Alexis Ralphs

I'm Alexis, father of four and founder of One Hundred Toys, Get Set Five, A Year With My Child. I taught in London primary schools for thirteen years, specialising in the early years. I studied at the Institute of Education, part of the University of London, both for my PGCE and my as-yet-unfinished masters. I'm especially interested in schemas and how they help us understand the motivations behind toddlers' play.

Cloud dough recipe

A lump of cloud dough on a table.

When it comes to sensory play, there’s a plethora of options to choose from – playdough, slime, Gak, and many more. But there’s another exciting sensory play material that you might not have tried yet: cloud dough. Its soft, mouldable, and delightfully squishy texture offers a distinct sensory experience that sets it apart from other […]

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Fluffy slime recipe

Six balls of fluffy slime

With its unique texture and fun-to-play nature, fluffy slime is a fascinating substance that provides both entertainment and sensory stimulation. If you haven’t introduced your child to fluffy slime yet, it’s high time you did! Unlike regular slime, it has a soft, airy texture, much like a marshmallow, making it more exciting to touch, squish,

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Slime recipe

Four colourful pots of children's slime

Slime is yucky. Slime is fun! The first time you push your fingers into it, you’re not so sure. You hesitate. And that’s the point. Slime is perfect for sensory play, a malleable material that should feature regularly in your child’s early explorations. The slight revulsion toddlers and preschoolers feel when they approach slime and

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Gak recipe

A bowl of blue Gak

Gak is slime and slime is fun. There are some differences (see below) but, in essence, Gak is a slimy, sensory adventure that’s both fun to make and even more fun to explore. It’s a wonderfully squishy and stretchy substance that has a unique texture and elasticity fundamentally different from most common play materials like

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Oobleck recipe

A child playing with Oobleck

Oobleck is weird. It sits at the junction of science and fun, a bit of both and a lot of neither. Water and honey flow easily when you pour them. They are ‘Newtonian’ fluids which means they behave as you would expect, no matter how quickly you try to push or stir them. But Oobleck

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The rotation schema

A girl spinning round with her arms stretched out

A toddler stands in front of the washing machine, watching it go round. And around. Later he takes a crayon and draws jerky spirals on paper. He also runs round and round a tree in the garden and spends a long time pushing his wooden train around the track. These are all physical manifestations of

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