Seasonal

1. Paint your paper plate red.

2. While drying, draw a dragon head on one index card and a tail on another. You can find many templates and inspiration online if you’re not a master artist. Color your dragon with vibrant-colored markers or crayons.

3. Cut the head and tail out and glue or tape each to the top of a craft stick. Packing tape works well.

4. Cut a piece of yellow construction paper, roughly 1” x 4”, accordion and fold it—tape one end to your dragon’s head and the other to its tail.

5. Use a knife to carefully slice the bottom of the center of the plate and insert your craft sticks into the opening.

1. Fold your sheet of construction paper in half, longways, pressing to make a heavy crease at the fold.

2. Cut through the folded edge of the paper, stopping about a ½” from the other side. Continue cutting until you read the other side.

3. Unfold the paper and tape or staple the two edges together to form a tube.

4. Add a handle made of a strip of construction paper and embellish your lantern with fringe, ribbon, and stickers. Tape or staple a tube of paper in another color to the inside of your lantern to create a “hurricane” style, or add a bit of fringed paper to the bottom edge. 

Looking for summer activities that will help beat summer brain drain? Look no further than your backyard. Using materials from home, these fun science activities are practical and deepen each child’s experience with the natural environment.

In a medium-sized saucepan, mix the water, oil, salt, cream of tartar, and a few drops of food coloring. Stir over medium heat until the mixture is warm and the salt is mostly dissolved, then remove from heat and blend in the flour. The better the flour is blended, the smoother the dough will be, so take your time. Then drop the mixture onto a sheet of wax paper and knead until smooth and soft. Now sculpt! This batch will last for several weeks, if not months. If it begins to dry or crumble, mix in a few drops of vegetable oil. Adding texture to your dough creates the perfect substance for tactile play. To make a textured dough, follow these Traditional Dough instructions, adding glitter, sea salt, or even sand to the saucepan before mixing with flour. 

This version uses KOOL-AID to add color and scent to traditional dough. Whisk together the flour, salt, KOOL-AID, and cream of tartar in a saucepan, then mix in the water and oil. Heat over medium for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. The mixture will start out really runny, but will begin to clump as it heats up. When the dough is mostly stuck together, dump the mixture onto a sheet of wax paper. Allow it to cool, then knead, play, and sniff your scented dough!

This simple, 3-ingredient recipe is totally kid-friendly – no heating on the stove! Pour the lotion into a bowl and mix in a few drops of food coloring. Next, blend in the corn starch with a little at a time,  adding more corn starch until the mixture is silky smooth and not at all sticky. You may have to play with the ratios, adding more lotion to make the mixture less crumbly and then more starch to be less sticky, but this super soft, super smooth dough is worth the trouble. Added bonus – your hands will be silky soft after every session!

Technically, all of the recipes we’ve shared so far are edible, they just might not taste very good. Made with marshmallows, this recipe is not only edible – it’s delicious! Don’t let the corn starch fool you – when finished, this dough tastes just like taffy. In a pan, warm your oil over medium heat. Add about 30 large marshmallows, stirring until they’re completely dissolved. Add a few drops of food coloring, then move the mixture to a bowl. Quickly add the cornstarch and knead until soft. If the mixture still feels sticky, knead a bit more corn starch in until it’s smooth. This may take a bit of back and forth work – knead, corn starch, knead, corn starch. But once you’ve got the consistency just right, it’s time to play – or eat!

Playtime is out of this world! With so much in the news lately about NASA’s latest missions, not to mention the first ever image of a black hole recently released, space talk is certainly on the rise. How about making some play dough sure to spark otherworldly conversations about our galaxy?

Our home galaxy is called the Milky Way, and it contains hundreds of billions of stars that burn just like our own sun. That means there are most likely billions of solar systems out there just like ours. The Milky is believed to be 13.51 billion years old.

The Milky Way is about 100,000 light years in diameter. A light year is the distance light travels in one year. But according to scientists, the Milky Way is small compared to other galaxies. M87, another elliptical galaxy, is 980,000 light years in diameter. 

Adults only: get the water boiling on the stovetop. Have the kids mix the flour, salt, and cream of tartar Once your water is boiling, turn it off and remove it from the heat. Add the black food coloring. To get the deep, galaxy-black color, be prepared to use lots of food coloring, about half and ounce. The kids will love to see the food coloring billow into the hot water. Next, pour in the glycerin and baby oil. These two ingredients will prevent your dough from being too sticky. Adults only: pour the water mixture directly in to the bowl of the flour mixture and stir. Be aware of splashes since the water mixture is hot. Add glitter of your choice, and once again give it a good stir. Next, knead the dough for several minutes, really working it through. Dry hands work best. You might find that the dough is a little sticky. Throw the dough back in the bowl and sprinkle a little flour over the top and re-knead. This Milky Way dough is a blast to pull a part, twist, and pound out.