Amber McCallum – Page 7 – A House of Play

29 January 202415 February 2024

Cloud Dough Valentine’s Day Cupcakes

Have you ever played with Cloud Dough? It has a really fun texture. It can hold together like a dough when compressed, but then will crumble again easily under too much pressure. Cloud dough is one of my kids very favourite textures to play with and they love to pretend bake with it. It’s also very easy to make with ingredients you probably have in your cupboard.

Cloud Dough Recipe

8 cups flour
1 cup oil

Mix 2 ingredients together. That’s it!

The Activity

For the activity, I prepared a few quick recipe cards for “Valentine’s Day Cupcakes” and set the Cloud Dough out with some measuring cups, scoops, cupcake liners, and other small containers.

I included a bowl of pastel, mini styrofoam balls for the “frosting” (from AliExpress), some polymer clay slices for “sprinkles” (also from AliExpress) and some resin candies, chocolates and mini cupcakes (Stars and Sensory, The Creative Mix Shop, and Dollarama).

I also added some wood heart stamps that were a quick DIY. To make them I stacked 2 wooden hearts (from Dollarama) and hot glued them on a wood block.

I put all the materials out on our IKEA Flisat table with a plasticized table cloth underneath to attempt to catch some of the mess.

My Thoughts

Fun – High

My kids love Cloud Dough. They will request I bring it out if we haven’t played with it in a while. They also loved the added texture of the styrofoam balls. My 3 year old son was very content scooping material and adding decorations, while my 5 year old loved following the recipes and then inventing her own creations.

Engagement Time – 1 hr

My kids were very engaged in this activity so they played uninterrupted and mostly independently for over an hour.

Cost – Low

The cost to recreate this activity is low. The ingredients for Cloud Dough are inexpensive and may already be in your cupboard. I used some resin candies and chocolate from small shops that I already had, but you could easily just use the pink and red hearts from Dollarama as add-ins. The styrofoam balls are also inexpensive. I found them to be the best price on AliEpress, but you could also find them on Amazon (they are sometimes called “slime add-ins”).

Effort – High

For me, this is the only draw-back of this activity. It is messy – one of the messiest we do. For me, this means I only bring out Cloud Dough on weekends or days when I have lots of time to clean up afterward. Even though the table cloth on the ground does catch some mess, I ended up having to vacuum when the activity was done. The kids also needed to change clothes when they were done.

Is it worth doing? Yes! I think so. The kids love it and it’s inexpensive to make. Plus Cloud Dough keeps well for years. I’ve had mine for at least 2 years now.

It also has lots of learning benefits.

It’s a great activity for working on early math skills – number recognition, measurement, and an introduction to fractions;
Scooping the dough, frosting and sprinkles promotes hand-eye coordination; and
Measuring the materials and filling (and overfilling) the muffin cups is a great activity for the containment schema (when your child is learning about spacial awareness and how much of something fits inside a container).

Have you tried Cloud Dough? What did you think?

26 January 202426 January 2024

Valentine’s Gifts

This year I’m giving my kids wrapped gifts instead of a Valentine’s basket. I tend to go a little overboard when I have a basket to fill, so this was my attempt to scale back this year. Each of my kids is getting a few gifts geared toward their special interests – frozen for my daughter and vehicles and farms for my son.

I used reusable wrapping for a couple reasons. Obviously it’s best to reduce waste, but I also find these wrapping cloths (from Souris Mini) are super easy and fast to wrap with. These cloths are technically from Christmas, but I think they work for Valentines’s Day too. The pink gifts are wrapped in Sarah’s Silks from our basket of silks and cloths in the playroom.

Here’s what’s inside the gifts

5 Year Old Girl

Disney Frozen Doll (Costco)
Frozen Coding Kit (Dollarama)
Flubby does NOT like Valentine’s Day book
Chocolates (a few)

3 Year Old Boy

Brio airplane (from a store that had a closing sale)
Tara Treasures felt Barn Bag (Mymy and Me)
Farm Animal Play Pieces (Eye Spy Club)
Llama Llama I love you book
Chocolates

24 January 202415 February 2024

Winter Ice & Fizzy Sensory Tray

The activity

We repurposed part of our last Winter Sensory Play Tray for this activity. The kids weren’t quite ready to let go of the last activity and I like to save effort and repurpose activities when I can. So, I put the tray with the ice slide and fake snow back outside to refreeze and brought it back in when we were ready to do this activity.

