Sensory activities – Our Beautifully Messy House

2-Ingredient Slime

March 20, 2016March 20, 2016 Porter Leave a comment

This SLIME recipe has to be the quickest and easiest sensory-dough-goop we’ve ever made in Our Beautifully Messy House! It was perfect for a cold, rainy afternoon…a perfect excuse to keep the t.v. off as well! Both girls loved squishing and stretching our slime and I’m sure they’ll be asking for it first thing tomorrow morning!

Ingredients:

one bottle, glitter glue
1/4 cup, liquid starch

I’ve seen various recipes for this slime and it looks like all types of liquid, non-toxic glue will work: white (Elmer’s) glue + food coloring; clear glue + food coloring + glitter. I thought just using the glitter glue would take out the extra steps of adding coloring and glitter, and it worked great! No dyed fingers and no glitter mess to boot!

First, empty an entire bottle of glitter glue into a plastic container or bowl.

Next, add the liquid starch a little at a time. Stir for a minute or two, until the slime congeals together and is semi-solid.

Dump the slime out on a hard surface and squish with your hands. (After this step, my hands and the plastic mat were a little wet. I simply dried them off, and after that, the slime was virtually mess-free!)

Time to play!!! L and WB enjoyed squishing plastic figurines into their slime this afternoon. They made a bed for some jawas to nap on, a dinosaur taco, and a sparkly potion for the fairies. Let their imaginations soar!!!

An extra-fun quality of this slime is the inappropriate “FlAaArP!!!” sound it makes when you squash it into a plastic cup with your fingers. Haha! There was so much laughter to be had with that one!!!

Store your slime in a sealed container and it should last for at least a couple months! Enjoy!!!

DIY Bird Nesting Kit

February 12, 2016February 12, 2016 Porter Leave a comment

The “DIY Bird Nesting Kit” is the perfect project for little hands and little helpers! L and I made three kits this week: two gifts and one to hang in our own backyard, next to our DIY Tin Can Bird Feeder. It took less than a day for our feathered-friends to find it and start picking away, flying bits of string home to cozy-up their nests! The DIY Bird Nesting Kit costs only $2.50 to make (I’m not kidding!) and it’s a wonderful project to help teach kids about giving, sharing, and caring for the world around us….aaand about birds and the various types of nests they make of course!

Before making our Bird Nesting Kits, the girls and I read “Mama Built a Little Nest” by Jennifer Ward and Steven Jenkins. It is fascinating book with beautiful, collage-like illustrations, depicting all kinds of birds, their families, and the homes they build. (It’s best to read in a pile of beach towels, swirled around on the floor into your own nest.) I highly recommend it!

Materials needed:

Wired bird suet holder
yarn scraps
scissors
ruler (optional)

First, have your little one cut the yarn scraps up into pieces about 3-5 inches long. You don’t have to measure them, but your little one might want to with the ruler!

After you have a nice pile of yarn pieces, it’s time to stuff them into the suet holder. Then, close the suet holder up and it’s all done. It’s that easy!

Now, time to find the perfect place outside to hang your Bird Nesting Kit…someplace where the birds will find it and you can spy them doing so is best!

If you’re giving your Bird Nesting Kit away as a gift, you may want to include a little card inside explaining what it is. Your friends will be sure to love such a colorful, quirky, and fun gift! Enjoy!!!

Hidden Fairy Bath Bombs

October 26, 2015February 8, 2016 Porter 1 Comment

Have you ever bought bath bombs for yourself or for your kids? Bath bombs were originally intended for adults to use in the bath…their scents make the water smell wonderful and many times the bath bombs contain epsom salts to soften and refresh your skin. The thing that many people don’t know is that kids LOVE them too!!! The fizzy, bubbly, sizzling chemical reaction is just too cool! In the past, we’ve bought bath bombs and given them to our girls in their stockings at Christmas or for their birthdays…but now, we’ll never buy them again! These bath bombs are so quick and easy to make and there’s a surprise hidden inside each one! I found inspiration for this DIY on a fellow blogger’s site; she makes “Hidden Train Bath Bombs” for her little boys…adorable and genius!

Materials needed:

2 cups baking soda
1 cup citric acid
food coloring
essential oil
water in a spray bottle (not pictured)
plastic fairies (flowers, dinosaurs, cars…)
silicone molds or a muffin tin

First, mix two cups of baking soda and 1 cup of citric acid together in a large bowl.

