Who is ready for Spring? We cannot wait for warmer weather where we can be outside. Little Miss has been on a “gardening” kick. She has been begging her grandma to teach her how to plant flowers when Spring arrives (sadly, I do not have a green thumb). So, we started with our Flower Shop to try to feed that desire to learn. And then we moved onto our Mud Play Dough and Bunny Garden. I found these amazing little fences in the DollarSpot at Target. I just knew they had to be used in some kind of play.
I started out by trying a new play dough recipe using just two ingredients: hair conditioner and cornstarch. I first saw this recipe at Paging Fun Mums. It is easy and quick (and the conditioner makes it smell delicious). I found it stickier than most play dough, so I added 1/2 cup of flour to mine. The one problem I ran into with this play dough was the color. I know, I know, the color is not very appealing. I used watercolors and then later food coloring to try to make a dark brown. It just stayed this color… so we went with it.
The fun part was that it actually was a lot like mud… sticky, gooey and when it dried it flaked up like dried mud.
I next set out a collection of various items that would resemble vegetables, fruits, and flowers for the munchkins to create their very own gardens. I included buttons, beads, cut up pipe cleaners, cut up straws, and pom poms.
And… of course sweet little flocked bunnies. We found these at Hobby Lobby and the munchkins love playing with them.
The munchkins jumped into this initiation to play immediately. They first spread their “mud” out in their fences and then began planting their vegetables and flowers. They talked about what vegetables they were planting for the bunnies to eat.
Little Miss even buried some of the buttons in the mud, saying the bunnies had planted seeds.
The bunnies seeded, watered, and pruned their gardens. The munchkins had a great time with this simple play! I loved watching their little imaginations take off and allowing them to go where it takes them. The bunnies eventually moved out of the garden and onto other activities, but the play lasted for a while.
What simple play have your munchkins been up to?
ENJOY!
letthembelittle 
perfect!
Gosh, that is such a cute, happy setup!! Perfect fine motor materials. I’m amazed by the effort, planning and work you put into providing sensory play experiences for your children. They won the mom lottery!!