I made an ice ring with frozen fruit and evergreen sprigs and some fizzy powder (recipe here). I added warm water, salt and scoops, pipettes and bowls. The kids decided to bring in some winter animals and loose parts.

Review of this activity

Overall, we found this activity to be mediocre. There were some fun elements to it, but some misses as well. Here was our experience

Enjoyment – Medium

The kids always like a fizzy activity, so they jumped into mixing the fizzy powder and water right away. They played with the tray on and off for about 5-6 hours and the play evolved from fizzy play, to melting ice, to making soup, to small world play. However, they found the fruit and evergreen ice ring confusing. They weren’t sure what to do with it and because it was difficult to get the fruit out of the ice, they lost interest in it quickly.

Learning – Low

We’ve done quite a few fizzy activities, so the science wasn’t new to them. We talked about how salt and warm water can melt ice and the kids found that interesting. Most of the learning from this activity involved fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination from working the pipette. So, for us this tray didn’t have a big learning component. That could explain why the kids didn’t find it highly engaging.

Cost – Low

We reused the ice slide and the fake snow from our last Winter Tray activity by storing the tray outside and the ingredients for the ice ring and the fizzy powder were things I had in my cupboards, fridge and freezer. The citric acid powder for the fizzy powder is inexpensive on Amazon and I’ve had the container of bubble bath for over a year – you only need a small amount.

Effort – Medium

There’s weren’t any special skills were involved in setting up this activity, just some planning ahead. I prepared the ice ring a day in advance and the fizzy powder just before doing the activity. The large tray is excellent for containing mess, so there was nothing to clean up on the ground after. The most challenging part of clean up was maneuvering the tray over to the sink to pour out the water (I definitely needed my husband’s help). There was a little spillage in the process, but thankfully water is easy to clean up. That’s why it’s one of my favourite sensory elements for kids activities.

Final Thoughts

I had a few learnings and take aways from doing this activity. I think it would be a good activity for a weekend, or any day when you can leave it out for a few hours. The lack of messiness definitely helped make this possible.

I wouldn’t repeat this activity again in the same way. I really needed to allow a lot of time for the ice to melt in order for the kids to get the most out of it. It took a few hours for the ice to start melting enough to get fruit and evergreens out, even with the help of the salt and water. The kids didn’t have enough patience to stay engaged that long. Next time I make an ice melting activity, I would make the ice thinner – so it’s easier for the kids to melt.

24 January 202415 February 2024

Fizzy Powder Recipe

Fizzy powder, also called potion powder, is really easy to make. Just add water to see a fizzing and bubbling reaction. You can get a similar reaction from combining vinegar and baking soda, but I prefer to use water as the liquid for activity play. It’s easier, readily available, less smelly and a little more friendly for the kids to stick their hands in.

My kids like to use lots of it when we do a fizzy activity so I find it cheapest to make it myself. I usually just eyeball the measurements, it doesn’t need to be exact. Here are the ingredients I use:

1 cup baking soda

1/4 cup citric acid powder (I buy mine on Amazon)

2-3 tbsp Epsom salt bubble bath or dry soap/ bubble bath (mine is from Happy Hippo Bath Co.) *This ingredient is optional, but I find it helps make more bubbles that last longer once the water is added.

That’s it. Pour all the ingredients together and mix. Be careful not to get any water on the mix until it’s time for the fizzy play.

