Christmas Fun: What is in the stocking?

This was a little game I threw together for Neevah when she was desperate to play a 'Christmas Game'. It was semi successful but I think I needed to find some more unusual items as some of them she guessed very quickly

You will need
Christmas Stockings
Fun or Unusual objects that fit in the stocking

To Play:
1. Put 1 item in each stocking
2. Invite your child to play
3. Get them to put one hand into the stocking and feel what is inside - you may need to remind them not to look
4. Describe what you can feel
5. Guess what it might be
6. Pull the item out of the stocking and see if the guess was right

I filled 6 Christmas Stockings - I included a book, a soft toy, a toy car, a headband, a small handbag and a toy Dinosaur
After you have played once send your child off to refill the stockings with different objects and have a turn yourself :)

Christmas Crafts: Christmas Tree Playdough

I have missed blogging! While we have still been creating (not nearly as often as before) I really haven't had a chance to blog any of our creations. But it is Christmas time and one of my favourite times of year so fingers crossed I will have a few feastive ideas to share with you all between now and Christmas Day. Here we go ......

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,
How lovely are your branches!
In beauty green will always grow
Through summer sun and winter snow.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
How lovely are your branches!

What you will need:
Green Playdough
Beads, Sequins anything small and a bit festive
A Small Plate

Playdough Recipe
2 cups of plain flour
2 tbs Cream of Tartar
2 tbs Cooking Oil
1 cup Salt
2 cups of Water
Food Colouring

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan (except food colouring) stir over medium heat for 3 - 5 mins or until the mixture congeals. Once cool add food colouring.

To Make:
1. Place playdough onto a plate and fashion it into a cone shaped Christmas tree
3. Decorate your tree
4. You could put a star on the top and presents around the bottom

Neevah's creation is on the left and Liam's on the right

Looking for something a little more permanent you could try Salt Ceramic Dough and make a snow white tree. We tried this recipe in August last year to make Handprint Keepsakes

To Make Salt Ceramic Dough
Mix 1 cup of salt, 1/2 cup of cornstarch (I used white wings cornflour), 2/3 cup of water in a pot and cook/stir over a medium heat until all the liquid has been adsorbed (will look a bit like cooked playdough).
Once cooked place it onto some foil to cool as it is quite hot. Once cool kneed the dough until it is soft and pliable. It will be a little bit sticky so put some wax paper or something similar down before letting the kids loose.

This may take a while to fully harden depending on your climate - our handprint took roughly 5 days and I would think a Christmas Tree would take a week if not a little more