Rice Flour Playdough

I have a little friend who can't do gluten so I tried making playdough with rice flour.  I like it better than all-purpose flour AND it comes out of the carpet, unlike storebought playdough!  If this home-made playdough does get in the carpet, get out what you can, let the rest dry, scrape it a bit and then vacuum it up!

A double batch of playdough!

RICE FLOUR PLAYDOUGH

1 c. rice flour or all-purpose flour

2  t. cream of tartar
½ c. salt
1 c. water

1 T. oil (I used canola oil)
Food coloring (optional)

   Cook on the Stove Top:

   Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and stir well. Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring until the mixture pulls away from sides of pan.

 

     Cool slightly and knead gently. Store in an airtight container when cool.

*****

Perfect Playdough Tools

Contain the mess by using a plastic picnic tablecloth or placemats or for each child to 'play' on.
If you're worried about playdough on the floor under the table, put a picnic tablecloth under the table area.
Who said you had to use cookie cutters for just cookies?
What about plastic forks, spoons, and butter knives.
Got any popsicle sticks?
Toy car tires leave cool tracks when you 'drive' on the dough. Let them dry well and shake to get the dough out.
A Slotted spoon pressed down on a ball of dough makes tubes of dough when the dough pushes through it (like spaghetti or hair).
Plastic Spatulas help you turn over or lift up some dough.
Test different objects to see the indentions that will remain!

This is the Original Playdough Recipe that I got while going to Central Texas College! 

Enjoy becoming a kid again!

Fun Ideas For Kids 2

CHILD, TELL ME A STORY

Have your child sit on your lap or near you by the computer. Have them tell you any story or have them tell you the words to write a letter to someone. Include grammatical errors if that's the way your child speaks it. My neighbor's little boy pronounces door as 'dare' and if I was typing I'd write it as, "I opened the dare and ...." then I'd make a note at the end to clarify that dare=door. They might enjoy drawing a picture on the back if you print out their story. Be sure to include your child's name and the date that the story was created!
If they talk fast, you might want to record it and type it up after.
If they can write their name, have them write it on the printed out copy.
You can also write it instead of typing it!
*Be flexible and if you missed something they said, ask them to 'please tell me again'. Just do your best, you're spending quality time with your child and they won't care if a word is spelled wrong or if you forgot the comma. :)

INDOOR GOLF!

Need: newspaper, tape, ball or rolled up socks

1-Roll up the newspaper and tape at the top and bottom (this is your golf club)

2-Place pieces of paper or tape on the floor. (these are your holes)

See how many hits it takes to make it "in the hole"!

Have a different number of 'holes' or begin at a different place in the room.

Add a few obstacles (laundry basket, book, chair, shoe, etc.)

Try using your non-dominant hand.

Hit the ball as if you're playing croquet (club swung between legs like a pendulum)

hit the ball while you're sitting or kneeling!

Use using a variety of balls.

Most importantly, just have fun and let the kids be creative!!

 FLOUR ART

Need: cookie sheet, flour

Have your child wash their hands first so when you're done you can still use the flour for baking.

What to do...

Place at least one cup of flour onto a cookie sheet.

Use it as a drawing board.

Draw something and then smooth out the flour and 'draw' something else.

Your finger and hands are the art tools today!
Use it to play pictionary.

-If you can't do flour, try sugar or salt! (If you use salt and it gets a little full of 'kid germs', use it to make home-made play dough... recipe coming soon)
-If you think the flour or sugar might have too many germs by the time the kids are done 'drawing', cook the germs out of the flour by making cookies when they're finished! It'll be two for one! Time with Mommy or Daddy and cookies :)

Fun with kids - crazy hair

A Fuzzy Friend!

You'll Need: Shallow dish, 2 Rubber bands, Grass seed, Sawdust or sand, Old Nylon stocking

     Cut a 10 inch piece of a nylon stocking to make a tube. Close one end with a rubber band.

Turn inside out and fill with 1-2 tablespoons of grass seed. Then fill with firmly packed sawdust. or clean sand.   Tie a knot with a rubber band to close and trim off any extra nylon.  

 This is the head of your fuzzy friend.   :)

Squish the head into the shape you want and decorate it with permanent markers or fabric paint. Draw an animal or a face. Be creative! 

Place the 'head' in a shallow dish of water with the grass seed part on top. Place in a sunny location.

