DIY CARDBOARD COOKIES FOR PROMPTING PLAY

After the arrival of ants in pursuit of left-over crumbs ended play outside in our new play tent, today's #easyplayidea involves some 3D paint and recycled cardboard to create some puffy paint to decorate cardboard cookies - perfect for pretend play. No ants invited! It's easy to mix up from ingredients most people would already have at home.

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To re-create this easy invitation to create, you will need -

• shaving cream
• white PVA glue
• liquid watercolour paint or food colours
• out of date jelly crystals (or Jello in the US) (these were an optional inclusion but helped mask the glue/shaving cream smell a little and were fun to add)
• thick cardboard cut into rounds

Mix a quantity of shaving cream and PVA glue together in a large, disposal container (unless you feel like washing up afterwards). I worked on a 3/1 ratio = 3 parts shaving cream/1 part glue.

We then separated our shaving cream/glue mix into different plastic disposable cups before adding some different jelly crystals and a few drops of liquid water colour paint. Mix again until mostly one colour and you can start painting.

We used cotton buds to decorate our cookies but small brushes would work just as well and might prove a little less frustrating to get the paint out of the bottom of the cups without getting sticky.

You can see how easy they were to make. Now we just need to wait overnight for them to dry completely before we can play. The addition of the PVA glue to the shaving cream means they will retain their 3D puffy feel - perfect for some more pretend play!

If you missed our previous #easyplayidea posts you can read one, two, three and four now.

You can also check out the hashtag #easyplayidea on Instagram for more ideas to promote play in your house these holidays.