First Snowman Ever

We had a real cold snap last week that prevented us from spending much time outside.  I'm sure Benjamin could have handled it, but I worried for Miriam since she's been gasping for air on the quick in-out dashes from the car/house when we run errands.  Also, I'm a complete chicken when it comes to cold.  I was not meant to live in Wisconsin.  Anything less than 50ºF mandates that I wear long underwear when spending any time out side, and, unfortunately, Wisconsin weather usually falls into that category 75% of the year.

Sunday, it started to warm up.  We went to church, ran our errands, and made it home around 3:30pm.  Since we have until about 5:00pm before it gets dark, I asked Benjamin if he wanted to go out and play.  I gave him the choice of going out with Chris or going out with me (secretly wishing he'd go out with Chris), and he chose Daddy.

I bundled Benjamin up, for which Chris chided me.  I didn't think that a t-shirt, sweatshirt, coat, mittens, hat, snowpants, scarf, and boots was too much for 34ºF, but Chris didn't think he needed the sweatshirt or scarf.  I wonder if Chris spent much time in his childhood playing in the snow.  It's not just the cold, it's the wet that gets you!

Once I ensured no skin was showing (okay, maybe that was a little much...but I would be a terrible mother if I sent him out with any less!), I sent them out of the house and charged them with making a snowman.  With the weather warming a bit (from 10ºF), the snow was starting to melt and made for perfect packing snow.

Once the snowman was done, Benjamin didn't want to come in yet, so Chris took him sledding in the park next door.  And when they were done, I met them inside with hot chocolate.

And that's when Chris told me he thinks that's the first snowman he's ever built.  Thirty-one years old and his first snowman was built with his son.  I suppose there's no better time!

Making playdough

Benjamin wanted something fun to do today, and since we're no longer visiting family in California, we couldn't go to the park like he asked. It's a bit chilly (ummm...37 degrees compared to the 70s we left behind) and a little wet and soggy still. So I promised we would make some playdough. The kid loves to help in the kitchen, so I knew he'd have fun making it with me, and he's had fun playing with the commercial stuff in the past. I can't bring myself to actually purchase the containers from the store because I'm a bit of a perfectionist and get really disappointed when the colors are mixed together by toddlers and can't be undone. Homemade dough, however, is extremely inexpensive and doesn't seem to bother me to have to throw it in the trash when it dries out.

Ingredients
1 cup flour (I used unbleached white flour)
1 cup salt (I used Kosher salt)
1/2 tablespoon Cream of Tartar
1TB vegetable oil
1 cup water
food coloring

In a stockpot, place your flour:


Add your salt:


Then, your cream of tartar. This adds elasticity to the dough. It can be skipped, but you'll end up with a more crumbly dough:


Pour in your vegetable oil. I will try substituting baby oil next time as I hear that will keep the playdough for longer since vegetable oil can go rancid:


I mixed my food coloring into the water before adding to the pot. I found that 8 drops total gave a bright, true color. Turns out, Benjamin is an excellent mixer of colors! I think he's going to take after his Aunt Sarah in art abilities. I have Neon Food/Egg dye drops (McCormick brand), and I added 6 blue drops, and Benjamin insisted in adding 2 purple drops. Those 2 purple drops made the blue much more exact!


Cook this mixture on medium-low heat. You'll need to constantly stir in order to prevent the flour from burning. It shouldn't come to a boil, and the mixture won't get very hot. In a few minutes, it'll become very difficult to stir and the mixture will loose the liquid quality. Dump it out on a piece of wax paper:


When the mixture is cool enough for you to handle (I was able to hold it immediately after dumping because it really doesn't get too hot), knead the dough. This will ensure that all the flour is mixed in and break up any color dye flakes that became concentrated. Afterwards, I patted the dough out flat to cool down faster.


All done! I made pink and blue, upon request from Benjamin. Pink = 6 drops pink + 2 drops purple. Blue = 6 drops blue + 2 drops purple.


Once the dough is completely cooled, it should be stored in airtight containers. I keep mine in zip top bags with all the air squeezed out.


Benjamin got right down to work making "dinner" with his dough!


We had playdough hamburgers and pancakes for supper. :-)

I think this would be a great gift for Easter or birthday favor. Package smaller chunks in the plastic baby food containers or wrapped in cling wrap. Can you think of more novel ways to package it?