I recently asked my four year old daughter what she was looking forward to most about Christmas, ‘the snow’ she replied excitedly. Oh dear!
I blame this expectation on the festive films we’ve been watching at home where it always snows at Christmas! Sadly, I’m yet to find a suitably seasonal film set in the Southern Hemisphere.
I think we can safely say that the chances of snow in Botswana at Christmas are zero. We’ll just have to make our own so we can still play in snow!
‘Snow’ dough
This is a nice, easy, taste safe recipe that can appeal to babies, toddlers and young children.
Add a small amount of oil (we use coconut or olive oil) to flour to make a mixture that is dry but mouldable. Let your child explore the texture and make ‘snowballs’, add cookie cutters and other bakeware to enhance their play experiences.
Young babies will be delighted to see the imprint their hands and feet make in the dough. This is a great way to introduce sensory play.
White Play Dough
A soft, snow-like playdough is an absolute favourite in our house. Made in the same way as a typical no cook playdough, you simply replace flour with cornflour.
This has the added advantage of making the recipe gluten free which is ideal for children with allergies. We added snowflake cookie cutters, sequins, buttons and Christmas figures (bought from Caboodles) to stimulate creativity.
Recipe:
- 1 cup cornflour/maizena
- ½ cup salt
- 1 tbsp oil
- Approximately 1 cup boiling water
Mix the dry ingredients and add the boiling water slowly until it’s absorbed, then knead the dough well.
Bath Time Fun
A cool bath is a great way to keep children entertained in the heat… and get them clean in the process! A ‘snow bath’ is a great hit with the under 5’s.
Shaving cream or foam soap makes wonderful snow for them to make pictures on the tiles. If you have a hand whisk, you can show them how to whisk up more and more bubbles using your usual bubble bath. They will enjoy seeing the results of their hard work.
The Crazy Store sells sheets of foam that you can use to cut out Christmas shapes for play in the water. Why not decorate a Christmas tree in the bath?!
I hope the holidays are being kind to you all so far. Enjoy your snow play! If you still need some play inspiration don’t forget to check out part one of this series.
Caroline holds a Master’s degree in Mental Health and Psychological Therapy and works to help others achieve their full potential. As one of the Directors of SensoBaby, she focuses her attention on families and young children.
You can find her at www.littlenaledi.com
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