson on animal tracks. Here is what we did.
I recently noticed that both my kids were becoming sensitive to having dirty hands. The two kids who pick up spiders, worms, play in dirt and sand all summer long don’t like to have wet “dirty” hands. During a recent activity with paint they were very uncomfortable with the thought of having paint on their hands and both requested a baby wipe to keep near by. I can respect that they want to stay neat and clean but this may some day become a problem if they want to become chefs, sculptors or painters. 
So, I conducted an intervention of sorts and we called it GOOP week.
