In our house school often happens at the kitchen table and I realize that at least once a week I find myself reaching into the kitchen pantry to create an activity for our preschool-aged daughter in hopes that it will buy me enough time to introduce fractions or a new spelling list to our third-grade son. As someone who used to spend countless childhood hours creating "potions", I enjoy watching the kids do their own exploring while practicing measuring, stirring, and creating with items you can often find in a kitchen or bathroom cabinet.
Here I share some of our family tested and approved favorites:
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This is a favorite recipe when the holidays roll around, but not just Christmas and Hanukkah! We love making special ornaments at Valentine's Day or for Teacher Appreciation gifts!
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Ah! Puffy Paint was a FAVORITE when I was a kid! I love this recipe for it's simplicity and how easy it is to clean up. If you are gearing up for some winter art then a batch of plain white makes for a great "snow" or beard!
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Three ingredients and a little heat are all you need to create a great clay that you can air dry or bake in the oven at a low temp (approximately 175 degrees for about 1 hour). After your creations dry you can leave them white or decorate them with paint, or add photos with a little decoupage glue.
Our favorite paint is made by adding a little clear glue to tempera paints for a glossy finish. If you would like to decoupage then you can make your own decoupage glue by adding 1 part water to 3 parts regular white glue.
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You may recognize this recipe from last November when I shared my Easy Homemade Gingerbread Playdough. I was given this basic recipe and love to add to it to customize it for the situation. Gingerbread dough only requires the addition of spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves to give it the color and smell of real gingerbread cookie dough. Do you prefer Apple Pie? No problem, just use some apple pie spice mix, cinnamon, and red food coloring. If you would just like dough in beautiful colors then mix in some food coloring or powder drink mix packets before you cook it. Sometimes we like to leave ours the natural color and just add a few drops of lavender oil to make for a nice pre-bedtime activity.
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I don't think it can get much easier than this Moon Dough recipe. 2 ingredients mixed with your hands and the end result is a moldable substance much like that magic sand you can buy in the stores. We tend to use baby oil in our Moon Dough because I love the smell and how soft it makes your hands, but we have used vegetable oil and even coconut oil (in it's liquid form) for this one. If you would like to add color then I suggest you add the food coloring to the oil first and then mix together. It helps the color distribute more evenly.
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This recipe is a favorite when the weather is nice enough to be outside and easy turn into a group activity by increasing the recipe or creating a workstation for each kid. This is a fluffier texture than we get with our borax slime, but a great alternative if you do not have, or want to use, borax.
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If you are looking for a smooth slime than this is my "go-to" recipe and have used it to make buckets of slime for classroom parties, playdates, and on a rainy day around the house. I have tried, and keep trying to find an alternative to the Borax that produces this same consistency of slime, but I am still searching. None have come close yet.
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There is something mesmerizing about seeing the layers of colorful sand in a clear container, but this is a fun one to also just put into a "sandbox" or container for playtime. It can be a great filler for sensory bins too! A couple of things to keep in mind is that if you want the sand to be more "moldable" then you will likely need to add a little water. We usually use ours to make layered art in a clear container, but if you want it for "sandbox" play adding more water may be a good idea. Also, cornmeal is already a yellow color and you will want to keep that in mind as you are making the different colors. Adding red will give you an orange color, blue will end up green, etc.
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The reaction between baking soda and vinegar is mesmerizing and making your own little mini volcanoes of color is magical. The sight and sound of the fizzing delights kids every time. We love to use the disposable foil trays for projects like these because they have edges to contain the fizz and are easy to clean for a future creation. Sometimes we just "paint" in the tray and other times I lay a piece of cardboard or paper in there for them to use. An alternate way to do this is to fill small containers with baking soda and powdered food coloring. Then slowly add the vinegar, stirring to create pots of thicker paint to use with a brush on paper. My kids love the mess of mini volcanoes though, so that is our preferred method.
Kitchen creativity will always be a favorite of mine. It engages the senses, can help calm busy minds while allowing small hands to be moving and helps develop motor skills, creativity, and even speech as you talk about and describe the creations. Many of these we will store in airtight containers to pull out and create sensory bins. Each of the recipes above can make for great sensory bin bases. All you need to add are small manipulatives like figurines, beads, seashells, pom-poms, pipe cleaners, cars, letter magnets - the options are endless. I also like to encourage kids to use their hands first and then after kids have been playing for a while I will give them a tool, like a spoon with holes, tweezers, or scoopers, to incorporate into the fun. The kitchen is also a source of other great sensory bin fillers - like pasta, rice, dry beans, or whole coffee beans. It is amazing to sit back and take your child's lead for play and discussion with something sensory inspiring on the table in front of you.
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