Play Doh Flower Counting Activity

Make counting and learning early math tons of fun for little ones with this hands on activity that combines early math with hands on tactile play. 

Play doh is the ultimate tool for play or learning at my house. We love to squish, mold and create with it, plus there are so many ways to learn with it. Adding it into our math lessons was a natural choice.

I was looking for a way to get Harper excited about early math, but it is hard to focus in the spring. There are so many colors, sights and smells to take in after months of indoor confinement.

As I took in the sights of spring, my inspiration was blooming all around me. 

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Supplies:

Play Doh; green and any 2 other colors

Buttons

Number Stamps

Directions:

With green play doh, form 2 flower stems

With any other color of play doh form the flower body

Tear off 10 pinches of play doh and shape it to look like petals.

Select two numbers.

Stamp them on the flowers.

Offer your child buttons and the petals of play doh you formed.

Encourage your child to say the number stamped on the doh.

Now, add the coordinating number of buttons to one flower.

Add the coordinating number of petals to the other flower.

Repeat with other numbers.

Find more play doh ideas here Reader favorites include:
Sunscreen Play Dough

Homemade Peach Soda

Homemade Peach Soda Syrup is perfect for a lightly sweetened fizzy refreshment on a summer day. Made with 3 ingredients, this easy recipe might become your go to all summer long!

We have a nifty drink mate machine in the kitchen. But, the prepackaged syrups are not my favorite. I don't really like the flavors available, so I decided to make my own.

Last summer I made a homemade cherry orange soda syrup that was pretty amazing.  This year, I made peach for my daughter Harper, who loves soda. She adored the light color and the flavor. I loved that I knew exactly what she was drinking and had no concerns about caffeine. Plus, with this syrup you can control how much sugar the kids consume. 

Homemade Peach Soda Syrup
Ingredients:

2 cups of sugar

2 pounds of peaches

2 cups of water

Directions:

Slice the peaches in quarters. You can peel them OR leave the skin on, it doesn't matter.

Add sugar, water and peaches to a medium sauce pan.

Heat over medium heat, for about 30 minutes.

Stir often to prevent boiling.

Allow to cool and store in mason jars in the fridge.

Add to carbonated water or club soda to create a refreshing drink. For my kids, I think 1/2 ounce is adequate to properly flavor and sweeten the drink. You might prefer a sweeter soda and use 1 to .5 ounces of syrup.

Find all of my homemade soda recipes here:

Reader favorites include:

Homemade Strawberry Peach Soda

Strawberry Shortcake Floats

Birthday Party Planning

My little boy isn't so little anymore. In just a few weeks he will be turning 10. It doesn't seem possible does it? He is almost as tall as I am. He is super smart, at any given time you can find him writing a book, doodling city scapes, or building epic Lego creations. Recently, he has been making lists of who to invite to his birthday party, and trying to decide what theme he wants it to be. Planning a party is a lot of fun!

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This year, to give my son a chance to be hands on in the planning, we are turning to Basic Invite to create the invitations of his dreams. This has been so much fun for the kid because they are one of the few websites that offer unlimited color combinations. Creating one of a kind birthday party invitations is easy and fun. Even my almost ten year old can do it.

We have been impressed with the quality of the paper the invites are printed on and the vast assortment of color options for envelopes. To make the invitations really special, while saving your time, you can take advantage of the free addressing service that Basic Invite offers. My son thinks this is a really cool feature, and I would have to agree. It makes the invitations seem even classier!

If I were not planning a party for ten year old boys, but maybe my parents, I would use this company for 70th birthday invitations. Teens will also love creating party invitations with this site. There are so many ways to make an invitation to a party, a graduation or even a wedding special with this easy to use site.

Now that we have the invitations covered, we are deciding what kind of party favors we need. We are having a retro arcade party this year and need some really great goodies to share with friends that are totally rad and 80's inspired. If you have any ideas, I hope you will leave me a comment to inspire our goodies bags!

Play Dough Multiplication Activity

This play doh multiplication activity is perfect for an introduction to multiplying for eager little mathematicians.

Rolf has been working really hard on his multiplication in the 3rd grade. During the 1st quarter of the year, he was struggling with the concepts. We tried flash cards, which are not at all fun. We tried making tables, which was also a snore. Then it dawned on me, why not true School House Rock?

That did the trick and made it a little more fun for him. Harp was learning too, so we decided to make the process a hands on fun way to learn to multiply. We do use affiliate links in this post. If you have a purchase I will earn an advertising fee.

We started with ones and twos to keep it simple; while Harp was only 5 at the time of this activity (yes! I sat on these photos for almost a year!) I knew that forming these math facts in her mind was a great way to start her off on the right foot.

Supplies:

Play Doh in Brown and Green

Pony Beads 

Wooden Numbers

Directions:
Roll the brown play doh to resemble a tree trunk
Flatten out a can of green play doh for the leaves
Select two wooden numbers and press them into the top.
Use the edge of a number to make the x symbol
Offer your child a selection of pony beads.
Have them press the correct number of pony beads into the dough.
To explain the concept to my girl I told her to count out the first number of the problem in beads, then to do it again and press them in.

Find more play doh activities here

Reader favorites include:

Play Doh Pre-Writing

Design Your Own Play Doh Ornaments

Play Doh Stamping Activity

Put your old scrap booking stamps to good use with this preschool play doh stamping activity.

It is no secret that we love play doh. From  using it as an early math tool, to making one of a kind Christmas ornaments. Play Doh is one of my favorite tools for preschoolers to learn with!

This activity was inspired by cleaning out my office, where I had a stash of scrap booking stamps collecting dust. I thought about tossing them in the Yard Sale box we keep going year round, but I had a better idea, they make a perfect play doh tool.

Supplies:
Play Doh
Scrap-booking stamps

Directions:
Invite your child to smash or roll a can of play doh out.
Offer an assortment of stamps and encourage them to stamp a scene.

This activity has kept Harper happily creating for weeks. She keeps a few stamps with her play doh collection and loves to pull them out and make unique scenes.

You can find all of my play doh ideas here.

Reader favorites include:

Play Doh Pie Counting

Play Doh Pre-writing Activity