{Halloween-themed} Sensory Play On the Go

10 / 21 / 1310 / 23 / 13

With an expat moms breakfast 30 to 45 minutes away on tap for early this morning, I wanted to be as organized as possible last night. I prepped the usual – stainless bottles full of water and a couple of healthy snacks – then went in search of something that Gracen could quietly play with while I chatted with some of the other moms. Lately, her new unifix cubes have been keeping her incredibly engaged and happy during meals out and over at friends’ houses, but I also don’t want them to lose their magic. ☺ While digging through our craft shelf, I came across some slime I brought from back home. (Yes, I brought homemade slime from Canada… I don’t know what that says about me, and I’m not sure I want to know either…) I packed it in one of my favourite interlocking containers from Daiso and then went in search of a couple of things to pair it with. The result was this little sensory play to go kit, which Gracen just loved.

Caramel Apple Pie Play Dough

9 / 17 / 139 / 17 / 13

One day, while playing with our well-loved pumpkin spice play dough, Gracen asked if we could have some friends over so she could share her new dough with them. She’s always adored having friends come over, and now that we’re in an apartment building filled with teaching families, arranging play dates is easier than ever. A play dough play date sounded like a brilliant plan to me, so I agreed and immediately started thinking about another fall-scented play dough we could create. I quickly remembered the apple play dough post I’d seen on Fantastic Fun & Learning, and knew that Miss G and her friends would enjoy something similar. Because I was on a bit of a roll with the dough containing real pumpkin, I decided our apple dough would contain real apples and would be further fall-ified by making it apple pie scented. The good news is that my mission was a total success! The dough turned out soft, squishy, and smelled deliciously of warm apple pie drizzled with caramel sauce – yum! In fact, as I was making it, Brad came into the kitchen with eager eyes and asked what I was baking because our house smelled so delicious. Oops.

AMAZING Pumpkin Spice Play Dough

9 / 9 / 139 / 23 / 15

I adore fall. The colours, the crisp air, the scarves, the boots, the crunch of leaves underneath your feet… It all just makes me warm and fuzzy inside. My social media feeds have been full of it recently, and for that I’m thankful (because hey – I’ll take it however I can get it). While we may be in the desert and it may still be 40 to 45 degrees on an average day, there’s no reason why we can’t make fall happen right here in our own apartment. And so we began today.

Vibrantly Coloured Rice

9 / 5 / 139 / 13 / 13

It’s no secret that we love sensory play in our house. Like a lot. Sadly, our recent move meant saying goodbye to many of the sensory materials that had become staples in our everyday play repertoire… (What – It doesn’t make sense to ship pounds upon pounds of coloured pasta, pea gravel, packing peanuts, dried beans, and glass gems?? Hmph.) And so we begin again! This week’s mission was replacing our stash of coloured rice, and did we ever! In fact, we now have 22 pounds of vibrantly coloured rice.

The PERFECT Peanut Butter Play Dough

8 / 31 / 132 / 9 / 17

Is it crazy that I’m totally stoked on this awesome, non-crumbly, and fully edible peanut butter play dough we came up with today?! The truth is, it’s taken us a few attempts to come up with the perfect recipe. I really should have known which ingredient would be the key to our success – it’s a long time favourite of mine – but it took us a while to get there. We started with the classic recipe I grew up with – peanut butter, dried milk, and honey – and while it’s yummy and fun to play with, it crumbles absolutely everywhere and is super tricky to roll out and cut using cookie cutters. This one, on the other hand, is like pure luxury. It’s super soft, silky, and rolls and cuts with ease.

Ridiculously Fun Colourful Bubble Foam

8 / 14 / 133 / 24 / 14

Oh my word… I’m so glad we finally got around to trying this! I pinned the idea over a year ago and I knew it was going to be fun, but I had no idea just how much Miss G would love it and how much play it would bring about (just wait until we get to those pictures!)

Japanese Rice Sensory Bin

8 / 11 / 133 / 24 / 14

Our rice-filled, Japenese-themed sensory bin was such a hit with the little girls at Gracen’s 3rd birthday party, we decided to bring it out to enjoy again today. We brought a soft blanket, parked ourselves in the shade of a big tree on the far side of the yard, and Grae snuck in the calm, quiet time she quite desperately needed in order to regroup after a couple of busy people-filled days (if you’ve yet to try it, slowly running your hands through dry, cool rice is quite therapeutic).

Making Moon Dough

5 / 27 / 1211 / 25 / 13

This is something I’ve been planning to make with Gracen for a long while now and I’m so glad we finally tried it today. Moon dough, often also called cloud dough, is a silky, mouldable mixture of just two ingredients many families probably already have on hand. Fun and easy – love it!

To whip up your own batch of moon dough, all you need is some white flour, some baby oil, a mixing bowl, and a whisk.

Start by adding 8 parts flour into your bowl.

Then add 1 part baby oil.

Mix well, ensuring all the large clumps are broken up and the oil is evenly distributed through the flour.

When you’re done, the mixture will be light and fluffy and the clumps should be minimal. That’s it – so easy! Transfer it into a large bin and add some cups, moulds, straws, spoons, and cookie cutters for your little one(s) to use while exploring.

Cloud Dough

8 cups of white flour
1 cup of baby oil

Put the ingredients into a large bowl and mix really well. Store in an airtight container or bag for several months.

Enjoy!