18 January 202415 February 2024

Winter Sensory Play Tray

The kids had a blast playing with this winter activity last night. The set-up was pretty simple. I set the empty Tuff Tray outside on a slight angle and poured some water in. I left the tray outside overnight to freeze. The next day, I brought the tray in, mixed up some fake snow, and brought in some real snow. For the fake snow, I used Snowball Play from Zimpli Kids (Sewing Seeds Play). I filled the tray with approximately 1/3 of each material. Then I added Schleich and Terra by Battat animals, loose parts (winter resin loose parts from Little Play Lab Co., Bauspiel lucent cubes, clear snowflakes from Dollarama), scoops and bowls.

I usually stick to plastic, resin and metal add-ins for wet activities, so they are easy to wash after. Once the kids started playing, they decided to add a bowl of water to the tray for some extra washing and melting fun.

We have done snow and ice trays in past years, but I think this one was the most engaging. My guess is the variety of textures sparked the kids’ creativity and imagination. The ice was a fun slide for the penguins, other animals and frozen figures. The fake snow had a squishy, slightly sticky texture that was fun to mush and mix and the real snow was enjoyable to scoop and pack into bowls. I have a feeling they will be asking for a repeat of this one.

17 January 202415 February 2024

Winter Books and Sensory Activity

The Christmas stuff is mostly put away and even though the kids are asking for Valentine’s Day decorations (they are always looking forward to the next holiday), I am squeezing in a bit of winter appreciation. Although it feels as if winter has just started, I have found over the past few years that January is really the best time to do winter theme activities. December is dominated by Christmas, February is Valentine’s Day, then we are planning for Easter and after Easter we are thinking “spring”. We mostly appreciate winter outdoors – we live in a great area for outdoor winter sports and especially love downhill skiing. However, we can’t be outside all the time and I like to bring a little winter joy inside too. Here are a couple of the things we’re up to this week.

Winter Book Rotation

I keep some seasonal books put away and bring them out at the relevant time of year. This way, the books seem fresh and new to the kids. New books on the shelf will spark my kids interest and get them asking for story time. Here are some winter books I put out.

kids winter books — Winter Book Rotation

Easy Winter Sensory Activity

I have a few activities in mind for this month, but I don’t quite have them ready yet. Yesterday, I had promised my daughter that I would have an activity ready for her when she came home from school. I think it’s important to keep my promises to my kids, so when the activity I had planned wasn’t ready, I scrambled to find something else quickly. Fortunately, I had bought a Pour and Play jar of sensory rice from Eye Spy Club about a month ago. It was the perfect quick and easy activity for a school night. My daughter rushed in the door after school and was so excited to see her activity. I was really glad I had managed to set something up for her.

12 January 2024

January Playroom Refresh and Toy Rotation

Our playroom is in the space where our dining room should be. We are grateful for the house we live in, but it is not huge and we have to make space decisions based on our needs. Our kids are 3 and 5 and when we moved into the house 2.5 years ago, the epidemic was nearing its end. The idea of having guests over for dinner parties seemed way less important, or probable, than needing a play space for our energetic kids.

The main floor has an open plan layout and the dining room is in-between the kitchen and the living room. So, when toys and mess get out of control, it is impossible to ignore. After a hectic December, a manic Christmas morning and a family trip to Vancouver for two weeks after Christmas – we had some serious cleaning up to do.

Excess doesn’t bother me in December, but all of a sudden becomes stressful in January. The addition of the Christmas toys pushed me past a tipping point and the clutter felt overwhelming. The playroom was the first space in the house I started organizing after returning from our trip. I started by removing the Maileg ski chalet “island” and then rotating the toys in the IKEA Kallax cubes.

IKEA Kallax farm toys — Our January toy rotation

IKEA shelf winter toys — Our January toy rotation

The toys on the left side of the shelf haven’t rotated in a while. The top left basket holds the Grapat masala loose parts and the kids use them in the kitchen and for all types of things. My 3 year old loves farms and farm animals, so his barn, farm items and Schleich figures stay out and get played with daily. If we go away for a few days, my son will talk about how much he misses his red barn. He is obsessed, so it hasn’t been out of rotation in a long time. The lego barn set was a Christmas present and is new to the shelf.

