Playdough Lovebugs

We made these adorable playdough lovebugs after nursery this afternoon, as another 'wind-down activity' before bedtime. I set this up ready for Tommy so that it was ready to crack on with as soon as he got home.

To do this activity I used:
- a collection of sequins
- heart confetti
- coloured matchsticks
- pipe-cleaners cuts into short sections
- heart cutters
-googly eyes
- batch of homemade playdough

I used this recipe to make the playdough:
- 2 cups of plain flour
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup of salt
- 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar
- 1.5 cups of boiling water
- red, pink and purple food colouring

Method: Mix the flour, salt, cream of tartar and oil in a large bowl. Divide the mixture equally and put into as many bowls as the number of colours of playdough you intend to make. Divide the water equally into cups/small bowls. Add food colouring to the concentration required (we used liquid food colouring for this but Wilton Gel colours are much better if you can get hold of some). Add the liquid to the dry ingredients a little at a time, and stir until it combines to form a sticky, combined dough. Once the playdough has cooled, lift it out of the container and knead vigorously until it is no longer sticky. Add the glitter at this stage and continue to knead until the glitter is evenly-spaced.

When I do an invitation to make, I always ensure I've made a few examples myself beforehand, so that Tommy has a starting point and he has an idea as to what the end product might be. This both motivates him and inspires him to make his own creations.

Tommy loved this activity and continued to use the playdough for up to an hour before bedtime. It really helped him calm down after an exciting day at nursery.