How to make Homemade Play Dough

How to make Homemade Play Dough

You will need:

• 2 cups of flour
• 2 cups of warm water
• 1 cup of salt
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 Tablespoon cream of tartar
• Food colouring
• Glitter- Silver, purple and blue

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients and stir over low heat. The dough will begin to thicken until it looks like mashed potatoes. When the dough pulls away from the sides, and clumps in the middle, take it away from heat and leave to cool, enough to handle.

2. Place the dough on a silicone mat, or on a clean counter and knead until smooth. Divide the dough into equal proportions ready for colouring.

3. Make a little well in the middle of your dough and drop some food colouring in the center. Knead the dough so the food colouring can be evenly distributed.

4. Place in airtight containers if you are not playing with it.

The Enchanted forest

“COME ON JESSE!” I shouted. My friends and I were out on a walk. Jesse rejoined Tiffany and I, as we continued our quest for something to take a photo of for our University photography class. Walking along the path, we heard a scream. Jesse and I immediately looked around and there was no sign of Tiffany. “TIFFANY!” Jesse screamed in his low monotone voice. “Down here” she replied, her voice barely audible. We glanced at the concrete and saw a secret passageway. Bending over to investigate this trap, my foot slipped on a rock and I went tumbling down.

Landing on a dirt road, I glanced up, seeing nothing but pure black. Then all of a sudden I was hit by a large object. “OWW!” I screamed. “Sorry...” replied Jesse. Regaining my balance, I took out my flashlight. Maybe this will help with the light problem, but I was wrong. My light was swallowed up by the conquering darkness. My fingers traced the bumpy walls, as I navigated myself through this tunnel. Then I felt steps, walking up the steps I saw a bit of salvation. Opening the hatchet at the top of the staircase, It revealed a beautiful scenery. “Guys, up here!” I screamed down into the tunnel, I heard shuffling and footsteps then I saw the scared faces of Tiffany and Jesse.

Hopping out of the passageway, we saw nothing but forest. My companions and I were covered in cuts and bruises, with dirt smothered on our clothes. We stood up, examining our surroundings. We saw birds in a flock, flying overhead, dropping unwanted body fluids everywhere. We were snapped out of our daydream by a low growl. We cautiously twisted around and saw a bull. It’s eyes were bloodshot red and literally popping out of it’s head, it’s nostrils were huge, while steam was practically, shooting out of it’s ears. “RUN!” Tiffany squealed. We spun around and sprinted. We had no idea where we were going, just that a bull was chasing us. We swivelled around the trees, while thin branches kept whipping us in the face. Glancing back, I saw that the bull was no more, so I stopped. “Well, that was a great exercise!” I exclaimed, sarcastically. Tiffany and Jesse chuckled under their breath. We started walking for what felt like hours, until we came to a road.

A beautiful scenery greeted us. We saw lush forest, heard birds chirping and saw no sign of human interaction. The trees towered over the rest of the forest while, insects scuttled around on the forest bed. We started walking, while the gravel crackled under our feet, then to our amazement we came face to face with a beautiful misty city. The white transparent mist hugged the city, almost like a blanket, and faded off into the sky. “CLICK!” was the sound of the camera when we took a photo. We admired the scenery for a bit longer until we saw an old friend: The bull. He was staring angrily at Jesse, who was wearing a red shirt. “Oh no. Here we go again!” Tiffany said. The bull chased us all the way back to the passageway.

“FASTEN THE HATCHET!” Jesse screamed. Fastening it as fast as I could, we all were panting heavily. “Thank the lord we made it out alive!” Tiffany exclaimed. We retraced our steps back to where we came from, and happily made our way back home.  That was our University assignment complete.

Olympic reflection!

Term 3 has been another fun packed term filled with joy, schoolwork and A LOT of stress. We learnt about the amazing Olympics being held in the majestic city of London. The Olympics have been great to write about, because we are learning about great achievers who have accomplished great things in this worldwide competition.

Even though Term 3 was a great term, I am hoping that the last term of the year will end with a BANG! So get ready for a term full of learning and excitement as we get educated on the wonderful and majestic world of toys!

Brown Brother experience

Joshua Iosefa. He sent shockwaves through the media when his friend posted a video of him reciting a poem called ‘Brown Brother’. Our intermediate students were lucky enough to sit and watch him recite his poem about the life and troubles of an ordinary polynesian. He talked about teenage pregnancy and how someone can have so much potential but fall into the trap of pregnancy. In the poem, he says he is sick and tired of polynesians sticking to their stereotypical jobs, like being a garbage truck driver or a restaurant waiter . The thing that also irritates him is that polynesians think that they are at the bottom of the food chain. We asked a lot of questions afterwards. We found out that his inspirations are his parents and his grandparents. He said that he interviewed his grandparents about their journey from poverty to having a big family and being successful. He taught us a motto. Hook, anchor and launch. This means if you want to become a lawyer or a performer, you have to hook it. Anchor means you stay grounded and launch means you have to launch to your dream.

