Recipe: No-Glue Playdough "Slime"

Slime is popular again and I've watched several tutorial videos that use ingredients that aren't safe for toddlers. Tiny ones often experiment with taste and textures of objects they are playing with by putting it into their mouths.  I'm resurrecting a old play-dough recipe I used to make for my kids in Sunday School that looks very similar to the opaque slime, but won't hurt your child should they try to eat it, unless they have been diagnosed with celiac disease or gluten intolerance, then they should NOT play with this "slime" playdough. 

Warning: This is NOT a gluten-free recipe, so be mindful of the children you make this for. 

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You will need:

1 cup white flour

¼ cup salt

2 tablespoon cream of tartar

Mix these ingredients in a medium saucepan on the stove.

Then add the following items:

1 cup water

1 tablespoon oil

2 teaspoon food coloring.

Directions:

(Note: Children older than ten years of age can cook this recipe for their younger siblings with adult supervision.)

Stir while cooking over medium heat (three to five minutes). When it forms a ball in the center, turn out, it will look like a terrible mess and you'll think it isn't cooking right, but just keep stirring. Knead on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes Add 1 to 2 drops of wintergreen extract and a tiny amount of paste food coloring at this time, if you want a good smelling colored playdough. Knead until well mixed. This playdough will keep for quite a while if stored in an airtight container. When it begins to dry out, add a few drops of water in container before storing to regain softness.

(Note: I have used an empty and washed plastic margarine tub with a  lid to store playdough in. It remains good for about 6 months.)

Paper Postcard Unit Study

Update: I'm resurrecting this old homeschool unit study as I learned that the second annual postcard show came to our area  June 23 and 24, 2017. Click here for more details!

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Our son needed a community service project to do. As I didn’t drive and he wasn’t of age, yet, to obtain his student driving permit, I scouted around to find something he could do from home. I devised a Paper Postcard Unit Study (ie card ministry) after a little study of my own. He read about the beginning of writing, the postal service and in addition, studied art history. And created art postcards weekly for a period of about 6 months to mail to church members and his youth group.

We came up with several techniques that could be used to make his art postcards. Note that postal regulations have changed - art cards must be flat to send by regular postcard rates; bumpy cards must pay extra postage. These were some of the techniques he employed to design his cards with: applique, blow markers (watercolor markers - like air brushing), calligraphy, collage (magazine cutouts, stickers, etc.), color me (black & white), comic drawing, construction -- paper engineering, crayon rubbings, crosswords or word puzzles, glitter, graphing, ink blotting, mosaic (bits of colored paper), painting, pen & ink drawing, pressed flowers, rubber stamping, scratch pictures, silhouettes, spin painting, sponging, stenciling, stickers, watercolor (be sure to spray w/ a fixative), string or marble painting, and so on.

To get started in a similar study, see my unit study below:

Vocabulary:

acid-free, advertising cards, artist, comic, commemorative, deltiology, ephemera, First Class Mail, lithography, linen, mechanical cards, note, novelty, paper engineering, photo-chrome printing, postmark, postal stationery, postcard, stamp, topical, viewcards

Related Scripture for Memorization/Penmanship Practice:

Exodus 31:18; Exodus 32:15-16; 2 Kings 19:14; 2 Chronicles 2: 11; Esther 9:30; Psalm 119:103; Proverbs 15:30 & 16:24; Proverbs 25: 11, 25; Ecclesiastes 12:10; Isaiah 52:7; John 1:1; Acts 15: 30-31; 2 Corinthians 3:2-3; 2 Corinthians 10:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:15 & 3:17; and 2 John :12.

May Read About:

Read an encyclopedia or books on advertising cards, the alphabet, biographies of cardmakers/illustrators (Sam Butcher, Betsy Clark, Mary Engelbreit, Kate Greenaway, Bessie Pease Gutman, Holly Hobbie, Charlotte Spiers), cachets, card companies (Ambassador, Gibson, or Hallmark Cards), card poets/verse (Helen Steiner Rice); Christmas cards, ink, mailboxes, Mother’s/Father’s Day, parchment, paper, papyrus, pencils, pens, Pony Express, postcards, postmarks, the postal service, printing, printing companies (Currier & Ives), rubber, rubber stamping, stamp collecting, trading cards, Valentine cards, vintage postcard collections; value guides, woodblock printing, writing, envelope history, and so forth.

