Snow Dough

Yes I do spend a little bit of time gazing around Pinterest. It can be useful, inspiring, and a total waste of time, but I'm happy with that combo. I must say that after the initial excitement of a new thing, I now only have the patience for a fairly brief look. My pinning goes in bursts, and I think it will wane once I have a new house that is looking totally perfect. Ha! I am definitely a sucker for beautiful decor.

I also pin quite a lot of food photography, and poetry and prose that hits the spot. I haven't quite got in to gardening, as it may never stop, and I still mark websites that I want to revisit using old-fashioned bookmarks - Pinterest for me is just single image inspiration.





One potentially very useful way of using Pinterest would be to collect ideas for activities for kids. I've picked up a few things along the way but never quite dared to go properly looking for things, as I fear it may never end. My friend and Sacraparental blogger Thalia has brought quite a few great kids' ideas to my attention via Pinterest, and indeed she has brought quite a few kids' activities (equipment and small child included) to my house - bless her! I suspect there are so many cool things you can do with your kids thanks to a little internet guidance that it could be hard to know where to start. I say start with whatever crosses your path and takes your fancy.

So snow dough did just that the other day, and the inspiration lasted long enough for me to collect up the right ingredients when I was out and to brave making a mess in my (I mean my mother's - even braver) kitchen.

The idea for snow dough came from Anna at The Imagination Tree, so all the credit for this post goes to her (and hers looks much prettier than ours did). It is simply a mix of cornflour and oil - something that has been done plenty of times before - and silver glitter to make it sparkly and snowy. Ours looked a little green as we used rice bran oil rather than something more neutral in colour, but of course nobody minded a bit.

The end result is something very similar to playdough (particularly in what the kids can do with it) but the making is half the fun and the novelty of something different held their attention for a long time. It is gorgeously soft to touch, and it is nice to know it's just simple and innocent ingredients. You can use baby oil, but Anna warns that it is dangerous if ingested, so know your kids' habits first.

And watch out, it makes a big mess.

Snow Dough

2 cups cornflour

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons silver glitter

Mix the cornflour and oil, first using a knife or spoon, then add glitter and use your fingers to bring the mixture completely together. You may find the mixture a little wet or dry, so be prepared to add a little more cornflour or oil accordingly.           

We've actually done plenty of kids' activities over the months that haven't made it to The Sponge, so I must have a catch up, if you're interested. Parents, what activities have you been doing with your children lately? Do you find nifty ideas on the internet?