The rest of the cubes hold a mix of Christmas gifts, winter themed toys, puzzles and games that are either new or have been out of rotation for a while. The bottom baskets hold toys that stay out all the time – magnetic tiles, magnetic tile ball run pieces, wooden roads, wooden train tracks, wooden train track special pieces (e.g., bridges, stations, etc.), a variety of soft balls, and vehicles.

Next in my clean-up, I switched the kitchen and building areas so there would be more room for all the building materials and new Ostheimer castle and Drewart Pirate Island pieces along the staircase wall. Sometimes moving the location of toys can make them feel new and interesting to the kids.

We’re ready for a fresh start to our play in 2024. The house won’t be featured in any home decor magazines anytime soon, but it feels more simplified and organized and we’re very happy with it. Now onto the rest of the house. If you look closely below, you can see I still have a wreath up on the door outside. Lots of work left to do.

9 January 20245 June 2024

Travel Activities for Kids

Entertaining kids while traveling is a marathon. Just when you think you have them settled, another challenge presents itself – someone is hungry, someone needs to go to the bathroom, someone is overtired. I feel I am constantly pivoting between our most effective strategies.

What works best for our family, may not be the solution for others, but here are some of our favourites. We have a 3 year old boy and a 5 year old girl. Both are very energetic and excitable, especially when in new experiences.

Get them moving – whether it’s an airport, or a rest stop along the highway, there is really no substitute for letting the kids run and free play. At the airport, we now make the kids walk and run as much as possible on the way to the gate. Once at the gate, we try to sit away from the concentration of people close to the gate, so the kids can run and play without disturbing too many people. They will usually run in laps without much encouragement from me. Most airports also have kid play zones now, so if we have enough time we will take the kids over to check it out.

Keep the snacks coming – a fairly constant stream of snack is our next go-to strategy. We will pack at least a small cooler bag full of snacks and meals. It’s an extra bag to carry-on on the plane or takes up space in the car, but it’s always worth it. Our kids are picky about what they like, so we bring their favourite things.

a tupperware box with a meal – this tends to be what we need to use up in the fridge before our trip – a sandwich, their favourite veggies (tomatoes and cucumbers), fruit (berries, apple slices, whatever we have), cooked pasta, cheese slices, cooked chicken nuggets
bananas
granola bars and other packaged snacks
small bags of Goldfish or Veggie Straws
fruit gummies
nuts
water bottles

Once the kids have gotten some energy out and filled their tummies, it’s usually time to bring out the activity kits. When it comes to travel activities, I’m influenced and inspired by Mini Jetsetter and her instagram account. She has wonderful ideas and tips for traveling with children. I highly recommend her content.

When gathering activities and toys to pack, I try to cover 7 main themes: art, fidget toys, sensory materials, building, small world play, puzzles & games and stories. Variety and novelty can be the key here. I keep most of these items separate from their regular toys, so they only see them while traveling, I will also rotate items and activities within each category, so they are not the same activity every time.

Here are the kits I brought with us on our recent flight just after Christmas. Most items are from Dollarama unless otherwise listed.

Travel Activities for 5 year old girl

Art

small blank sketch pad
stickers
stencil
small spirograph (Aliexpress)
Ooly Switcheroo markers (Amazon)
washi tape
pens, crayons, pencils (from our art supplies at home)
glue, scissors (not pictured, added after)
self inking stamp
spy pen (Zellers)

Fidget Toys

squishamallow (Costco)
stretchy, rhinestone bracelets (They were gifts, I think from Joe Fresh)
mini Etch-a-Sketch (Chapters)

Sensory Materials

bead bracelet and necklace kit (Michaels)
playdough and tools – plastic knife and roller
small box of add-in charms for playdough (Michaels)

Building

mini magnetic tiles (Aliexpress)
suction toys

Puzzles & Games

Go Fish cards
magnetic puzzles
On-the-go activity tin with tic-tac-toe and other games