This experience was very inspirational and educational and we learnt the message of this very meaningful poem. It was that no matter what culture you are, what colour you skin is: You can make your dream come true, you just have to set your mind to it. He also said, and I quote: ‘We have to set high standards for future generations to come’.

Prefect Social!

As I walked into the hall, the sight that greeted me was amazing. The hall was smothered in black and white decorations varying from balloons to streamers. My shoes made a small clunk noise on the cold wooden floor as I walked to the stage. I was wearing a long black flowy dress with roman sandals topped off with a small checkered cardigan. “Have you done the playlist yet?” Samson asked. Then it hit me: I hadn’t even started it!

At that particular moment, my heart skipped a beat. I glanced at the clock and saw that there were only a few minutes to prepare. I know you might be thinking I’m pretty slack, but I had a lot on my mind..... and when I say a lot, I mean A LOT! I quickly, but carefully placed my netbook on the desk that was sitting in front of me. Turning it on, I scanned my music folder to see if I could just chuck a playlist together. This was pretty hard seeing that I only had a limit of songs to choose from. “Tick, tock, tick tock” was the sound of the clock AND it was also the sound indicating that time running out. As the stress piled up on my shoulders, I put the last song on the playlist. “YES!” I squealed. I rejoiced because I had finished the playlist just in time, as the first guests arrived.

Quarter way into the social, the hall was packed with people who were dancing, socializing or just chilling on the chairs. The different coloured lights were flickering all around the hall. And of course there was music, because what kind of social would this be if the music wasn’t loud enough to blow your eardrums right? Anyway, the lights were turned on to get ready for the first competition: The Dougie Battle. As I played the song, lot’s of courageous people entered the circle in hope of impressing the judges which were Mr Barks, Sylvia and Joe. In the end there was a battle between a boy and a girl: Mary and Nezinli. There were cheers from the crowd encouraging our two finalists but in the end Nezinli came out on top and won the competition. After, we just continued with the disco.

As I was doing my job (Dj) I looked out into the energetic crowd but a small group of boys caught my eye. They were standing right in the middle cheering and requesting a song called ‘Gangnam Style’ by a Korean rapper called Psy. I was thinking for a while but then thought ‘Ehh, what do I have to lose?’  So as soon as the song played they were dancing ridiculously. They were also singing.....in KOREAN? Anyway, My friends and I were on the stage laughing hysterically at the boys. Well, I would rather clean up the whole hall than dance like that in front of everyone. That would be better right?

WRONG! As the social came to a close and everyone exited the premises, they left us a present: rubbish, rubbish and some more RUBBISH! I reluctantly grabbed a broom and started sweeping, with the help of Seini-Mino. Well I would have to admit that the social was a big success and it would be fun to do it again!

What if...... I had SUPERPOWERS?

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have Super powers. What if I had super powers? Well to be a superhero you have to have an awesome name. I go by Blaze but people call me Black ice.
I would probably fight for good and join the Avengers! I WOULD be as cold as ice!

Now for the fun part: Superpowers. Well you probably know that I am ice, but I have a few more elements in me. I could be able to water bend and produce icicles from my hands, and I would be able use it as a weapon. I would have long blue hair, brown eyes and I would have a Royal blue costume. When I am angry my eyes would turn dark blue and my hair would turn as white as snow. My nemesis would be Blazika also known as Reka Saunders (A.K.A Toreka) . She is fire. I would also be able to fly as fast as a eagle.

So superpower choices are endless, and even though it would be cool to have them, there would also be consequences. So these are the superpowers I want. What powers would you want? Would you be as strong as an ox or would you be as fast as a cheetah? You decide.

So this is MY perspective. If you want to read Blazika's perspective visit her blog: http://pestorekat.blogspot.co.nz/

What if......I was a BILLIONAIRE?

What if I was a I was a billionaire? Well I would buy a 2 storey cream coloured Mansion that is as wide as as my school. It will have 5 guest rooms, and 10 bedrooms, 5 en suites and a BIG family room. It would be surrounded by a beautiful garden, also a shimmering big pool out in the back. My house would be decorated with a 60 inch plasma screen TV, with working elevators and a HUGE kitchen. Also I would have a fridge dedicated to frozen chocolate treats. Cars get you places, so I would buy me a royal blue Ferrari and a lime green Mercedes Benz. Shopping would also be a daily activity for my family and I.

You might think all this money is going to me, but I will also donate money to help the children in Africa through this famine. Christchurch is also in need so I would donate money to them too, to help rebuild their unique city. I have also noticed that endangered species are becoming extinct so I would help by donating money to save them. 

Performing is a passion of mine so I would get special dancing tips from Mindless Behavior and singing tips from One Direction (Boy bands).  I would also have a dance studio as big as a normal sized house. I also like reading so I would have a have a study room that has a library and a desk and it would have to be peaceful in there. My brother and I are also big fans of rock music, classic songs and modern music so I will have a room dedicated to albums of inspiring artists. I will also have a recording studio and music room that has a piano guitars and other instruments. So this is what I would do if I was a billionaire, what would you?