Stories, Songs, and Salt Dough (Inexpensive Home Made Toys and Activity Ideas)

Member Name: Celandine

Product:	Inexpensive Home Made Toys and Activity Ideas
Date:	26/07/01 (2852 review reads)
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Did you know that my daughter's nose comes equipped with a beeper? It has from birth, you know. If I press her nose, it emits a loud beeping sound, simple as that. It doesn't all the time, of course, it can be switched off ( button behind right ear) when we just want a noiseless cuddle, but when we want it to, then it works a treat.

This is probably the most inexpensive toy I can think of. Us. Together we can go anywhere, and be anything we want to be. I'd better explain here that she is still just 16 months old, so although I'll later give some suggestions on toys for older toddlers, the things we play at the moment are simple. If she wants a climbing frame, and it's too rainy to visit the park, then I contort myself into various shapes on the living room floor, and she crawls and clambers under and over me. If we need a hidey hole to sit in, then I throw a sheet over an airer. If we are feeling frustrated, then all the cushions get thrown on the floor, together with the beanbag, and we jump up and down on them.

I'd better explain at this point that I've a pretty child-friendly house. It's like that because I have to say 'No' often enough anyway, and although there are areas she can't fiddle with ( like the video cabinet), I've found it easier to just have one or two of these. For the rest, I've made an enormous toy-box that is stashed in an alcove, and at night simply throw all the toys and mess into it, making my living room an adult-friendly space again. So, we've throws over all the furniture, and we don't worry about 'causing too much mess' during the day. I know it seems like this has no bearing whatsoever on the inexpensive activity ideas angle, but it does, honestly.

We use the things we've got around us, you see, as toys. If I'm doing some sewing, then I bring down my scrap bag, and Ellie takes all the different peices of fabric out, feeling each one, whi
le I sit working. We've scratchy fabric, soft fabric, coloured fabric. When she's bigger, then I'll let her choose pieces, and we'll make something like a little bag for her to use. When I know she won't try to eat any, then I'll give her access to my button and bead box, and she can thread them on string to make a necklace for herself. I've a neice who thinks it's a high treat to be able to sort out all my different coloured threads for me, and she's very into French Knitting, too, which, if you bang nails into a cotton reel, and have scraps of wool handy, keeps her amused for hours. I've a few very interesting woolly coasters as presents, too.

When Ellie was tiny, I did lots of 'making' for her. I made her blankets and quilts from fabric scraps, and I made her a cot toy out of fluffy fabric. I took all the different textures I could think of, from net to fake fur, and made her a 'touchy-feely' thing. It wasn't as pretty as the shop bought ones, but she liked it, and it cost pennies. Even if you don't have fabric to hand, there's always charity shops, old clothes, and I bet there's a relative somewhere that would give you some. So long as you sew them on really, really firmly, you can decorate a 'thing' with buttons ( I use large ones, just to be on the safe side), or home-made beads.

This brings me to my next thing, which is Salt Dough. Salt Dough is the poor mans playdough, but it has the advantage of being able to be baked in a low oven, whereupon it hardens and can be painted. In its naked form, it's just like a stiff bread dough, that can be modelled, and pummelled, and thrown on the floor, and is ideal for when 'Mummy is cooking', because then children can be 'helping' as they pummel their dough. You can, if you wish, colour it with food colouring, too. I'd be careful with smaller children, though. Salt dough is, pretty obviously, salty,
and it would have to be a particularly ravenous child who consumed quantities of it, but, of course, too much salt can damage a babies kidneys, so with the tiny ones, I'd keep them under supervision to make sure they don't eat it. But here's the great bit - once they've modelled and pummelled and everything, you wait until they've gone to bed, then pop the dough in the oven. In the morning you've got models to paint. Of course, to be really professional, you need to varnish them, too, but that's up to you. If you make some huge beads, or buttons, then you can thread them on a string for tiny babies to play with. If you've an older child, than you can make masks, or bowls, simply by rolling out the dough and shaping it. Last Christmas, I used a star-shaped pastry cutter, and made all my Christmas Decorations from Salt-dough. I'm looking forward to when I get pipe-cleaner reindeer to hang on the tree, too. Oh, and I'm including the recipe right at the very end, for anyone who is interested.

Painting salt dough can get dull, however, and it's much more fun just to scribble. We scribble on boxes ( when she's older they'll be 'houses' with windows and doors cut out) and old newspaper. We've made our own scrapbook out of sugar paper , and if you want more information on how wonderful scrapbooks can be, I'd look at Gretta's opinion on the subject - it's fab. But painting inside can be fraught with dangers to walls, if you've just spent a fortune decorating. One way to draw inside is to get a blackboard, or to buy cork tiles, and stick them at toddler height round a child's room. That way, paper can be stuck to them, put a dustsheet on the floor, and painting commences. You can tell stories, through the pictures - things as simple as describing the last visit to Sainsbury's, along with big picures of fruit and vegetables, and then you can make up songs and stories all about th
e picures. More on stories and songs later, though. We're still drawing at the moment, and since it's easier to get messy outside, let's go there.

