Invitation To Create Playdough Turkeys

About a year ago I came across an idea on Pinterest called "Invitation to Create."

Basically what you do is gather a bunch of art supplies and put them in a container. Then give it to your kiddos along with an idea of what they are going to create. After that, you just sit back and allow them the freedom to run with it and make it their own. Whatever their little minds and hands decide to do is what they do. This is also called "open-ended crafting." We've created monsters, leaf people, easter eggs, and more!

This week we did a two-part "Invitation to Create," and the boys loved it so much that I thought I would share it with you.

PART ONE

First I made playdough, a double batch:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup salt
• 2 tbsp cream of tartar
• 2 cups water
• 2 tbsp oil

Instructions:

Mix the dry ingredients together in a pot. Add water and oil. Cook over medium/low heat until the dough looks dry, making sure to stir it constantly and flipping it over at the end. Let it rest until cool enough to handle.

I separated the playdough into six balls, dropped some food coloring into each ball, and let the boys do the work of mixing in the color. We added scents to the balls, too—ie. cinnamon to our red and nutmeg to our orange.

NOTE TO SELF:

Don't walk away for 5 minutes because you'll come back to find the dough smooshed all over the porch tiles 😫

Anyway, that was day one. We bagged up our dough, placed it in ziplock bags, and stored it in the fridge.

PART TWO

A couple days later I put together a tray of feathers, beads, pipe cleaners, corn kernels, and googly eyes. The Invitation to Create involved using these fun accessories to turn our balls of playdough into turkeys. Toby and Teddy made a whole flock!

One of my favorite things about this craft is that we took apart our creations when we were done—we put all the accessories away to save for another day and stored the playdough back in the fridge. This meant that we didn't have a whole family of turkeys to find a shelf for. Whew! I think any mom of young kiddos can appreciate not accumulating more trinkets, no matter how adorable they are. We took pictures of our creations and put everything away.

The boys love playdough, so I plan to do more activities like this in the coming months.

Since saying goodbye to social media a few weeks ago, it's been such a delight to be more present with the boys. I find myself cherishing these moments a bit more, relishing in their little smiles and their little hands and the little funny things they say and do.

Some funny things Toby says that I want to remember is, "lawning the grass," which is his term for mowing the grass, and "winching the wipers," aka spraying windshield washer fluid on the car.

Last night at bedtime Teddy wanted to do high-fives with Daddy—you know the traditional "Up high... down low... TOO SLOW!" But instead, he said, "Up high... down low... never mind!" 😂 Teddy has also recently learned Jingle Bells and I catch him singing it throughout the day in the cutest little voice 😍

And yes, you may have noticed our Christmas tree in the background of some of the photos because we are already decorated for Christmas, but I'll save that story for another post! When does your family put up the Christmas tree?

Filled with Hope,