Did you know that Abraham Lincoln had a copy book or scrapbook in which he kept sayings/quotes/poems that he liked? Did you know he wrote at least three poems?

Interesting Books:

1. Addressing for Automation: A Study Guide (Grades 5-8) (free from US Postal Service)

2. A History of Valentines. By Ruth Webb Lee. New York; 1952.

3. Ambassador of Sunshine. (abt. Helen Steiner Rice 1900-1981). By Ronald Pollitt & Virginia Wiltsie. Published: 1994. OR: In the Vineyard of the Lord. By Helen Steiner Rice as told to Fred Bauer. 1979.

4. Art Postcard Books from Dover Publications, Inc., 31 East 2nd Street, Mineola, NY 11501-3582

5. Bessie Pease Gutmann: over 50 Years of Published Art. By Karen Choppa. 1998

6. Centennial Handbook of the First Issue Postal Card. By Charles A. Fricke. 1973.

7. Child-Size Masterpieces.(series) By Aline D.Wolf (curriculum using Art postcards)

8. Gift of a Letter. By Alexandra Stoddard. 1990.

9. Holy Cards. by Barbara Calaman & Sandra Dipasqua. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2004.

10. Mailbox Ministry: Greeting Cards that Share the Faith. Sue Banker. Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, NY; 2009.

11. Mail Memories: a Pictorial Guide to Postcard Collecting. By John M. Kaduck. 1971

12. Mary Engelbreit: The Art and the Artist. By Patrick Regan (b. 1952 - ?)1996.

13. Postcard Collector Annual: Commemorating 100 Years of the Postcard. By Deborah Lengkeek. 1993

14. The Alphabet Makers, by Hyatt Moore, The Museum of the Alphabet, Waxhaw, NC, 1991

15. The Complete Guide to Greeting Card Design & Illustration. By Eva Szela. North Light Books, Cincinnati, OH; 1994.

16. The Encyclopedia of Antique Postcards. By Susan Brown Nicholson. 1994.

17. The History of the Christmas Card. By George Buday. Omnigraphics, Detroit, MI.; 1992.

18. The Picture Postcard & Its Origins. By Frank Staff. 1967.

19. The Rubber Stamp Album. By Joni K. Miller & Lowry Thompson. Workman Pub., 1978.

20. The Scrapbook in American Life. By Patricia P. Buckler, Katherine Ott, & Susan Tucker.

21. The Trade Card in Nineteenth-Century America. By Robert Jay. University of Missouri Press; Columbia; 1987.

22. The United States Postal Service: An American History (1775-2002) (free from US Postal Service)

23. Valentines: A Loving Remembrance. By Jean P. Favalora. Lark Books, 1995.

24. When You Care Enough. By J. C. Hall. (1891-1982). Published: 1979, reprinted 1992

25. Here Lies Kansas City: A Collection of Our City’s Notables and Their Final Resting Places. By Wilda Sandy. 1984. [Joyce C. Hall (1891-1982) of Hallmark Cards].

26. Splitcoast Stampers Postal Poetry Thread

27. Philatelic Genealogy
28. Raphael Tuck and Sons Database of Postcards

Music:

The Letter (1967). Written by Wayne Carson Thompson and made famous by The Box Tops and their singer, Alex Chilton.

Field Trips:

1. Greeting Card or Printing Companies:

2. Hallmark’s Visitor’s Center, Crown Center,  2500 Grand Ave, Kansas City, MO.

3.  Mary Engelbreit, St. Louis, MO.

4. Gift, Card, Rubber Stamping, Scrapbook, and Stationery Shops

5. Postal Museums Collections

6. National Postal Museum at the Smithsonian 

7. Postmark Museum

8. Post Offices

9. University Libraries and Archives (Post Card and Letter Collections)

10. Art Museums

11. Post Crossing; an online postcard swapping site.

Holidays:
#NationalCardandLetterWritingMonth -- April

National Postcard Week = first week in May.

