Pre-K OK

Grayson has been in Pre-K class now for about 6 weeks. He is really loving school and seems to be adapting very well. He talks about his friends in class and he loves to tell me what they all play each day. He brings home some work or a craft each day and I can see that they are very busy. Always reluctant to hold a pen or pencil,  he now can write his name quite easily and is learning how to write the rest of his letters. They have circle and centre time every day as well, and as we drive to school each day he wonders which centre he will get to play with (he always hopes for the sand table or lego!) He is thriving on the routine and knows exactly what he needs to do which is really great to see.

Parents are encouraged to volunteer and so I am accompanying them to Butterfield Acres Farm on their first field trip this coming Wednesday. Grayson is beyond excited to go on the bus - a first! Parents also help out in the classroom and although I haven't been in the class yet, I did my mommy-duty of sending orange playdough earlier this month! I mentioned in an earlier  blog post that I would share the recipe that the pre-school provided, so here it is.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

2 packages of Kool Aid in whichever color you want to make. (I only had 1 pack and everything seemed to go fine, but I guess you would get a more intense color with 2 packs.)

4 tsp. cream of tartar

2 cups water
2 tbsp. oil

Grayson helped out with measuring all the ingredients.

Place all ingredients in a large pot and combine well. (Looks pretty gross!)

Cook over low heat until very thick (like mashed potato consistancy). Halfway there:

Done!

Let it cool for a few minutes and then dump it out and knead the dough to combine and make it smooth.

Store in an airtight container.

A few notes:

I let it cook over very low heat and stirred to combine every few minutes. You can definitely see the texture change as it "cooks".

It was a really nice texture after kneading - smooth and pliable.

I am not sure how long this playdough will last, but at school they ask for a fresh batch each month, so I guess a month is a good bet.

The Kool-aid makes the dough smell very good, so you might have to remind younger kids not to eat it! I think you could omit the Kool Aid and just add food coloring.

This was my first attempt at homemade playdough and I was pleased with the results. Does anyone else have a good homemade playdough recipe to share? I wouldn't mind trying another to compare!

So far Pre-K has been great and we are looking forward to the rest of the year. Now to decide on Kindergarten for next year. Oy...