A Party in the (Dark) Park

My friend, Liz, had a party in one of our favorite parks around. We call it Dark Park, as it's always shaded by massive redwood trees. Superb in the summer, and today, it was almost 80 degrees (I know, we're spoiled here in Northern California). The party was to celebrate sweet Maia's third birthday. With such a lovely day to start, the children had fun with little cars, racing them down the slides and Liz made this great homemade playdough. I'll put the recipe, below. Maia and R had such fun with the tea party.



C and M wanted to come to the party, too, and Liz graciously extended invitations to them, as well. Where ever C goes, he finds the best things to make something. Here he's making a crossbow and arrow from a found long balloon, string and a couple of sticks.






For Christmas, I'm planning on making him a pocketed craft curtain to hold all kinds of recycling treasures with which he can make something. Things like string, toilet paper rolls, bits of metal, rubber bands, etc. I got the idea from Soulemama. It will be just perfect for him - I can't wait to see his excited smile when he sees it!

And, just to show you a small glimpse of the beautiful redwood trees....


And, as promised, here is the playdough recipe (it uses kool-aid):

1 C Flour
1 Tbsp Veg. Oil
1 Pckg unsweetened Kool-Aid (won't stain hands & smells good, too)
1/4 C Salt
2 Tbsp Cream of Tartar
1 C Water


Mix Flour, salt, cream of tartar & kool-aid in a medium pot. Add water & oil and stir over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes. When mixture forms a ball in pot, remove. Knead until smooth. Put in a plastic bag or container & refrigerate. (This recipe easily doubles for double the fun.) Here's a link for some other playdough recipes (pretty similar, but a couple of differences).




Liz's came out in lovely colors - green, red and a sugar-cookie dough color (using lemonade kool-aid). I've been wanting to make homemade play dough for as long as C has been interested - has it really been 7 years that I wanted and hadn't made it? Well, I'm off to the market to get the Kool-Aid so I can make it the next time the urge strikes! (Liz was kind enough to send the children home with homemade play-dough favors, so I'm set for awhile!).


And, boy, these photos look so flat and washed out. I need a new camera in the worst way! Any recommendations, anyone?