Recipes for play - Rachel Sumner

An important part of childhood is exploring the world. What do things taste, feel, smell, sound like? What happens when you add red to blue, mix soil with water or drop a blob of paint from a great height? These childhood experiments are vital for development and provide hours of entertainment.

Sisters Rachel Sumner and Ruth Mitchener have created Recipes for Play for parents who want to encourage tactile learning but don't want their lives ruled by chaos. Each recipe has easy-to-follow instructions for setting activities up and simple steps to clean up once the fun is finished. Make your own facepaint in minutes, whip up a batch of oozy slime, create clouds of colour with rainbow rice and so much more. Welcome your child to a wonderful world of colour, texture, creativity and imagination.

Writer Rachel Sumner describes herself as a play-at-home mum of Margaux (four) and Frankie (two and a half ). Rachel was the children's book rep for retailer Beattie Forbes working with school libraries across Hawkes Bay. While living in Blenheim she spent 12 months as the children's book reviewer for the Marlborough Express. She is currently a book reviewer for Australian Women's Weekly.

Simple but engaging, with great photos.
YOU Magazine - Sarah Stacey