Cotton Candy Cloud Dough Recipe and Pretend Play Shop

I am going to share a fabulous cloud dough recipe and warm weather outdoor pretend play set up.

First, here's the fabulous cotton candy cloud dough itself!

Recipe:
- 8 cups of flour
- 1 cup of vegetable oil
- a packet or two of Duncan Hines Frosting Creations cotton candy

Stir it all together in a big bowl.

Then take it outside and set it up for your little one to open up a pretend play sensory cotton candy shop.

I made a sign with pink construction paper that said Cotton Candy $.25 and put it out on an outdoor table along with pretend money, two little bowls, a measuring spoon, and a big bowl full of the cotton candy cloud dough.

I also provided my daughter with an apron.

 

She did her pretend play shop for a while, and then I gave her another large bowl for her to transfer, like toddlers love to do.


And for anyone who knows us, these pictures are obviously from a while back lol.

Pretend Play Driver's License

We've been doing a transportation theme and to kick it off we started by making a Pretend Play Driver's License. 

What you'll need to make your own is:

- Contact paper

- Construction paper

- A small picture of your child's face

- A car sticker (or draw your own car)

- A marker 

- Scissors

- Glue stick

Cut the construction paper down to size, and glue your child's photo onto it. Use the market to write "Driver License" at the top and the child's name to side. Put the car sticker on. Then use the contact paper to laminate it. Do this by cutting the contact paper into to two pieces that are a little bit bigger than the driver's license and put one on the back and one on the front, then trim off the excess. 

Pretend Play: Eye Doctor

Pretend play is so important for young children. It gets them using their imaginations and it helps them to act out scenarios that they will face in real life so they have lots of practice them. Helping kids to pretend play different types of doctors is a very popular thing to do. The thought is that if they get to inflict what will happen to them they will be less hesitant to have it happen to them in real life. Now, this was last year and my daughter was a good ways away from going to the eye doctor herself, but still lots of fun.

Here you can see she's at her table and she has what she needs for eye doctoring and her patient is getting worked on. She's got the eye chart and the otoscope from her pretend play doctor kit. If you don't have one yet, here's where you can buy the one we have. There's also several pairs of glasses that we use for dress up. They're not actual eye glasses, they're more like protective glasses, shutter shades, and 3D movie glasses. Anything of the sort you have, sunglasses even,w ill work just fine.

To make it more realistic, while my girl was doctoring Minnie she had two other patients in the waiting room. (Stuffed animals or dolls put into chairs nearby).

Doesn't Minnie look so cool with her new glasses?

Pretend Play Campsite

To kick off our camping unit we turned our playroom/classroom into a pretend play campsite! I'm not super crafty but I think all my DIY projects for this turned out plenty cute. My daughter certainly wasn't judging what it all looked like, she was just having fun! You can easily make these things for your child too with just a few easily obtainable supplies.

So as you can see above we had these things set up:
- Tent and sleeping bag
- Magnetic fishing
- Grill with smores
- Campfire
- Lawn chair with turkey dogs to roast

So, for the tent and the sleeping bag we just used one of those tents from the play tent/tunnel things without the tunnel. Then we put her Barbie sleeping bag inside along with a lantern from Dollar Tree. She also added quite a few baby dolls into the tent to snuggle with her!

I wanted her to be able to sleep under the stars so I cut some star shapes out of white craft foam. Then I punched a hole in each one so I could tie some yarn onto it. Then I taped the yarn onto the ceiling so that the stars would dangle down. 

These were placed right above the tent.

The magnetic fishing was something I've wanted to set up for a while after all the versions floating around on Pinterest, and our library also had something similar at an event a few months ago. We luckily already had a magnetic fishing pole from our Melissa & Doug Fishing Puzzle. So all I had to do was lay some blue sheets of craft foam down onto a wooden box (actually the box to our Melissa & Doug birthday cake play set. And then cut some fish out of other colors of craft foam. I used yellow, green and pink craft foam to make the fish. I drew the shapes first with a Sharpie and then cut them out. I also used the Sharpie to draw on an eye and smile to the fish. Finally I put the paperclips on them to make them magnetic. 

The grill with smores was very simple to put together as well. All I did was lay a cooling rack down on my daughters table to make the grill. I set out plastic coffee pot, pan, pot, and utensils. I also used light brown, dark brown, and white craft foam to make smores that my daughter could use for pretend play to put together and take apart. It's simple, you just have to cut out squares of each color, and add some dots with a Sharpie to the light brown ones to make them look more like graham crackers. You can make them in varying sizes if you are working on teaching the differences between big and little and size ordering to your little one.