Timeline:

3000 BC = Courier Runners

1500 = Semite Clay Tablets

1000 = Phoenician Alphabet

190 = Parchment & Egyptian Papyrus

50 = Cuttlefish Ink

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105 A.D = Chinese Paper

500 = Chinese/Japanese Stencil

635 = Quill Pen

740 = Wood Block Printing

1040 = Movable type printing

1400s = European Woodblock Printed Cards

1450 = Gutenberg Printing Press

1466 = Master E.S. from Strasbourg New Year Greeting Card

1565 = pencils

1639 = US Post

1683 = London Penny Post

1690 = 1st US Paper Mill, Germantown, PA.

1700s = Engraved or woodcut printed advertising cards; Rubber Eraser

1775 = Benjamin Franklin, printer & 1st US Postmaster General

1792 = Color printing

1799 = Scraps (die-cut glossy printed paper images)

1829 = Harvey/Thompson Anniversary card

1834-1896 = William Morris design era

1839 = Goodyear's Vulcanized rubber

1840 = Postage stamp; Sunday School Scriptural text & reward cards

1841 = Crayon By Currier & Ives

1843 = Lithograph Printed Cards

1851 = Warren de la Rue (1815-1889) invented envelope-making machine

1856 = Chemical dyes

1858 = Street Letter Boxes

1860 = Pony Express

1861 = Brass US revenue mechanical wheel hand stamp; Lipman postcard; 1 cent postal rate

1862 = Printed playing cards; Mourning Cards by L. Prang & Co.

1873 = 1st shipment of rubber stamps from US to Peru; 1st US Postal Cards; typewriter

1875 = Louis Prang's US Cards

1884 = Excelsior Stamp Pad; fountain pen

1890 = Sign Markers (alphabet stamps)

1893 to 1918 = Postcard's highlight era

1900s = Arm & Hammer Baking Soda Wildlife Trading Cards

1902 = Kodak Photograph Cards

1911 = First Marking-device Trade Convention, Chicago, IL.

1911 = Marking Device Association

1912 = Kewpie postcards by Rose
1912 = Joyce C. Hall of Hall Brothers publishes his own postcards of Kansas City sights.

1918 = Air Mail

1928 = Voter stamped hands

1930s = Louis Waynai's hand-stamped Bible

1938 = Bethlehem, PA. Christmas postal cachet

1950s = Correspondence Art; Xerox Photocopy

1953 = White House Christmas Cards

1958 = Dial-a-Phrase stamps

1963 = Zip Codes

1967 = Polymer clear stamps

1972 = All Night Media

1974 = Hero Arts

1974 = International Stamp-Art Exhibit, Paris

1977 = Rubberstampede

1979 = Dee Gruenig/Posh Home Parties

1983 = Posh Impressions Rubber Stamp Store

You might like to see these too!:
Club Posh
Dee Gruenig & Posh (YouTube Playlist)
Fave Crafts. 

Originally published on blog: Jan 3, 2011

updated 9/26/2020. Compiled by Dolores J. Rush

Rainy Day Puzzle

 

 

Rainy Day Puzzle

By Dolores J. Rush.

 

Here's a little activity to keep your children busy on those days when they are bored and have nothing to do! Please supervise children when using the paper trimmers' cutting blade.

 

Supplies:

• Daisy stamp #440D99 from Stampcraft
• Dot Design #B2964 from Hero Arts
• Dot stamp from Stamps by Judith
• Outline stamp of Wildflower Duet #Z944E from Posh Impressions
• Outline stamp of Flower Duet #4555S from Posh Impressions
• Outline stamp of Rose Duet #4528S from Posh Impressions
• Inks, markers from Stampin' Up!
• Paper Trimmer with scoring & cutting blades from Fiskars

Instructions:

1. Insert scoring blade into paper trimmer. Score paper lengthwise at 2 1/2 inches across paper & then at 5 inches. Remove scoring blade, insert cutting blade and push paper to 7 1/2 inches and trim strip off.

2. Change back to scoring blade and turn paper 90 degrees. Insert paper into trimmer and score at 3 1/2 inches, then at 7 inches. Change blades and cut off at 10 1/2 inches. You have scored 9 ATC size rectangles.

3. Optional: at this time, you may turn sheet over and lightly pencil numbers in centers. Turn back over.

4. Ink up each stamp with black and center stamp evenly over score lines. Do not stamp off edges as they will be stamped later. Stamp randomly at least 3 times with each floral stamp, more if you have room. Ink up dot design stamp with two colored inks and stamp in centers of rectangles. Finish with Judith Dots in black.