Next, add about 10-15 drops of food coloring and some essential oil, and mix. You can add more coloring and oil to suit your preference. I used a “sweet orange” oil and yellow food coloring. Even though the bath bombs themselves were not super-vibrant in color, the bath water certainly was! The kids loved it!

Now, spray your mixture with water and mix quickly! I would give our mixture about 3 squirts, mix, then repeat. The baking soda and citric acid will start to fizz a bit, but once you mix, it will stop. Repeat this process until the mixture clumps together like breadcrumbs.

Spoon the mixture into your silicone molds. Fill about halfway and pack it down firmly with your hands.

Now, add your fairies. We added a silk flower to one of ours as well.

Fill the molds the rest of the way with the baking soda-citric acid mixture and pack it down firmly. Once the bath bombs set, they will expand. The next time I make bath bombs, I may not fill them all the way up to the top…or I may do so purposely and make them look like frosted cupcakes!

Let your bath bombs set up for a few hours until they are hard. (Can you believe how ours expanded and “grew”!?!) Flip the bath bombs over and gently pop them out of the molds.

Now for the fun part, surprise your kids with the bath bombs! The chemical reaction is just so cool!!!

They will be doubly-surprised to find fairies hidden inside!

The walls, tile and bathtub in our bathroom are all white…the bath water was so, so yellow the whole bathroom glowed!!!

This recipe can easily make 7-8 bath bombs…plenty for you and a friend! Enjoy!!!

Lemonade Play Dough

August 5, 2015September 24, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

We love scented play dough at Our Beautifully Messy House and summertime is the perfect time to make LEMONADE PLAY DOUGH!

I came up with this recipe a couple weeks ago, while mixing up some play dough to take with us on vacation to the beach. And the kids LOVED it!!! It’s always nice having play dough handy for any down-time whether you’re at the beach with family or you’re having friends over for a play date.

I’ve tried making citrus-scented play dough in the past with lemon extracts and oils, but that summery lemonade scent never comes through. Adding a packet or two of lemonade mix did the trick…it was super-quick and easy and smells delicious! I suggest using a sugar-free lemonade mix (Crystal Light brand works great!) so your play dough doesn’t get super sticky with the added sugar.

When I made our lemonade play dough I wanted to make both yellow and pink dough, so I split the dough and added the food coloring before kneading it. The colors came out just fine! This play dough takes only a few minutes to make, but stored in a gallon-sized bag or an air-tight container, it’ll keep for nearly a year! This recipe makes plenty for 2 or 3 kids to play with!

My tip to keep your kids entertained playing with play dough for longer: Start off with plain play dough. Let them play 15 or 20 minutes, then throw some glitter into the mix. Once their attention starts to drift, add some colorful beads or buttons. Add some measuring cups and kitchen utensils, some lil plastic dinosaurs or army men. Just don’t give them everything at once, instead add to the play dough in intervals…works every time!

Ingredients:

2 cups + 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 Tbsp cream of tartar
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1.5 cups boiling water
food coloring
1-2 packets lemonade mix

First, put the water on to boil. Add a few drops of food coloring to the water (yellow or pink). As the water is heating up, mix 2 cups of flour, salt, cream of tartar and one packet of lemonade mix in a large mixing bowl. Then add and mix the vegetable oil into the flour mixture. Once the water is boiling, add it to the bowl and mix with a spatula. The dough will be a sticky mess while warm. Mix it as best you can, then let it cool off. After a few minutes cooling off, sprinkle your working surface with some of the remaining flour. Dump the play dough onto the flour, adding more flour to the top, and knead the dough. Continue working with the dough, adding a bit of flour as needed, til the dough is not sticky anymore and you’ve reached the desired consistency. If you like, sprinkle in another packet of lemonade mix to dough! Yum yum, Summer!!! Enjoy!

Splatter Paint Fun!!!

July 3, 2015September 24, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

While SPLATTER PAINT FUN! can be done anytime of the year, we thought it would be an exceptional craft to do on the 4th of July! This can get messy, so be sure to cover your work area with old newspapers or, better yet, take it outside! I helped L with the cut-outs, but let her do most of the splattering on her own. It’s so much fun splattering paint, I bet you’ll want to join in the fun too!

