recipe: Oobleck

Recipe found here: http://skiptomylou.wordpress.com/2007/03/02/oh-the-places-you-will-go/

If you quickly smack oobleck with your hand it immediately turns into a solid, instead of splashing or moving. If you slowly move oobleck it reacts like a liquid.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• a few drops of food colouring (optional)
  

Instructions:

• mix ingredients together
• try it (hit it then pour it off a spoon) before adding more than 1 cup of water

Animal Headband

This was created at our local Ontario Early Years Centre.

Materials:

• the colour of paper that you choose should match the animal you are trying to make (for example, white paper for a zebra, orange paper for a tiger)
• strip of construction paper approx 55cm long and 5cm wide (should be long enough to make a band around the child's head)
• 2 pieces of the same coloured construction paper approx 7cm long and 4cm wide from which to cut ears
• 1 piece of the same coloured construction paper approx 20cm long and 2cm wide from which to make a tail
• 1 piece of black coloured construction paper approx 7cm long and 4cm wide from which to cut tail end
• black crayons or markers to make stripes
• scissors (have the adults precut the ears and tail pieces for the pre-schoolers)
• glue
• tape

Instructions:

• lay the long strip of paper out flat
• glue on the ears in about the centre of the strip
• have the child draw stripes (as required) using the black crayons or markers
• measure the long strip around the child's head and tape in a circle to make a good fit
• glue on the black tail end to the tail
• glue the tail on the back of the headband

You'll note that this headband is too small for our model:

Note the added detail of fringing the black tail end:

Napkin folding

Resources for napkin folding:

• http://www.mypapershop.com/folding-napkins/
• http://www.napkinfoldingguide.com/
• http://www.partydetails.com/napkins.asp
• http://www.schonwalder.org/Menu_Z1_napkin.htm
• http://www.tiptonlinen.com/presentations.html
• http://weddingdetails.com/planning/napkins_content.cfm

Courtesy of "Impress your guests -- tuxedo napkins" by Cecily Ross in the Globe and Mail, Saturday, March 10, 2007. Style section page L9.

(FYI, I couldn't find instructions for the Tuxedo Folded Napkin featured in the article. When finished, it looks like the upper 2/3 of a gentleman's tuxedo / dinner jacket.