So, assuming that it isn't raining, you can go out and paint. Since Ellie is so small, we've so far limited ourselves to using chalk on the patio paving slabs. This is wonderful. We scribble happily, she's amused, and when it rains we've a blank slate again. When older children come to visit, boxes come out with us, and we paint them on the lawn. Again, when she's older, we'll finger paint scenes on wallpaper lining paper ( the cheapest large source of paper I know, since for about 2 pounds, you get loads and loads). Remember, too that flour paste makes an excellent ( and non-toxic) paper glue, besides being fun to mix, and that papier mache is also cheap - just tear up old newspapers, and use flour paste to glue them, layer on layer, over a bowl, or balloon, to make a hat, a spaceship, or whatever else you like.

If you've an older child that likes 'dressing up', then charity shops are a wonderful source of clothes. If you like glittery things, then most haberdashery market stalls sell 'sequin waste': shiny stuff with little holes in it where the sequins were stamped out. this is dirt cheap, but makes an excellent trimming for a fairytale frock. Because of the holes, it is also dead easy to sew on. Try hoarding tinsel, too, buying it just after Christmas, and sewing (or glueing) it to fabric. These things aren't suitable for babies, of course, but for an older child they can tart up an outfit for very little money. If you want a 'tabard' or something, then fabric pens cost about 2.00 each, and you can always use old pillowcases, and stencil a coat of arms on them.

Back to the garden. I've nicked these ideas from "Planet Organic: Baby and Toddler cookbook" : Lizzie Van, published by Doring Kindersly) but I think tha
t they are such lovely ones that I want to include them. She suggests getting children involved with the whole food process, from growing to cooking, through having scented herbs, like mint, sage, and basil around on a windowsill. Even babies love the different textures and smells of them, and if you dry them, you can stuff little bags with them, and make them into scented herb pillows. Herbs are cheap, too, but avoid the big chains if you want real value for money. Instead, try fetes, or small nurseries, who are less likely to charge you the earth. Of course, for growing, there's always mustard and cress - DIY sandwich fillers that grow fairly rapidly with total ease, or, for a more patient child, try radishes in a pot (if you don't have a garden), or, if you do, Sunflowers. Painting pots is fun, too, so don't worry about buying ones. It's just as easy to use an old yoghurt or margerine pot, punch holes in the bottom, and, if you coat it with emulsion, this will provide a base that poster paint sticks on.

If you've no space at all, then try sprouting beans. If you buy some mung beans, soak them overnight, and then put them in a large, clean, coffee jar, with holes punched in the lid, then just cover them with water, changing the water every day, you'll soon get little beansprouts, which, although you have to buy the beans in the first place, double as an activity and a healthy sandwich lunch. There's a story there, too, as you see the beans sprouting, each day, until you can finally eat them.

Stories and songs are the best all round activity and toy I can think of. They're free if you make them up, and cheap if you borrow books from a library. I've found board books for 10p each in charity shops, and each book is a toy as well as a 'story'. Ellie does sit on the floor and look at all sorts of books, including the newspaper supplement, and catalogues - and it keeps her very happy. Of course, the nicest th
ing is me reading her a story, or a poem, and we both love that, but, in between, when she's bored, and I'm busy, we make up songs and stories. We have stories about what I'm doing, complete with silly noises, and we have stories about where we went that morning. We build castles with her bricks, and we have stories about those. Its all, I think, a bit to do with comfort, and continuity. If I've got to do an activity that she can't join in with, then I can, at least, tell her about it, or sing to her while I'm doing it. Believe me, it's easier to chop vegetables whilst engaged in a tuneless, hearty rendition of 'Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes", than it is with an unhappy toddler in the background.

Stories count as activities, I think. They help her ( and me) make sense and safety out of unfamiliar things, and they can turn the familiar and boring into an adventure. With older children, stories can turn into mini-plays, with Mum as stage manager and audience. There's also the word games, like 'Twenty questions', or 'My mother went to Market', where you have to decide what sort of thing mother is buying, and, in turn, go through the alphabet, so, if its fruit - then Apple, Banana, Clementine etc. These are free, and basic card games are cheap - and can be played with smarties as 'prizes'. I could go on, and on, and go into things like pressed flowers, and leaf skeletons, but I won't, since this is way, way too long (sorry). I'll finish with 'making books', which I used to love doing as a child, writing stories on cheap paper (or getting Mum to type them so they looked 'proper'), illustrating them, and sewing them together. The paper I used was scrap computer paper from my Dad's office, that he used to bring home for me. I loved that, and I hope Ellie will enjoy that sort of thing, too. She likes our stories now, and she likes scribbling on cardboard, and I'd be
tter give you that recipe for Salt Dough:

INGREDIENTS
230g/8oz/2 cups plain flour (buy the really cheap economy ones at 9 pence per bag for this)
200g/7oz/1 cup salt
250ml/8floz/1 cup water

METHOD
Mix the flour, salt and half the water together in a mixing bowl. Knead the mixture, gradually adding more water, until the dought has a smooth, firm consistency. If the dought starts to get sticky, then add more flour to the mixture.

Remove dough from bowl and knead it for about 10 minutes. It can be used straight away, but it is best to leave it for about 30 minutes in an airtight container first.

Bake the dough in an oven at 120 degrees centigrade/ 250 degrees farengheit/ gas1/2 until the dough is completely hard, which varies according to the size of item. Rolled out star shapes take about 5 hours, larger items can take 10 hours, and sometimes small items do break or crack, but can be glued together.

There you go, frannyfortune ( and do look at her op on this category, please, if you're interested in these sorts of recipes as she has one for cornflour goo that is not to be missed)

The End.

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