Toucan Box

Some time last year I came across the Toucan box. It's a crafting box for kids ages 3-8. For a monthly fee, they'll send your kid a box with 2 craft projects: it includes instructions, all the materials, a little magazine with more ideas and games, sometimes they include stickers, or erasers and such. They always send more stuff than you actually need in case something goes wrong. The projects are always matched with the age of your child. Some projects require drying time, help from a parent, or are especially messy, but those things you're told in the instructions. It's usually one project that takes a little longer, and one that is done quite quickly.

My 4yo really enjoys getting mail and is always looking forward to getting his "blue box"!
The materials are of a really good quality. The ghost pinata we made for Halloween is still hanging in our living room. I was really looking forward to the Easter box, since it included either a bunny race car, or a wooden greenhouse to grow herbs in. Both would have been great for my son, but I was secretly rooting for the greenhouse, since I wanted to do some gardening with him anyway, and we were lucky!

The second project is a paper Easter egg chain to colour with watercolours and decorate with feathers. And since it includes paint, my little artist wanted to start with those.

The box is shipped from England, but I am not sure in which countries they ship. But if you use my discount link, you'll get 50% off of your first box. There is no minimum amount of boxes you have to order, you can just give the first one a try and then see if it is something you'd like to get more regularly: https://www.toucanbox.com/friends/mareike-fwy5

DIY Knetseife - play dough soap

Washing your hands regularly and thoroughly is important, now more than ever.
This 5-minute craft is great for kids any age and only needs 3 ingredients that you probably have at home anyway! It was shared in one of my many WhatsApp Mom groups and came originally from Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.de/pin/182958803599369397/

You need:
- body wash / Duschgel
- corn starch / Speisestärke
- vegetable oil / Pflanzenöl, z.B. Rapsöl
- bowl, spoon / Schüssel, Löffel
- air tight container for storage / Luftdichtes Gefäß zur Aufbewahrung
If you want to make your soap in different fun colours, you'll also need oil based food colouring / fettlösliche Lebensmittelfarbe.

I don't have any measurements to give to you, this recipe is more of a "keep an eye on it" kind of thing.

You start with a good squirt of your favorite body wash and keep adding corn starch while stirring. We had to add corn starch several times. You should get a crumbly consistency without having any corn starch left in the bowl.

    

Add a dash of oil to make it nice and creamy and you're done! 

                                             

Now your kids can have fun washing their hands or playing with it in the bathtub! You can tear pieces off and seal the rest in a container. But don't worry should your soap get dry. A little bit of warm water will soften it up again.

                                                       

 

                              WASH YOUR HANDS! :)