I think we are all aware of the benefits of being active but sometimes life gets in the way and we forget to move and to enjoy movement. For the last two years I have not been able to really exercise, I will go into this more in a future post but what has kept me going is beautiful walks with my boys. Movement does not have to be intense it can be gentle slow walks, deep breathing yoga, stretching yourself with Pilates playing around with little children, dancing, anything is better than nothing. This weekend we have two birthday parties to go to and I will be doing a lot of dancing because I am so aware that my body needs movement. If you are stuck on what to do this weekend then why not try visiting one of the many beautiful parks in London and run around with your kids, dogs or friends. Until next time. xx
Tag: kids
Play doh fun by Dunja
This week I rediscovered the magical world of play doh. It’s been a while since I’ve been this excited about a children’s product, or even an adult product really! A friend recently asked me if I spent much time playing with Ari, and I replied, very honestly, that no, I don’t really, I leave that stuff to the nursery. I prefer to take her to galleries, museums, playgrounds, libraries and every few months, a trip overseas. He said fair enough, but I ought to try actually playing with her every now and again. As faith would have it, the very next day Ari received a birthday present, a play doh clown head set. Even just holding the box memories flooded back of the hours of fun my brother and I used to have with play doh. So I thought what the hell, even if I get bored I can just leave her to it. Now, I can’t count how many times I pushed the play doh through the clown’s head, excitedly waiting for him to spurt hair, but what I can tell you is that before I knew it, two hours had passed and Ari was desperately dragging me away form the play table.
I am now a self-proclaimed master of home cooked play doh, and have collected more molds and other play doh paraphernalia than all the nurseries in London put together. But as we all know, addiction spreads, and my last visit to amazon resulted with an extremely heavy basket filled with kinetic sand, play foam, i-clay, coloring sets, food coloring, etc.
I’m so excited about all the hours of play that lay ahead of us, changing with every few months, as hers, and my interests develop! And of course we’ll still go to museums and travel the world together, but what I’ve found out is that playing at home can be just as fulfilling.
And of course, here’s my favorite and simplest playdoh recipe:
In a pot, mix 2 cups of flour, 2 cups of warm water, 1 cup of salt, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1-tablespoon cream of tartar and a few drops of food coloring. Stir on a low heat until all blended and doughy. Take out, and once it’s all cooled down, kneed and store in zip lock sandwich bags.