Here’s a super quick and easy activity to put together to keep your toddlers and preschoolers entertained. All you need is some bottle caps and foam stickers (available from most $2 shops and craft stores). If you don’t have a stamp pad, you can spread out a thin layer of paint on a plate or add a few drops of water to a water colour tray like we have.
Check out these cute bugs the girls at All Tizzied Up put together on the weekend. Made from pipe cleaners, pom poms, wooden pegs, goggly eyes and tulle. So simple and so cute!
They have kindly taken step by step photos so you can be inspired too, to create your own colouring creepy crawlies.
I was determine to do some Valentine craft today with the kids before we ran out of time. I had an idea in my head of what I wanted to do, but we couldn’t find the type of paper I needed. While picking up some other bits and pieces from the grocery store, we found A4 laminate sheets on special and decided to grab some for the craft cupboard. I had a look around Pinterest for inspiration and then it finally came to me, lucky we grabbed those sheets!
The steps are pretty self explanatory I think, but you can see more instructions by clicking on or running your mouse over each photo below.
The similar projects I have seen on Pinterest use clear book contact, which you could also use if you don’t have a laminating machine. The laminate sleeves give a much clearer finish though. I was worried at first that the cellophane might melt as it went through the heat, but it was fine.
We started making snow flakes from patty cake pans – as you do, they were so pretty, I figured we should use them for something more than making a mess.
I am sure everyone has made snow flakes before, so I won’t worry about elaborating on instructions. We used the tin foil patty cake pans, then laminated them so they wouldn’t break and could be strung up easier. I strung them up with fishing line, but any kind of string would have been fine. Pretty Cool results I think.
It’s that time of year again folks. Time to thank the dozen different day care providers, half of which I don’t even know the names of, for putting up with my darling children 2 days each week.
This year I decided to make something that all the kids could help with, as last years gift required minimal effort from the kids. So we made Bath Bombs and I am happy to report they were a success (we tested one out last night!)
I used 2 different recipes, the first one was here
Dry ingredients:
Wet Ingredients:
For the pink lot, I used this recipe
You’ll need:
Which came from here
The method I used for both was the same though. Mixed all dry ingredients in a large bowl, then had Mr8 ever so slowly pour in the wet ingredients while I stirred like a mad woman. With the second recipe, it doesn’t actually call for corn flour (starch) but I decided to throw a handful in just to make the recipe go further. The second lot stuck together better than the first recipe while wet, but they have both dried lovely and firm and both fizz wonderfully in the bath tub.
We made the round ones in some empty plastic Christmas ornaments like the blogger in the first link did, as well as some smaller ones in some Aldi silicone trays. If I was to make them again, I think I’d find a mould that was spherical, but a bit smaller, so you end up with more bombs from your mix. I left the silicone tray ones to dry over night, and they popped out easily the next day.
It is summer here right now, and humid, which can destroy the bombs. So before putting them in the little draw strings bags ($2 for 5 at the cheap shop) I wrapped them in cling wrap to protect them from moisture.
Added a little thank you note and Merry Christmas tag to the bags and we are ready to drop them off.
Ok, so the school holidays have not quite started here, but this looked like too much fun and I had a fairly light schedule for the day, so we gave it a go. The best part is, unlike normal play dough, it is not going to go bad when stored between uses.
The recipe I followed required Elmers Glitter Glue, but after searching everywhere in a 20km radius I was still empty handed. Apparently Elmers is available in Australia now, but from what I can tell it is only the white stuff, and I really wanted the clear version for this project. So I just used non toxic craft glue, added my own glitter and was thankfully able to achieve the results I was after. The recipe came from this delightful blog
Santa Slime Recipe
– See more at: http://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2013/12/santa-slime-recipe.html#sthash.MROKZyw1.dpuf
As I mixed up the ingredients I found it very hard to believe it needed all that water – but it really did, and then some! Not sure if it was because I used so much glitter or because the make up of the glue I used was different than Elmers, but it turned out really firm, almost like play dough, and certainly didn’t ooze like I anticipated. After I got over the initial disappointment, I figured I could either spend another $11 on glue or try to fix it – had nothing to lose, so I added more water to a section of it in a bowl (which did nothing while cool) and put it in the microwave for 2 minutes. Yes, it worked, the slime took on more water and began to get runnier. I continued to do this in sections, increasing the time in the microwave and the amount of water until I had the desired texture.
The kids have been having heaps of fun with it, even the older 2. We ended up with about 3 litres of slime after adding all the extra water, so plenty to share between the 4 of them. If I make it again using the same glue, I will use twice as much water from the start, because adding some extra borax to thicken will be a lot easier than adding extra water was!
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"Creativity Never Retires..."
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