Keep the 'head' moist (you can spray with a 'spray bottle' if it needs a little more moisture)

In about a week you will notice a soft green head of hair/fur.

To maintain your Fuzzy friend keep it in a shallow dish of water.

 

Dance Party

Clear out the middle of a room, strike up the stereo and have some fun. Switch up the styles of music and when it's your turn, make it a slow one so you'll have the energy to keep up! Try not to use videos, even musical ones, if you can help it; it becomes too easy to sit and watch and forget to get up and dance.   Even little babies may enjoy 'dancing' with you!

Flashlight Fun  

Cut the rounded end from a balloon. Stretch it over a flashlight and hold it in place with a rubber band.

In a darkened room, have your child shine the flashlight on the ceiling or a wall to see the colorful light. Change colors or layer balloons to see how mixing the colors creates new ones: yellow over blue to make green, red over yellow to make orange, and so on.    If you have three flashlights, place a different color on each.  Shine two or more colors on the same spot to create a new color.

My Soldier's Paper Airplane

This is an Awesome Paper Airplane
... and by adding a rubber band, you can launch it faster!

1- Fold the paper in half, then open it up again

2- fold the corners to the center line and crease

3- fold along the base of your triangle and crease

4- fold the point of your triangle up about 1 inch

5 - crease the triangle point

6- fold the corners down making sure they don't overlap the fold of your small triangle point.

7- turn the plane (1/4 turn to right), and put the folded corners under the folded triangle point

8- make a mountain fold (the center goes up and the edges go down) and crease along the center fold line

9- fold your edge down so it lines up with your folded center fold and crease

10- fold your other edge down so it lines up with your folded center fold and crease

10- fold your other edge down so it lines up with your folded center fold and crease

10- lift up your edges to see your plane!
Your plane is ready to fly!
Try it out or... to make a rubber band launcher, continue below

1- Launcher - add a piece of tape as outlined with grey lines

2- Launcher - add tape on other sided and punch with a hole punch as shown

3 - launcher - put rubber band into hole

4- launcher - place one end of rubber band through other end of rubber band

6 - launcher - pull on the rubber band that is in the other end and pull until the end is tight 

7- put finger through rubber band and pull back plane. Let go of plane and off it goes!

Happy Flying!

2016 Primary Songs in ASL

The kids at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints get to learn songs in Primary that go along with the yearly theme. Near the end of the year, they sing and share what they've learned with the whole congregation!
The 2016 theme is I KNOW THE SCRIPTURES ARE TRUE

Here are links to the songs in ASL!!!

I Will listen with my heart  - also titled "If I listen with my heart"
I will follow God's plan  - Children's songbook 164-165
Stand for the right  -  Children's songbook 159
Praise to the man  -  Hymns 27
I love to see the temple - Children's songbook 95
The Lord gave me a temple  - Children's songbook 153
Scripture Power  -

Happy Signing!

Poem on the bathroom wall - My Mother Says

My little brother got to talk in church last week and called to see if I remembered the poem that Momma had hanging in the bathroom.  I don't know how old I was when she hung it up, I just always remember it being there. (I think Grandma gave it to her) I'm now 33 and can still quote it all!
  Maybe I should hang it up for my kids to read while they're "just sittin' there!"

My Mother Says

My mother says she doesn't care
About the color of my hair,
Or if my eyes are blue or brown,
Or if my nose turns up or down.
My mother says these things don't matter.

My mother says she doesn't care

If I'm dark or if I'm fair,
If I'm thin or if I'm fat.
She doesn't fret o'er things like that.
My mother says these things don't matter.

But if I cheat or tell a lie,
Or do mean things to make folks cry,
Or if I'm rude or impolite,

And do not try to do what's right...
Then that's what really matters.

It isn't looks that makes one great;

It's character that seals our fate.
It's what's within our hearts, you see,
That makes or mars our destiny.

And that's what really matters.

Author Unknown

Random Vegetables anyone?

Last week at the store I decided to buy two vegetables that I'd never eaten.

Tonight, the kids and I discovered what fennel and rutabaga's taste like.

 (I'll bet my Soldier's glad he was at work so he didn't have to eat what we had for dinner, ha ha!) 

We had veggie chowder made from:  chicken broth, diced spuds (potatoes from our garden), diced broccoli and green onions (from the garden), diced carrots, and a little diced fennel.  I mashed it all up together with a potato masher.  I was going to use cheese, but forgot.  The fennel was one of the main flavors and I was glad I didn't add anymore than I did.   The kids love fennel raw!  I knew it tasted like Anise and I love black licorice.

