Today is the second.
I hate the second, as any regular reader of this blog will know.
Today was a day to keep busy.
We started straight after breakfast.
Before we got dressed.
We made some chocolate playdough for our Tuff Spot Fantasy Cake Factory.
You see, today Baby Tilda would have been 11 months.
Today was a day for cake.
Pretend baby cake.
Chocolate play dough cake!
To make this gorgeous play dough we used
2.5 cups of plain flour
1 cup salt
Half a cup of Bournville drinking chocolate powder (It smells so good!)
A generous splash of Vanilla Essence
2 table spoons of cream of tartar
2 table spoons of vegetable oil
2 cups of boiling water
We mixed all the ingredients together first with a wooden mixing spoon and then we kneaded the dough on the Tuff Spot.
I covered the Tuff Spot with more cocoa powder which smelt wonderful but made the play dough very dry as our play time went on.
Along with the extra chocolate powder I also put onto the Tuff Spot,
pink, purple and blue feathers
pink, purple and blue pom poms
pink and purple cut up straws
long pink and purple straws
pink and purple muffin cases
pink and purple pipe cleaners
pink and purple measuring spoons
cookie cutters in varying shapes and sizes
purple, pink and blue plastic eggs
Esther and William loved rolling out their dough and making patterns on it with the different accessories.
They also like trying to make balls with their play dough. Today they liked making balls and spiking them with straws and feathers.
We tried to make little pink and purple chickens as it really did look a bit like Spring today.
We made some chocolate eggs using the plastic eggs as moulds. This worked really well, I was very pleasantly surprised.
We also all made cakes for Baby Tilda using the long straws as candles.
William insisted that we sing Happy Birthday to Tilda in the sky, which we did. This gave me some hope that next month when it really will be Tilda’s birthday we will be able to have a cake and candles for her without too much sadness. She may not be here with us anymore but it will always be her special day.
Today we sang Happy Birthday to the Tilda in the sky and then we sang it to William. Which he liked. A lot!
Both Esther and William loved having cocoa powder on their hands. They were very keen to get in the Tuff Spot but I kept them out today until the very last minute. I wanted them to concentrate on using their hands and making things with the dough.
Esther made bridges and balls, cakes and snakes. She liked bending the straws as well as manipulating the play dough.
Esther really enjoyed making little cup cakes and decorating them with all the different pink and purple things.
Esther and William both liked using the feathers to make cakes and birds. They liked the texture, the light softness of a feathery touch. They also enjoyed the bright colours.
Pink and purple for Matilda Mae.
I think that Esther is definitely ready to have play dough incorporated into her imaginative play perhaps in the kitchen or making a sweet shop. Today was all about remembering Baby Tilda but through that we talked about colours, shapes, textures and sounds. We used lots of verbs to describe what we were doing. And Esther was engrossed in her creations for lengthy periods of time.
I love giving Esther and William some play dough and a range of objects to use however they wish. I love seeing where their imaginations take them. Esther started making archways to roll pom poms through. William started making stones for Makka Pakka. They both made cakes and biscuits. They loved making and decorating eggs. They loved making balls and rolling them flat. They loved squashing and squishing the dough between their fingers. And their toes!!
Play dough is great for developing fine motor skills especially when used with things like buttons and beads, pipe cleaners and straws. Today Esther worked out that if you push a straw into play dough, the dough gets stuck in the straw. If you then squeeze the straw the dough comes out and looks like a little worm. She spent ages making mini worms in this way and it was great for her pincer grip that will lead to helping her with cutting and writing.
I was really proud of Esther today as she really explored the possibilities of playdough.
She played and investigated for a long old time, whilst William did the same … with engines!!
Thinking of you, especially today, wonderful photos xx
You might hate the second but you still manage to make something beautiful out of it with your twins. This is one of the things I most admire! HOW do you stop yourself from eating chocolate playdough though?…it’s such a tease! I think I would have to do it with real chocolate! (I think that would produce some blog-worthy photos ;-)) Lots of love, Coco xxx
Looks like lots of fun. I am planning something similar – chocolate play dough with empty chocolate boxes to use as moulds and to encourage imaginary play. You made it through the second xxx
a lovely way to spend the day and remember .. the 2nd is over . hugs to u all. was thinking of you today and we blew a lot of bubbles to baby Tilda in Shorne park and our garden as the wind was really strong , they were flying away really high.
Oh I love this! I’ve made orange and strawberry play dough but never chocolate! Will be doing this for sure, its a lovely idea.
xxxxx
I bet that smells so good that it’s hard to not want a bite! So nice that you do these sort of things to keep you busy on hard days, your children are very lucky 🙂 Definitely think I’m going to make chocolate next time!
How do you go about the clean up after this kind of activity?
From this we go straight to water play in bowls big enough for them to get in. They wash all the bits and themselves. They then get wrapped in towels to have a snack while I clear everything away. The Tuff Spot I often just put out the garden and deal with later when they are busy playing with something else. We are very lucky that our playroom opens on to the garden so can do that. Some people I know would do this kind of play in the bath and then shower everything and everyone clean x
What an inspiration you are to me! Curly Girl would thank you so for giving Mummy great ideas for play during the Easter holidays when I can only just keep my head above water most of the time. You remind me to forget the housework and live in the moment. We tried your sand recipe the other day and it worked a treat, just need to get a tuff spot now!
Thank you. Great advice. We have bought a tuff spot on your recommendation but have only tried clean things so far!!! Really regretting the pre-children choice of carpet colour! So desperately sorry for your loss. Full of admiration for your strength and positivity. It must be so hard to get out of bed some days. You are a real inspiration.
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Chocolate play dough looks like an awesome idea, one which I am definitely going to give a go! Esther and William look like they had so much fun! Well do Esther for making the worms, a fab idea!