5. Insert cardstock into trimmer and cut first scoring line on the right. Lift cut piece straight up off trimmer and lay to the left of cardstock. Slide uncut piece out and butt edges together. Stamp over cut edges, holding strips together, as you did over score lines.

6. Turn all pieces of cardstock to the right and repeat step five. You may color in flowers at this time.

7. Finish cutting out rectangles along score lines and mix up pieces. See if you can put the puzzle together without looking at your placement numbers. Enjoy!

Christmas Cottage

Note: I found the original idea in the Kansas City Star newspaper, but rewrote the directions so children could understand them with older teen/ adult help. I have taught this craft as a class several times to elementary age cousins and homeschooled children. This recipe was originally published on Old Fashioned Living.com.

Basic Christmas Cottage Ingredients =

Note: some ingredients will be enough for 2 houses. You can share or trade extra ingredients such as the candy with others in the class if you so desire. 

A Tip: Pour candies into a clean muffin tin or small custard cups to so that you can easily grab individual candies to decorate your Christmas cottage and to pass around. If they aren't eaten before the house is done, pour them into small Zipper bags to take them home.  


10 pop tarts for each house and yard (in any flavor and frosted/unfrosted)

1 can white pre-made/canned frosting

candies such as candy canes, teddy bear grahams, sprinkles, M&M's, jelly beans, gum drops, pretzels, cinnamon candies, peppermint candy, sugar ice cream cones, colored vanilla wafers, string licorice, large marshmallows, etc.

1 tube each of red and green piping gel

Other Supplies:

1 tray to put cottage on or a foil covered piece of cardboard (app. 15" x 15")

several small bowls to put candies into

1 small frosting spatula for each person making a cottage

1 table knife to cut pop tarts with

paper towels or wipes for the messies

camera & film to take photos of cottages before taking home

1 box to carry creation home in

Cottage Instructions

Step 1: Put a dab of frosting on tray or cardboard to "glue" (anchor) your pop-tarts down.

Step 2: Base = 4 pop-tarts. Smooth frosting along 1 long side edge and one short side edge of pop-tart rectangle and gently press together flat onto the center of your tray. This is your Christmas Cottage's garden (yard).

Step 3: Ends of House = 2 pop-tarts. Cut off corners of one end of long side of pop-tarts to make gable of house. Don't cut too deep until you see how roof of house fits together. Cut deeper if needed. Top of pop-tart will look like an A.

Step 4: Sides of House = 2 pop-tart rectangles laid sideways. Slather frosting on all 4 side edges of pop-tart and fit together the short bottom sides of the "gabled A" pop-tarts at the corner of the cottage, pressing gently into each other & down onto the center of your base "yard". Hold the corner a bit until frosting dries and "glues" itself together. If you need reinforcement at corners, a toothpick or pretzel stick will help. (Note: sticky icing fingers may pull apart your house or decorations, so wipe your hands periodically with a damp paper towel). Do the same with the other pop-tarts.

Step 5: Roof = 2 pop-tarts sideways. Put frosting on one long end and on undersides of "roof" where sides of "cottage" will meet. Press roof together with both hands on top of house. Fill in holes or gaps with frosting, especially at the "A" ends. Be gentle as these houses will not stand a lot of rough treatment.

Step 6: Fun part = Decorating! Tip: pull down tip of spatula to make snowy icicles on roof of house. Use the left over frosting to dab on candy to fasten it to your house or "garden yard". Use the red and green piping gel to outline your windows, doors, sidewalk, and Christmas lights around the eaves of the roof. Make snowmen out of marshmallows and pretzels sticks. Dab on gel for eyes & mouth. Make fences with pretzels or gumdrops. Layer vanilla wafers for shingles on your roof & a large gumdrop or marshmallow for a chimney. Be creative, but most of all have fun!

Step 7: Take a picture of your Christmas Cottage creation for your scrapbook and clean up your area! Gently ease into your box to take home and enjoy!

Our Christmas Cottages usually last about 3 days before they get gobbled up! But the best part of this is now you know how to make them and can create another!

Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year!

“Postscript” = I found Kellogg’s Pop-tart Toaster Pastries in Gingerbread Flavor at Walmart this past Christmas (2011). So yummy! The gingerbread flavor wasn’t too strong, but just right and the frosting is on the inside, so they would be very appropriate for making Christmas Cottages!