I’m always looking for ways to keep my 4 year old busy, learning, and entertained. Especially right now. I’m currently working from home, playing mom, teacher, biologist, and entrepreneur. Honestly you guys, just typing all of those things out made me tired!
So, I want to share with you this easy DIY “sand” recipe that I made with my daughter today. It's super easy whether you're a total DIY Pinterest mom, an Amazon Prime mom, or somewhere in between. I definitely fall into the in between category. Don't give me something with too many ingredients or too many steps or I'm over it. Ok, on with it...
First, my recommendation is to do this outside if possible, and/or be prepared for some mess. It was however super easy to clean up, and a great sensory activity for her.
For this play sand you will need:
- A large bowl or pan for mixing and for them to play with the “sand” in. I used a baking dish and it worked perfectly!
- 2 cups flour (I used whole wheat flour because that’s what I had on hand, and it helped it look like actual sand as well – win!).
- 1/4 cup of vegetable oil. I added slightly more to get the right consistency.
- Optional: 2-4 drops of essential oil of your choice.
- Mix, and Play!
Some fun extras we used were a plastic cup to make a “sandcastle”, and play dinosaurs (to knock down said castles, obviously). Allow them to use their imagination!
From making the sand, to playtime, this activity kept my 4 year old occupied for a good hour. Anything garnering that much attention deserves to be shared with the universe! Don't you agree?
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Effie. Fee. Mom. Grandma. No matter what name she went by in your life, there’s one thing every person I’ve ever talked with called her – tough. Born in the small town of Port Jervis, NY and then moving to Rochester, NY. The oldest child of Muriel and Francis McCullough’s seven children, working hard was an undebatable truth. Effie married Thomas Glitch on July 21, 1956 and they raised their family, to include five children, in Victor, NY. Tom passed away in 1983, leaving Effie with two of their children still living at home.
Effie was the owner and operator of the Donut Hole diner in downtown Victor for over 20 years. Everyone that knew her described her as hard working, and tough. In fact, I (her granddaughter) once was afforded a waitressing job because the owner knew how hard my grandma worked. It wasn’t until her oldest daughter, Brenda, was very sick that she finally walked out of the Donut Hole’s doors for the last time, despite a myriad of health concerns herself. She was a very social person, who truly never met a stranger. Within minutes of meeting someone new she would be in deep conversation with the person. She was a true connector in that she would find something she had in common with anyone and everyone she spoke to. Of course, she had plenty of life experience to speak from. This is what drove the atmosphere of the Donut Hole. A melting pot for people from all walks of life. Topics of conversation ranged from politics, to astrology, and life, to the telling of dirty jokes and joking fun.
Effie was a woman who lived a life of service to her family and her friends. Despite leaving the restaurant business, Effie was still always cooking up something in the kitchen and was always called upon for family gatherings and celebrations to make the macaroni salad, because it was hands down the best. She was so proud of her family. She never missed an opportunity to tout to her friends about what her kids and grandkids were up to, or to insist we bring our musical instruments out and put on a “concert” for her and whoever else she would insist needed to hear us play.
Christmas. Christmas was always a huge deal to Effie. She loved the decorations – the tree, the poinsettias, homemade crafts. In fact, during her years at the Donut Hole she hosted an annual Christmas craft show where she proudly showed off her crafty friends by having them all set up in her restaurant to sell their creations for the holidays. Christmas Eve was routinely hosted at her home, which also was always a birthday celebration for her son Brian, because nobody is ever too grown up to have a birthday party thrown by their mom, as was Christmas morning breakfast. This Christmas was different, but it was done in true Effie fashion. She was terribly ill, and the plan was to have Christmas at her home. She had other plans. She passed away Christmas Eve morning, in her home. Effie now can finally not work so hard, and rest. Effie leaves a legacy of hard work, passion, and a truly beautiful family with an attitude of “if you mess with one of us, you get us all”. We walk tall because we are proud of where we came from, and we owe that largely to Effie Glitch. We love you Effie, and will miss you every day until we meet again.