Materials needed:

toothbrush and/or kitchen scrub brush
paint
construction paper
old cereal box
scissors
old newspapers, towels, etc.

First, cover your work area with old newspapers. After all, the paint will splatter!

Next, cut some fun shapes out of your old cereal box. We did some wavy stripes, stars, and a city skyline for the 4th of July.

Lay the shapes atop your construction paper. You can do all the shapes at once or, as we did, layer them.

Next, dip your toothbrush bristles into paint. Facing the toothbrush downwards (bristles facing the paper) have your kids run their fingers along the bottom of the brush splattering the paint. When splattering around shapes, the more the better!

After splattering is complete, remove cardboard shapes carefully.

If layering paint and patterns, you can now lay more shapes down and splatter with a different color of paint.

Experiment! Have fun! Make messes!

With the kitchen brush, we didn’t “splatter” necessarily. (But you could!) Instead, L dipped the brush into paint and then pushed the bristles down on her paper to make her own, unique fireworks display! So cute and easy!

For more fun painting ideas check out our page “10 New Ways to Paint“! Enjoy!!!

Fizzy Ice Chalk Fun

June 18, 2015September 24, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

After we made “Homemade Sidewalk Chalk” the other day, I couldn’t wait to make some FIZZY ICE CHALK as well! I looked around online and found all kinds of recipes and methods for ice-chalk and fizzy or erupting ice-chalk. L and I experimented and tried all the tricks…we added some of our own variations, and I’m happy to share those that worked best! I suggest making FIZZY ICE CHALK in the morning on a hot summer day, let it set-up for a few hours, and bring it outside to play with in the afternoon. We have a few batches sitting in our freezer right now, just waiting for a lull in the action so we can bring it outside to play with again. This time we made lots so there’d be plenty for the neighborhood kids to play with as well! We can’t wait!

Materials needed:

1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup baking soda
food coloring (or tempera paint)
1 cup water
measuring cup
silicone molds (or ice tray)
spoon
toothpicks
vinegar
spray bottle, squirt bottle, or infant medicine dropper

Using a measuring cup, combine 1/2 cup cornstarch with 1/2 cup baking soda. Mix together with a fork or spoon.

Add 1 cup water and mix gently, but thoroughly.

Next, carefully pour your mixture into the silicone molds or into your ice tray. If you don’t have either available, you could use paper cups as well!

Add a few drops of food coloring or a squirt of tempera paint to each mold. (We tried both…the food coloring mixed better, but both worked fine!)

Using toothpicks, carefully mix each color.

Put the molds into the freezer for a few hours, til they set-up completely.

Before bringing the ice chalk out to play with, prepare your vinegar. You can put it into spray bottles, into squirt bottles (empty dish soap bottles work great), or pour the vinegar into small cups paired with a medicine dropper. All are great for little hands and developing motor skills…L’s favorite is the medicine dropper method!

After the ice chalk is thoroughly frozen, bring it outside to play! One page online suggested painting the sidewalk first with water…we tried it, but didn’t see much benefit in having the pavement wet. We had more fun coloring with the chalk on dry pavement! Experiment with it though…see what works for you!

After the kids are finished coloring (if they can wait that long!), it’s time to bring out the vinegar. Spray or squirt the vinegar onto the ice-chalk and the ice-chalk pictures to watch it sizzle, fizz and erupt! This is definitely everyone’s favorite part!

Take a moment to talk to your kids about chemical reactions and the result of a base (the baking soda) and an acid (the vinegar) coming together. L always likes to taste how salty the baking soda is compared to the sour smell of the vinegar. Summer science fun…I just love it! Enjoy!!!

Glow-in-the-Dark Bath

June 2, 2015September 24, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

A couple weeks ago L and I walked down the street to check out a kids’ festival going on in town. Our favorite part was some “Glow-in-the-Dark Yoga” going on at a local yoga studio. While the kids danced and froze into yoga poses with their glow bracelets on, the skies opened up into a torrential downpour outside. (I thought we’d need a canoe to get home.) Of course L and I embraced mother nature as we danced and splashed the whole way home. Cold and muddy, our next stop was a hot and soapy bath…with the lights off and our glow bracelets still on!!! It was silly, but so cool…I don’t know why I never thought of it before!

While lil ones love the idea of glow sticks, our kids are rarely up late enough to play with them in the dark. Turning the lights off at bath time and adding some glow sticks and glow bracelets to the water is perfect! Glow sticks only cost $1 to $2 dollars for a pack of 5-10.