Now for the campfire. This is one of my favorite things I made even though it is less than perfect looking. There's also been various types of this posted on Pinterest. To make it you'll need:

- A piece of cardboard

- Two paper towel rolls

- Tape

- Red and yellow tissue paper. Orange would also be good but we didn't have any of that.

I just taped the two paper towel rolls onto the piece of cardboard, one at a time so I could position them over each other like logs of wood would be. Then I tried my best to make the pieces of tissue paper look like flames/a fire and tape them onto the paper towel roll logs.

Then for the final touch that made everything look super cute and realistic I put out my daughter's lawn chair with some little pretend turkey dogs to pretend to roast over the pretend fire. All I had to do to make these was tape the little plastic hot dogs that come with play kitchen sets to some of our pick up sticks.

Some other things we had were:
- Whistle with compass
- Flashlight
- Camping, hiking, and fishing books.

We still plan on making some pretend binoculars and vest as crafts and for pretend play use.

After you set this up you should really engage in pretend play with your little one. Put away electronics and pretend to be very outdoorsy. Get as much of the experience as you can and encourage your little one to play with all the elements that were set up. This is a great learning experience for them. They will get to act out real life scenarios and get to expand their vocabulary with new words they may not have heard much before.

Teddy Bear Picnic

So, as some of you may know, Teddy Bear Picnic Day was on July 10th. We did have ours that day, but we've been so busy I haven't gotten a chance to post about it. I'm going to do so now for ideas for next year, or a teddy bear picnic any day! My daughter liked it so much we'll definitely be doing it more than once a month.

Guests:
Invite your child's peers if you'd like (we did but they couldn't make it). What's important is that every child at the picnic has a teddy bear attending with them.

Food:
I made sandwiches of sunflower seed butter and honey in the shape of teddy bears. I also cut slices of dutch goat cheese in the shape of teddy bears. I gave some bears from a package of Full Circle Organic Animal Crackers. I also had out some frozen pineapples that were our bees. July 10th is also Bee Day.
We also had some gluten free pretzels and special cookies for a treat.

Set up:
I put out the Teddy Bear Picnic book on my daughters picnic table. The food was on picnic table printed paper plates, and there was also napkins of the same print. I found them both in the $1 section of Target and they really added to the picnic theme. Also had a drink of course. And my daughter brought her teddy bear of choice with her to eat.

We read the Teddy Bear Picnic book several times, as well as listened to the song. Our favorite version is on the Little People CD, but there is several on Youtube.

Caramel Playdough for Pretend Play

Do your kids like to have pretend play tea parties or bake shops? If so, this playdough will make a perfect sensory addition to their dramatic play!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of all purpose flour
• 1 cup of water
• 1/4 cup of salt
• 1 TBSP vegetable oil
• 1 TBSP lemon juice
• 1-2 packets of Duncan Hines Frosting Creations Caramel

Add all the ingredients to a pot and stir together with a wooden spoon. Once combined, put the pot on the stove over medium heat and stir continuously with the wooden spoon. Once a ball forms you can take it off the heat and transfer the playdough to a bowl. Once it's cool enough to handle knead it to the perfect consistency. It will feel a bit sticky at first, but after kneading it will be perfect!

When you're ready to use it in play time you can lay out the whole ball of it, lay it out flattened down, or in little bite-sized pieces ready to use for pretend play. You can set it out with the tea set as an invitation to play as well.

When not in use store in an airtight container like a Ziploc bag. It should keep for a few-several months.

Lemonade Stand Water Play

In the summer when it's hot out and the sun is beating down we love to engage in some water play to cool us off while we have fun! This water play activity not only lets kids play with water of course (which they LOVE) but it has sensory play to it and most importantly pretend play! It's so important for kids to start pretend play at a young age. Pretend play helps develop imagination and act out real life scenarios. There's usually lots of other skills learned during as well.

Note: before I start sharing the how-to's I'd like to add that this particular water play could also be part of a yellow themed week or day to help babies and young toddlers learn their colors.

So here's what it looks like!

You'll need:
- a plastic bin (preferably clear)
- yellow food coloring
- water
- lemon essential oil
- a ladle
- artificial lemons (a few, can be found at Dollar Tree)
- Styrofoam or plastic cups
- my daughter also wanted me to add some measuring spoons, so of course I did

Fill up the bin with the desired amount of water. Add in some drops of yellow food coloring (be careful not to add to much or it will turn the water orange). Stir that around until all the water is yellow. Add in a few drops of lemon essential oil to scent the water to add in the extra sensory element that will really bring the play to life.

If you want to add even more texture for more sensory elements you could add in some real lemon zest too.

