The other day my niece, Jaycee, called and asked me for some advice. It's her "Star" week in class and she needed to come up with a talent that she could share with the whole class. All of the other kids decided to sing or dance for their star weeks, but I just couldn't picture Jaycee doing either of those things. Don't get me wrong, the girl can sing and she most certainly can dance, but we wanted to come up with something a little more original than that.
One of the things that Jaycee and I love to do together is cook. I told her we could make cookies or brownies to share with the class and that can be her talent. After all, cooking is most certainly a talent. Just then my sister and Jaycee's mom, Amy, interrupted - they won't let you bring homemade treats for the kids. Apparently schools are afraid of allergies, drugs or poison. Pffff! Remember the good old days when your mom could bring a huge Texas Sheetcake for your school birthday party and no-one was afraid to eat it? Man, I loved those days!
We got back to thinking about a new talent Jaycee could share when sheer brilliance struck my brain like a lightning bolt right out of the sky. Play Dough! You still have to cook it and, as previously mentioned, cooking is a talent. But the kids don't ingest it, therefore, making it a fun, safe, homemade option that the whole class can enjoy. Seriously, brilliant!
Last night I went over to Jaycee's house to show her how to make Play Dough. I made her do all the measuring and I did the stirring. I thought I had the easy job until after heating it for about a minute it became extremely hard to stir. I really don't know how my Mom did it all those times. I think I went through 4 different spoons before I grabbed the heavy duty spatula. It was the only thing strong enough to turn the dough. Seriously Mom, how did you do it?
After letting the dough cool down, we split it into a bunch of balls, so we could make each one a different color. Jaycee had a great time picking out the colors and adding the right amount of dye to each ball. She also had a great time watching me spend almost 2 hours kneading the color into each ball. The 14 different colors she picked out turned out great though.
If you have the desire to make play dough, you can find the recipe here.
4 reader comments:
What the H is this business about not bringing home made treats to school for your fellow classmates!? I lived for kids birthdays when their moms would bring treats! Besides, I bet some of those stupid kids still eats the play dough even though it's not supposed to be eaten. She shoulda just snuck in some brownies.
Ps- You're gonna make a great mom someday!
Great job at getting around those rules and still being able to demonstrate the talent of cooking. Plus, the real beauty of the thing is you can still lace the Playdough with poison.
Bekah,
I have to say that your play dough idea was truly brilliant! For my second grade talent show I drew a poster of a giant bathtub with billowing bubbles and wore it around my neck, then I proceeded to sing "Rubber Ducky" at the top of my lungs. Maybe you can remember from our youth, but I cannot sing...Not even rubber ducky at the top of my lungs. Ironically I am now one of the teachers in charge of the talent show at my school. After sitting through endless off-key versions of the Star Spangled Banner, watching preteens shake their booties to Justin Bieber
lyrics, and painfully listening to timid piano, violin, and recorder performances. I would warmly welcome play dough... In fact, I would give it a standing ovation. I hope your niece considers becoming Miss America some day- that would really beat the hot pants off of all the other contestants. I really enjoy your blog... It makes me laugh. Unless of course your intent was to have a serious blog. In that case, your blog makes me think...Deeply... I really do appreciate your blog though. It is nice to read about friends stats on their children and all but it is good to know that their are people out their posting about themselves too. I also feel connected back to my old funny friend. I miss that kind of humor in my life. Keep up the great blogging. I'm not so bloggy blog (no baby pictures, entries about which diapers are the best or testimonies), but I do blog my artsy fartsy stuff: potluckpots.blogspot.com
Check it out if you are so inclined. See you around
Janelle
u did right thing to gibe them a platform :)
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