Outdoor playgroup: Playdough week

This morning we went to the weekly outdoor playgroup which I organise. It was a lovely mild soggy morning, and it was wonderful to see children ready to get their hands dirty. 

This week I brought along some natural scented playdough for the children to use (I just used my basic playdough recipe and added some spices). I noticed a lot of cooking going on – I brought Frida’s play pots and pans with me again, as well as some kitchen implements – as well as some great tonging (is that a word?), some poking with sticks, and lots of general smushing. Oh, and a jeep got stuck in it – a jeep which I accidentally called a truck. I love how young children will patiently correct you!

Playdough is so versatile and so easy and cheap to make, if you haven’t tried doing it for your little one then I recommend you give it a go! 

I’m really enjoying getting to know some of the lovely local families in our area already – it’s so important to feel part of a community, and although when we bought our house I was slightly uncertain about the slightly down-at-the-heel, unloved feel of the area (mainly thanks to a high street in dire need of some love and investment – though we do have a lovely independent coffee shop and a costa now), I’m genuinely growing to love the little patch of south London we call home. 

Frida impressed me on our walk home – a house on our street is having building work done, and there is a ladder outside. “Big orange ladder. Man’s big orange ladder. Man climb down. Not daddy’s ladder – daddy need buy it!” It’s when she says things like this that I get a flash of just how much she understands about the world. 

We both had a great time stamping in puddles on the way home too. I did get some funny looks, as if to say “why are you letting your child play with filthy puddles”, but honestly, what can be more fun than big filthy puddles when you’re 19 months old?

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