 We tasted the rutabaga raw and it had a flavor that seemed familiar but I couldn't figure what it reminded me of.  After I chopped it up (it was like a rock) and cooked it in water like spuds, I was surprised that it turned from white to orange and had a sweet flavor.   Later, I realized that it reminded me of cooked carrots... kinda.

I think it'll be fun to try new foods with the kids, and my soldier (if we can get him to try it)!!!

How do you like to use fennel or rutabaga's?

What fruits or veggies should we try next?

The Pigs Got Out - COLORING PAGES

Enjoy coloring!

Click on the pictures below to print.

Click HERE to print  'Chase past the horse'

        Click HERE to print 'Chase past the cow'

Keep the "www.aSimpleDimple.com © Sheree W. Davis" tag with my images.

All of my (aSimpleDimple) coloring page images are free for your personal use or for use in your classroom. However, these images may NOT be placed in any other collection (to be sold or freely distributed) and may not be distributed individually or as a collection without express written permission.   To share my images with friends, please link to any page on our site. Do not link to images or printable PDFs.  

Ask me first, if you want to use my coloring page images in any other way. E-mail me at aSimpleDimple@gmail.com . If you inquire and don't hear back - the answer is 'no.' Sometimes I can't get back to people for various reasons (email bounces, etc.), that does not mean it's okay to use my images.
   

http://dulemba.com/index_angelpolicy.html (This is a great explanation of copyright guidelines)

Crazy Corner Bookmarks

I've sure had fun creating some Crazy Corner Bookmarks!  

I chop up old magazines. Stampin' Up is a good one!

I've drawn up some templates so you can make the different shapes I've shown!

Click on the following links, print, and ENJOY 'em!

Square..... Heart........ triangle front with semi-circle or squared back  

Rectangle.......    Triangle or Semi-Circle with squared back.... 

Grab ball - military style

I used up some more of my fabric scraps and created a 'Grab ball' like I used to play with when I was little, though that ball was red and blue. 

Each outside piece if from an Air Force flight suit and each inside piece is a different cotton fabric!! 

Craziest part... as if all the colors aren't nuts.. I repurposed clean holey socks for the filling!  

It's a repurposed, upcycled, super cool ball of squishyness!!!!!

I just wanna squish it and play a game.. anyone got some kids that need babysat?

It could be made of any color of fabric and filled with most anything!  Super fun, flexible and great for upcycling/recycling!

.....

Learn Math & Science online for free!!!

Guess what. I forgot to tell y'all...

My friend, Kristin, learned about an awesome math and science website for her kids to use.
 Her kids are home schooled but it can help anyone who wants a little help with math and science!!

www.khanacademy.org/

There are videos to watch on each subject.
Then you can practice what you've just learned.
If you're signed in (for free), it will even keep track of what you've learned.
I didn't sign in yet, just looked at videos and practice a bit!

The kids and I watched how a battery works, about the periodic table, how to add and multiply!

It has videos on basic addition through calculus,  Physics, Chemistry, Computer science
  ... plus lots more (even test prep for the math SAT)!!!

Verrrrrry  cool!

I love learning new things!!  

ENJOY

Alma 37:35 

O, remember, my son, and learn wisdom in thy youth;

 yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of God.

You guys Rock :)

The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show was so much fun with Will and Abel (My friend's boys).  
I told Will that if I had a dollor for each time he gasped in amazement during the 2 hours we were there, I'd be rich!
So many amazing creations...  God is truely amazing!

Fluorite with a U.V. (black) light

Fluorite with a bright camera flash

Wow, check out this huge crytsal ball!

"Can we take a picture of all these?"

This Geode is awesome... I wanna take it home!

Quartz Crystals... super awesome!

So many more things to see.  The kids even got FREE rocks from the 'Jr. Education' section put on by the college kids.  Will kept saying. We got a rock like this for free and these ones cost $17.00... Wow.

When the other kids saw how much fun we had, they all decided that they want to go next year.

 We'll see how many pounds of rocks they buy   :)

Reading House!

While I took the little girls to feed the ducks, the Schlenske boys built an awesome blanket house on the balcony and had a 'read in'.
The little girls were excited to jump in with their own blankie and books!

Cheese Mom!!!!  We miss you!

toy mat-n-bag pattern

Here's how I created my toy mat-n-bag!!!