Next, add in the ladle, lemons, and cups. You can set it up with the cups to the side like I did too. I also had a little plastic yellow bowl/cup thing that I added in.

As you can see my daughter got right to scooping and pouring the water and making me cups of lemonade!

Fairy Garden (sensory play, pretend play, outdoor play)

I am absolutely in love with this fairy garden that I made for my daughter! We had been gathering the supplies for it all April, and then ended up putting it together on Easter. I wanted to make her this Fairy Garden so she could do some digging in the dirt, some pretend play with her fairies, pretend to plant the flowers, move around some loose parts, and have something she could do beside me while I tend to our garden. 

I found that perfect pot for it at Menards, and filled it up with the dirt! 

The materials I used for inside of it were all purchased from Hobby Lobby and Dollar Tree (aside from the aquarium gems which some are from Pet Co, some have came in holiday sets from Hobby Lobby). I think the gems really add to it though, since they're loose parts that are intriguing for imaginative play. They also sparkle very pretty in the sunlight. We use the black ones for around the house and stepping stones. The green ones can look like grassy areas, and the orange ones we put on the tables to be tea and crumpets.

 Here's another picture with everything included. The bridge wasn't in the last picture.

All things from Hobby Lobby were in one aisle, so getting these items doesn't require much searching. I purchased over $100 worth of items there that day and only ended up spending about $60 because of a great coupon I had. I think it was well worth it. From that aisle we got the house, mushrooms, flower bed, bridge, 3 fairies, bench, tables, and fencing.

The things I added from the Dollar Tree were the artificial flowers and rocks.

There's just another view, without the bridge again.

My daughter likes to play with the fairies and they have tea parties and their tables, water the flowers, etc.

She also likes to take the fairy items out sometimes and really get to digging and getting dirty with her minnie mouse shovel and cultivator from Toys R Us. I also give her a big bucket so she can transfer/scoop and pour the dirt when she wants too. She can also pretend to plant the artificial flowers again and again.

I think this is great outdoor fun for any child. I'm always looking for things to do outside so we can spend more time out there. If you don't want your sons playing with fairies, this could be made more "boyish" by using gnomes instead of fairies (also found in the same aisle at Hobby Lobby).

Baking Apple Pies Sensory Small World

This is the sensory small world pretend play bin that we made with our Cinnamon Scented Rice. I just put the cinnamon scented rice in the bin, then added some Little People princesses, pretend apples, and a whisk. I sat out a small toy oven  next to it, and a measuring spoon and cup. 

I set this up as an invitation to play and told my daughter she was making apple pies with the princesses! She got to work right away!

Cinnamon Scented Rice

Here's our Cinnamon Scented Rice that we like to use for sensory play. It adds color and scent to a sensory bin perfect for the Fall apple pie making season. See our favorite bin we've made with this rice here.

Ingredients:
- White rice (enough to fill a bin the way you like)
- Red food coloring
- Cinnamon
-Alcohol or vinegar

Put the rice in a Ziploc bag and add in some alcohol or vinegar then shut the bag and mix it around with your fingers until it's coated. Then add in the red food coloring and cinnamon and do the same. I used lots and lots of cinnamon!

You can either let it dry in the bag or lay it out on a piece of foil.

"Are You My Mother?" Tabletop Activity

I love to bring books to life for my daughter. It's easy to bring the "Are You My Mother?" book from Dr. Seuss to life with a few toys and animal figures! Having an activity on a tabletop puts more focus on it rather than just having it sprawled out across the floor, but gives you more room than a tot tray.

I set out the book, and then I set up everything in the order that it went in the book. In case you're not familiar with the book, there's a baby bird who can't find his mother and he asks several things along the way if they are his mother. He asks a cat, a hen, a dog, a cow, a car, a boat, a plane, and a construction vehicle. He eventually ends up back in the nest in the tree with his mother. 

Our baby and mother birds came in a pack from Dollar Tree

The big cat is a ball baby toy that was donated to us

The chick that we used for the hen is from Dollar Tree

The dog, cow, and airplane are all Little People toys

The car is a police car stress reliever from Walgreens

The boat is a sandbox toy

The construction vehicle was donated to us, but it is Fisher Price

The tree/nest for the birds is just a recycled paper towel tube.

So the point is for the child to take the baby bird and move it all around the table, trying to find it's mother. It may help if you read the story during play, but reading it once before may be sufficient enough.

Orange Creme Sensory Dough

This sensory dough is so great because it is scented like a flavor of sherbert. That makes it perfect to use for pretend play. When playing pretend with this wonderful dough kids will get to act out scenarios, learn a bit about money concepts, scoop and pour (transfer), all while their senses are being stimulated.

