As many of you know, yesterday was the first day of homeschool for the Boy & I. I promise I will have a new blog post to share with you on Thursday or Friday (it's symbolic that I do it them; I will explain later).
Anyway, today's science project was to make dinosaur eggs. Now this project is simple enough for a preschool child, so why would I choose to do it with my 3rd grade son?? Well, I wanted something that would awaken his sensory side (he has tactile issues with certain fabrics/textures; heck he wouldn't wear blue jeans for 1 1/2 years because the feel of the denim bothered him so much).
Our project involved finishing a discussion of dinosaurs that had been started at school, then to make dinosaur eggs. I wanted to make three different kinds of homemade playdough with mini dinosaur figures inside of each 'egg'.
Once the eggs are completely dry (this may take a few days), the Boy is going to don some safety goggles & a hammer, go out to the back deck, then he will "extinct" the dinosaurs. Yes, we read about the probable real causes for the dinosaurs to become extinct, but this is more fun, don't you think??
I had a few requests for my recipes for the homemade dough, so I thought I would share with you.
The first recipe is a classic homemade recipe that I've used for years. I used this one way back when I was a preschool teacher at a Montessori preschool when big hair, leg warmers, & jelly shoes were popular.
Ingredients:
-2 cups all purpose flour
-1/2 cup salt
-2 tablespoons cream of tartar
-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
-1 big squirt of dish soap
-2-4 tablespoons glitter (optional)
-1/2 cup sand (optional)
-1/4 cup of coffee grounds (optional-I used the latter 2 because of the Boy's sensory issues)
-2 cups boiling water
*Mix all ingredients EXCEPT for the water in a bowl.
*Slowly add the boiling water & mix until it makes a sticky dough.
* continue to knead-the dough should become less sticky, but you can add more flour if you wish.
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Two Ingredient Play Dough
1 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup hair conditioner (use the Suave, not the Redken)
Food coloring (optional)
Basically, you have 2 parts cornstarch to 1 part conditioner for this one. Add both ingredients to a bowl & mix; if it stays super sticky, just add a touch of cornstarch until it is the consistency you like. For ours, I added some coffee grounds & did not add food coloring.
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This 'dough', isn't so much as dough as it is a really cool looking/feeling rough modeling compound.
Ingredients:
-1 cup sand
-1/2 cup cornstarch
-1/2 cup alum (found in the baking aisle)
-1/2 cup water
*Mix all ingredients together in a sauce pan.
*Cook over medium heat, continuously stirring until thick.
* Once cool enough to touch, add dinosaur figures & shape the 'dough' around it until it looks like an egg.
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All of the dinosaur eggs are drying & the Boy is so excited to break them open. the Girl & Little Boy have been begging him to let them break a few eggs.
the Boy said he'd let them do it. For a dollar each.....
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