Getting Festive!

Earlier this week, I started making some decorations because 'tis the season. Pinterest was my inspiration although sadly I didn't actually pin the images that inspired me and now I can't find them again. I like to give credit where it is due and I'm pretty sure I didn't come up with this myself. I made some paper garlands which were pretty simple to make. My two-year-old helped!

The first one is just made from paper doilies, folded in half, over a piece of string and then clasped together using double-sided tape. The second was made in much the same fashion except I used decorative paper and old book pages cut into circles. We dipped the rim of the circles in glitter mixed with PVA glue.

Once we were finished making the decorations, Priya declared it to be 'party time' and disappeared into the spare room. She emerged a few minutes later with paper, tape and a hole punch and began fashioning some party hats. She made hats with her dad a couple of months ago which were cone shaped but these were more cylindrical. I was impressed anyway and helped her tie them on with string.

We gathered up our decorations and headed outside where we had a 'party' with 'cake' and "Ring a Ring a Rosie".

Magnet Discovery Tube

Pre-school Play has a fantastic collection of discovery bottles. That is where I got the idea for our 'magnet tube'. Discovery bottles have never really been my daughters' thing (I have a feeling that my son will be a different story) but this magnet tube is really something special. 

Pipe cleaners cut to different lengths can be explored with a magnet. Even I find it fun to draw them around the tube and we were both excited to discover that the pipe cleaners would hold the magnet in place when we took our hands away.

Next time, we might try paper clips and I will definitely be making some of Pre-school Play's other creations when my son is a little older.

Popcorn Tree

I've come across the perfect healthy snack for our family- popcorn! I recently discovered that you can make plain popcorn using nothing but a brown paper bag, popcorn kernels and a microwave. I put 2 Tbs of kernels in a 243mm x 202mm bag in the microwave for 90-120 seconds or until the popping slows down to about once a second and voila!

So, with a surplus of popcorn in our pantry, I needed to think up a popcorn craft. Here is what I came up with.

Just a Painting

Sometimes I forget to let Priya just paint without any direction or crafty plans. When I do, she is full of beautiful surprises. This is one of my favorites of late - Daddy in the rain. Too Adorable.

Blocks Made of Foam Off-Cuts

Last week, we went on a little outing to Clark Rubber and picked up six foam off-cuts. Once we got them home, I cut them up (very roughly I might add) into 20 or so smaller pieces.  Those soft blocks have been a constant source of fun ever since.

We've made houses, schools, cars, boats, towers, a gym and, of course, had a ball knocking them down!

Colour Shade Matching

I've seen a few activities like this around, the first of which was Tot School's Matching Color Shades. Using paint samples for colour games is such a brilliant idea!

We made ours by cutting a strip off the sample, making a rectangle of each shade. Priya helped me glue all the rectangles onto pegs. We also punched holes in the samples (a skill she mastered a while ago) so we could thread them onto string for hanging.

I don't know why I decided to display this activity in a garland type way. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time and it was also attractive and inviting. She seemed excited when she saw it and wanted to play straight away.