Ingredients for the dough:
- Baking soda
- 1 Duncan Hines Frosting Creations Packet in Orange Creme
- Water

Other things you'll need:
- Large bowl
- Measuring spoon
- Gallon size Ziploc bag
- Small bowls (I use a set of plastic dip bowls from Target)
- Pretend money
- A sign saying what the child is selling and how much it costs (optional, helps with having child be in a print rich environment so they get used to labels and signs even before they can read)

Just fill your bowl with the desired amount of baking soda, then add very little water a time, slowly, until you have a consistency that you can mold a bit and crumble easily. Too much water and it will become all liquid very quickly. Once you've got that mix in the Duncan Hines Frosting Creations packet.

Set this all up for your little salesperson. Put out the bowl of dough (sherbert), serving bowls, sign, etc. Have your money ready! You can take turns playing who is the buyer and who is the server. You can talk about the service industry and how much things cost. You can give specific orders and amounts, ask for change back, etc. Let your imaginations flow and the pretend play go on.

My daughter loved this activity!

 

Pirates Treasure Oobleck

Today I'm going to share with you a VERY FUN and VERY MESSY sensory play experience your kids will absolutely love. First things first, the main material is oobleck (aka goop on some occasions). If you've never made Oobleck before then read on to find out how.

To make this black oobleck for your Pirates Treasure Oobleck bin you'll need:

- Cornstarch

- Water

- Black food coloring (this will leave yours and your little ones hands stained until you get a good soak in the tub, so if you're opposed to that you can buy black washable liquid water colors and use that instead)

First, put the desired amount of cornstarch into your bin. Then slowly add some water and mix with your hands until you get the right consistency. It will probably end up being about 70% cornstarch at least in your mixture. If you add too much water it'll be all watery and won't work at all. You should be able to grab some of it up with your hand and then it should instantly start turning back into a liquid and running off your fingertips. The sensation is amazing and I think I might love it more than my daughter! Guaranteed neither of you will be able to keep your hands out of it. Okay, okay, back to the how-to. After you've got that mixed how it needs to be, add just a couple drops of your black coloring and mix it in with your hand or a spoon.

Then to turn it into Pirates Treasure Oobleck add in a whole package of fake jewels from the aquarium section of your local pet store.

Tell your little one the main idea of this bin and let their imaginations take control of the rest. For added fun you could also give them an eye patch.

This activity is best done outside since it is pretty messy. The mess can be contained though if you'd rather do it inside. Just stay on surfaces that you're able to wipe down afterwards, and keep plenty of paper towels (wet and dry) nearby. I've also found that when doing such messy play it's handy to have the bathroom prepped for a quick rinse off or bath. Having the towels and such already there will assure you don't get them messy when you're grabbing them too.

Popcorn Kernel Sensory Bin

This is one of my daughters favorite sensory bins and she plays with it almost daily. Popcorn kernels are a fun material to use for scooping, pouring, and transferring. They also make for a great tool for pretend play.

To make this bin

The base material is obviously popcorn kernels. You can find a decent sized bag of them at your grocery store, but they are a few dollars. Still totally frugal though for how much use you'll get out of it. It's not like they go bad. 

I also added two plastic popcorn containers from the Dollar Tree, and a measuring spoon for the scooping and pouring.

Safari Animal Prints Play Dough Play

Does your little one love play dough as much as mine does? If so, you're likely looking for new ideas of what to add to play dough play to keep it varying and interesting. This one is a big hit with my daughter and her friend!

It does require a little bit of money and set up, but you likely already have some of what you need, and the rest is optional. Do what you can!

Supplies:
 - Tape
- Animal print crepe paper (I used zebra and cheetah
 - Play dough (I used homemade green)
- Safari Animal Figures (we have the Animal Planet Mother & Baby Play Set but you could easily use other animal figures, from the dollar store or the zoo perhaps).
- For added pretend play fun to make my daughter feel more like she was on a safari she wore a zebra hat and used some binoculars.

As you can see, she was thrilled to see this set up!

How I set it up is as follows:
 1. Use tape to add the animal print crepe paper as a border on my daughter's table.
2. Flatten out our batch of homemade green play dough in the middle of the table.
 3. Place the animal figures around on the table.
4. I set my daughter up with her hat and binoculars and let her get started.

 You can see how she took the animals and made their footprints. I explained to her and showed her an example beforehand. This is a great activity for a little bit of science about animals. We looked at each foot print and talked about it and why that animal has a foot like that for the enviornment they live in.