Small World Play

My Little Pony figurine and hairbrush

Stories

Yoto mini player (Yoto Store)
headphones (not pictured) (Amazon)
Frozen Yoto card and Brain Bots Yoto cards (Yoto Store)

travel activities packed in a toiletry bag

Travel Activities for 3 year old boy

Art

small blank sketch pad
stickers
stencil
washi tape
markers, crayons, pencil crayons, pencils (from our art supplies)
glue, scissors
self inking stamp
spy pen (Zellers)

Fidget Toys

squishamallow (Costco)
mini Etch-a-Sketch (not pictured) (Chapters)

Sensory Materials

bead bracelet and necklace kit (Michaels)
playdough and tools – plastic knife and roller
small box of add-in charms for playdough (Michaels)

Building

mini magnetic tiles (Aliexpress)
suction toys

Puzzles & Games

Matching card game
On-the-go activity tin with tic-tac-toe and other games

Small World Play

Small construction vehicles (these were a gift)
mini monster truck (my son got it as a gift after getting a vaccine shot)

Stories

Mini Yoto player (Yoto store)
headphones (Amazon)
Make Your Own Yoto card with music, Funny Stories for 4 Year Olds Yoto card (Yoto Store)

Kits to carry the activities

I have 2 different toiletry bags I use as kits for the kids activities. The purple stripe bag is an old Venus razor bonus bag that I must have received as part of a promotion many years ago. It is my favourite for its ability to hold lots of stuff and fold up into a more narrow bag. The second, blue and white stripe bag is from Amazon. Because I shove so much stuff in the kit, I find it folds up into a bulky bag. I also find the zipper to be of cheaper quality than I would like for something a child is going to zip and unzip often.

Playing with Activities in Transit

We use these car travel trays both for the car and on the plane. I like that they have a stiff bottom that is also a dry erase board because the kids can draw, colour and play on them without it moving around too much. It can also hold up a water bottle in the car and on the airplane tray. The sides stay up with velcro and keep toys and activity pieces, especially small ones, from falling on the floor.

The trays are bulkier than I would prefer, but just like the snacks cooler, well worth hauling with us. We use also use them as a “clean-er” surface to eat on. The flight attendant on our most recent flight had never seen this type of tray and couldn’t get over what a brilliant idea they were for kids.

A Word on Screen Time

When all else fails, we give the kids screen time. We have one ipad that we bring with us on trips. It has some downloaded shows and movies that the kids like. Usually my husband and I use screens as a way to preserve our own sanity. To us, screens are preferable to losing our tempers. Screens and screen time are a controversial topic among parents, so obviously do what works best for you. Happy Traveling!

24 December 2023

Advent Day 24 – Hot Chocolate and Luminary Night Walk

It’s the day before Christmas – Merry Christmas Eve! We are all still working on getting healthy here and have a fairly low-key day planned.

This morning the elf put a star on the top of the tree. I thought the kids would find this funny. They keep asking me where the tree topper star is, and the truth is – I have no idea. It’s deep in a box somewhere and I tried to find it, but there is only so much time I’m going to dedicate to finding a tree ornament. So my husband moved one of the existing start ornaments to the top of the tree with the elf. It will work for this year.

Tonight the grandparents will come over, we will make hot chocolate and go outside for a walk around the neighbourhood. Everyone in the neighbourhood will light candles and place them in white paper bags outside their houses. The community all comes out to walk around and enjoy the lights. It’s a beautiful, peaceful way to celebrate Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas!

24 December 202324 December 2023

Advent Day 23 – Look at Christmas Lights

It’s the weekend before Christmas and we are all struggling to stay healthy. We’re trying to make it along the final stretch with our Christmas Spirit in tact.

I was feeling terrible last night so I went with a very simple elf set-up: the elf sitting on Santa’s knee for a little pre-Christmas chat. Next year I will definitely have a few of these simple ideas in my back pocket, just in case.

Today’s activity was to go to the grandparents for Christmas dinner and then all go to a drive-through Christmas lights show. It was my first time going to see this kind of event and it was fantastic! We went to the Magic of Lights in Ottawa and there was about a 20 minute line up to get through the gate and then the lights drive took about 20-40 minutes. A perfect activity for a drizzly night with kids not feeling their best.