If you want to print it out, just right click on the picture and select 'print'!!

Oh, I wanna try making a couple 18" mini bags for little lego sets!

Happy sewing!

UPDATE....  I found the fabric to be too bulky to close tight. I want to try a thin 'parachute fabric'!

Fragment Tags

Ever made your own tags?   

 I came up with some cup or bottle koozies to sell but realized you might need something to tell them apart if you bought more than one.  That's when I found these really cool 'Fragments'  They're thin acrylic with a hole drilled in the top which I attached to a little hook.  Then I printed out pictures of the patches associated with the MC-12 Liberty Squadron.  I used a special glue to attach the pictures to the back and voila!

I think it'd be fun to have a mini Christmas Tree decorated with these little fragment tags!

The possibilities are endless!

.....

Playdough - homemade

What's funner than playing with playdough?  How about making it!  It's a great gift to give a child!


Homemade playdough smells better, feels better, if the kids do eat some of it, kids will be kids, it won't harm them,   AND it comes out of the carpet!  I've known some store-bought playdough to be like glue in carpet and never come out.  If this home-made playdough does get in the carpet, get out what you can, let the rest dry, then vacuum it up!

BASIC PLAYDOUGH

1 c. flour 

2  t. cream of tartar
½ c. salt
1 c. water

1 T. vegetable or olive oil
Food coloring (optional)

   Combine the dry ingredients in a saucepan and the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Slowly stir the liquids into the dry mixture.

   Cook on the Stove Top:

Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring until the mixture pulls away from sides of pan.

   or Cook in the Microwave:

Heat at med. temp. for 1½ min in a microwave safe bowl. Check, stir and heat again 1 min. until it begins to solidify.

     Cool slightly and knead gently. Store in an airtight container when cool.

*****

Sweet Smelling dough

Only do this if your kids are older as the little ones might think it smells/tastes good enough to eat. 
Add a few drops of  food flavoring extracts.  Vanilla, almond, rootbeer(will turn the dough brown), peppermint, etc. 
Mixing in a little powdered kool-aid will color the dough and also make it smell. (Mix it in a plastic bag so your hands don't become colored!)

Create some MAGIC dough! 

Make a few golf ball-sized balls of plain white dough.  Push your finger into the center of each ball of dough to create a 'hole'.  Place a few drops of food-coloring into each hole and carefully squeeze the ball shut, making sure the color doesn't come out. Now put each ball of dough in a  separate plastic baggie and close the bag. At least have one ball of red, one of blue, and one of yellow.
Let the kids squeeze the dough inside the bag until all the color is completely mixed with the dough.
You can also put multiple colors of food-coloring in each hole to create custom colored playdough.
The kids get excited when the dough turns from white into a new color!
Now let the kids mix the different colors of dough to create even more colors.

Perfect Playdough Tools

Contain the mess by using a plastic  picnic tablecloth or placemats or  for each child to 'play' on.
If you're worried about playdough on the floor under the table, put a picnic tablecloth under the table area.
Who said you had to use cookie cutters for just cookies?
What about plastic forks, spoons, and butter knives.
Got any popsicle sticks?
Toy car tires leave cool tracks when you 'drive' on the dough. Let them dry well and shake to get the dough out.
A Slotted spoon pressed down on a ball of dough makes tubes of dough when the dough pushes through it (like spaghetti or hair).
Plastic Spatulas help you turn over or lift up some dough.
Test different objects to see the indentions that will remain!

Enjoy becoming a kid again!

Three Turkey Gobblers

On the night before Thanksgiving
When I had gone to bed
I heard three turkey gobblers
And this is what they said.

The first turkey said
I think I'll find a tree
And hide up in the branches
Where no one will see.

The second turkey said
I think that I will go
And hide behind the haystack
Where no one will know.

The third turkey said
I think it would be fun
To hide the farmer's hatchet
And run, run, run, run.

Then on Thanksgiving morning
When the farmer came around
Those three turkey gobblers
Were nowhere to be found!

I thought of this little poem yesterday as my Solider and I celebrated Thanksgiving with our California friends. My mom used to recite this poem to us each Thanksgiving while I was growing up.  She even had pictures that we could move around and make the turkeys 'hide'!   Each of us would take turns being the farmer who tries to find the turkeys or the turkeys who hide!   Right click on the picture and then 'print' on cardstock for more durablility. Let the kids color their own or share!


Thanks for the fun memories mom!