Many bathrooms don’t have windows, so a glow-in-the-dark bath can be done at any time of day.

Make sure you keep an eye on your children while taking a glow bath, many glow sticks suggest kids be at least 8 years old to play with them. You definitely want to make sure your little teethers keep them out of their mouths!

You can even add some “glow-in-the-dark bottles” to the mix as well! Enjoy!!!

DIY Pool Toys / DIY Bath Toys

May 28, 2015September 24, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

With the pools opening last weekend and the last day of school yesterday, Summertime is here!!! These are some fun DIY POOL TOYS that take just minutes to make. We like to throw ours around, splat them on the pavement and L likes to soak hers in water, then draw with it on the pavement. If you don’t have a pool nearby, just fill up some buckets of water, toss in these fun and funky toys and play a wet and refreshing game of catch in the backyard. So much fun! (Be sure to scroll down to the bottom for some other DIY POOL TOY ideas too!)

Materials needed:

3 sponges
1 elastic hair band
scissors

First, cut the sponges long-ways into 3 equal sections.

Next, stack them up.

And lastly, tie a hair band around the pile.

Too easy and so much fun!!!

Other fun and easy pool toy ideas?

A large paintbrush! Your kids will have a blast painting with water on the pool deck or even outside on the sidewalk.

We love playing with these sensory bottles in the water too! Both the “baby sensory bottles” and the “sparkle bottles” are fun to bounce around. They are quick and easy to make and are fantastic pool toys for the little ones!

Tin Foil River and DIY Boats

May 20, 2015September 24, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

This morning the girls and I went to an awesome, little program for kids where we learned about the waterways in our town and L got to make her own toy boat. When we came home I decided to make our own “waterway” in the backyard with some tin foil. Too easy and so much fun!!! All you need is some aluminum foil, water, and some toy boats to float along! I mean, seriously…who wouldn’t like a TIN FOIL RIVER in their yard?

Boat ideas and links:

origami boat
upcycled crocs boat
sensory bottles for baby
ping-pong balls
any small items that float, bath toys, etc.

First, decide which direction you’d like your TIN FOIL RIVER to flow. If your yard or driveway is on a slope, it’s pretty easy to figure out how to get the water to flow…start at the top and end at the bottom. If you yard is flat, you can prop some of the river up or make it in a donut shape. We decided to make ours interesting, starting the river on the slide, having it flow under a chair, and bend and twist across the yard.

Making the waterway is pretty simple…you can be a perfectionist about it and try to make all the sides even or just wham-bam make it, play with it. We tore large strips of aluminum foil and double-layered the foil to prevent any leaks. Fold the sides up. At any joints (places where you’re attaching two sections of foil) you can add another layer of foil underneath. Same with the end of your river…we tried making our sides a little higher and extra-sturdy at the end.

If you need to, you can weigh your foil down with some smooth rocks. Makes fun little obstacles too! If a side of your river starts to sag, it’s pretty easy to prop it up with a brick or flower pot…whatever you have handy. The TIN FOIL RIVER allows for some terrific problem solving and experimenting with your little ones! I can’t wait to see what L comes up with next for our backyard waterway!

Enjoy!

Fairy Mud

May 13, 2015September 24, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

I first saw a recipe for FAIRY MUD a year or two ago on a blog called Happy Hooligans. When L’s cousins came over to play on a hot day last summer it was the perfect activity! Fairy Mud is just as much fun for the kids to make as it is to squish between your fingers and play with! With the temperatures rising and our fairy garden in full bloom, we’ll be making it again this week!

Materials needed:

1 1/2 bars of soap
2 rolls of toilet paper
food coloring
1.5 to 2 cups of WARM water
glitter, sequins, buttons, jewels, flower petals
cheese grater
2 large bowls or tubs

First, grate the bars of soap into a large bowl. If you have older kids, they can certainly help with this process!

While you’re busy grating soap, have the little ones unravel 2 rolls of toilet paper. So silly, they’ll just love it! Gather the toilet paper into the second large bowl.

Once the soap is grated and the toilet paper unravelled, pour the WARM water into the bowl with the soap and add a few drops of food coloring as well. Squish and squeeze the soap shavings until you have some consistently melted and mushy soap blobs.