Last night

Yesterday evening

Before their bath

Esther and William were picking crab apples

From one of many trees in our garden

They were collecting them to feed to their dollies and teddies

They each had a mini wheelbarrow which they loaded up

They then wheeled their harvest around the garden

To the playroom and to their shop

Where they could bag up the apples and sell them to their toys

They had such a wonderful time

And the crab apples were just the right size

For their little hands

I asked them if tomorrow (today) they would like to make some apple playdough

And play more with the crab apples they had found

They were both excited by this idea

And so was I

So today when Ami from Beebies Baby Store came round to play

We started our day making some apple bubble dough

Which we played with, with the crab apples

Beneath the branches of the crab apple tree

To make the dough I used this recipe for Better Bubble Dough

From Creative Playhouse as a starting point

What I actually used for our apple bubble dough was

One cup of apple and melon shampoo from Tesco

Two cups of cornflour

A generous helping of green glitter

Two tablespoons of Bloom, Bump and Baby Stretch Mark Oil with lavender, neroli and evening primrose oil

We have made and used bubble dough before

Esther and William love any kind of sensory play

Bubble dough is a lovely consistency to play with

And can also have a lovely smell

Our original attempt at Bubble Dough was made with their lavender baby bubble bath

The dough was white and lovely and shiny

They loved cutting it and moulding it

Filling different containers with it

And combining it with other materials such as pasta shapes

Our dough today was white and shimmering with apple green glitter

We took the dough outside

And placed it on our Tuff Spot mirror

We added the collected crab apples

And I brought a range of knives (child friendly)

To use for cutting and mark making in the dough and the apples

Esther and William were keen to get stuck in

It was a very hot day

Even in the shade of the tree

After moulding and shaping the dough

Decorating and printing with the crab apples

Practising cutting skills

We started to make little apple dough men

And funny faces

Using twigs and leaves and berries from surrounding plants and leaves

It was a lovely activity

Nice to be using the fruits of our garden

As part of our creative play

Last year we did apple printing

Which I am sure that we will do again

But it was nice to do something

Quite spontaneous

Inspired by Esther and William’s own ideas for play

One of the best things about any messy play

Is turning the tidy up into a game too

We did not do this today

But when we made our original bubble dough we did

And look how sweet Esther and William were then

Take time out to do things like this

All too soon the moment is gone

And the opportunity for magical memories missed

Take hold of time with your children with both hands

Embrace their creativity

Embrace the mess!