mud balls

My thoughtful mother-in-law gave me this book many moons ago. I've only tried a handful of activities so far. I've got plenty tagged with tiny stickies, just waiting for me to gather supplies and energy to give them a try.

A few weeks ago I was flipping through the book and came upon a recipe in the Kids in the Kitchen section. Mud Balls. I asked Danny if he'd like to make some mud balls with me and duh. His face lit up and he said yes.

What four-year-old is going to say no to making mud balls in the kitchen?



I put him to work crushing the graham crackers (which he pronounces dam cack-uhs). I might have asked him a few times what he was crushing just so I could hear him say it again. Dam cack-uhs. Dam cack-uhs.

He got bored of all that work before he'd crushed them all. I finished up while he got a spoon and ate peanut butter straight out of the jar.



They turned out quite yummy. I knew Danny would like them because he loves eating the dough whenever I make a batch of cakies.

I didn't put raisins in our Mud Balls because I knew nobody but me and Dan would be eating them if there were raisins inside. I'm sure that was just an attempt at making them look more healthy anyway. The recipe didn't specify how many graham crackers to use. I chose three and it worked just fine.

Of course I couldn't leave well enough alone so I went and did this to a few of them.


Mud balls for people with a more sophisticated palate.



Here's a few more interesting ideas from the busy book, in case you're in the market for a few good Just Get Me Through the Rest of this Stinkin' Winter activities.

Fun with Tape: The idea is to give your kid a piece of tape to play with. I read that and thought that maybe the person writing this book didn't actually have kids. Or maybe that they didn't bother trying out these ideas on real kids before including them in the book. I mean really. A piece of tape? It takes more than that to keep a kid occupied. And then I tried it. I was wrong. Who knew? A piece of tape! It's been that easy all winter long and I just figured out that all they need is a piece of tape.

Potty Pals: For this gem of an idea, you use contact paper to make eyes and a smile. Stick them to the underside of the toilet lid. The fun begins when your child uses the potty and "feeds" the pals as the day goes on. I feel like I'm too grossed out to even continue writing this. I'm assuming it works better for boys since they can actually see the pal they are "feeding" while they're standing there. Ewwww. I'm all for getting potty trained quickly (although I haven't managed to do that yet) but ewwwww.

Fun with Kleenex: The idea here is to actually give your child a box of Kleenex and let her have at it. Um, yeah. I don't think so.

Nuts and Bolts: Give your kids large nuts and bolts and let them screw them on and off to their hearts' content. Really? The activity suggests age 3 and up. I'm just wondering how large these large nuts and bolts are. I can see them turning into swords and poking tools and then someone crying and someone else being sent to his room.