Pompoms

I saw this on pinterest and since I had the paper towel roll and pompoms laying around I figured I would give it a shot. 

I wanted to make it bigger and more interesting but didn't have enough toilet rolls so maybe I will do it another time.

It was such a good little attention-stealer! Bay will be three in a month and so I really wasn't sure that he would be all that interested but I was wrong. And the cool thing about it was that it wasn't just the pompoms falling through the roll that he found interesting, it was also experimenting with the bowl and where he could place it for the pompoms to land in it.

Threading Straws

I love activities that help Bay to better his fine motor skills. Beading is a wonderful one for that but as of yet he just can't get those little beads onto the string.

So today we tried a new activity that worked out very well.

I cut up four straws and set them up with four pipe cleaners and then I sat down with Bay and set the activity in front of him. He didn't understand what to do at first but after i showed him what to do he did it without a problem. And the cool thing about pipe cleaners is that they can make bracelets without knots, so essentially, it is an activity a small child can so without then need for adult help.

Playdoh

Today Bay and I made playdoh so I thought I would take this chance to share with you my recipe.

You will need:

• 1 cup of plain flour + extra for kneading
• 1/4 cup of salt
• 2 tsp of cream of tartar
• 1 cup of water
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 tsp vanilla essence
• food colouring

Add all the ingredients into a saucepan and give them a good mix until they are combined. Put them on the stove over a medium heat and stir constantly until it comes together to form a big lump.

Turn the playdoh out onto a clean surface and leave to cool for 5 minutes or so. Once cooled, sprinkle over about a handful of flour and knead for a few minutes, until it is smooth and has lost its stickiness.

.

Bay loved it when we put coloured rice in our playdoh this afternoon, making it lovely and spotty with a new texture. Fun!

Edit: Seriously guys, this is some super playdoh!! Bay left some out on the floor, as kids do, and we've now found it 14 hours later. And it is still sift!! Seriously, it is still as perfect as it was when I first made it a few weeks ago

Coloured Rice

Coloured rice is such a big hit in our house. All the children enjoy it, but none more than Bay. We have done heaps of thing with it since i made it last year but our most popular is playing with plastic animals in it. He also enjoys transferring it with spoons to different containers.

Something I love about the rice is that it's a messy activity, but with such an easy clean up! Two minutes with the vacuum and its all cleaned up, and rice is pretty cheap so wasting the few bits that get vacuumed up isn't a massive deal. However, if your smart, you will remember to sweep/vacuum first so that whatever falls on the floor can go back in the container.

To make some of this wonderful stuff you will need:

• Rice, I used 3 cups per colour and it has lasted ages
• liquid food colouring
• white vinegar, 1 tbsp per colour
• ziplock bags
• large baking trays

The process is so simple. Put the rice in a bag, drop in the vinegar and food colouring, close up the bag and give it a good mix. Add more food colouring until you are happy with the colour and then spread the rice out over they trays.

The rice will take a couple of hours to dry completely. Give it a good mix every now and then as it tends to stick while drying.

Once dry it is safe to be played with. The colour does not rub off and the rice lasts forever :-)

Things That Go Quietbook

This is the second Quietbook that I completed. It took me about a week to complete and is completely hand stitched. This book isn't as interactive as my On The Farm book. Anyway, here it is;

The cover.

Pages 1&2. The bear comes out and the ship moves back and forth

with the purple ribbon is pulled.

Pages 3&4. Pull the ribbon on page 3 to lift the planks of wood. 

The car page was the first I did of this book and remains my favorite.

Unfortunately the kids have lost two of the traffic lights and I have

yet to replace them.

 Pages 5 & 6. The rocket ship moves on the ribbon. 

There is a cat in the rocket to surprise Bay as he is loves cats. 

The propeller on the plane spins and the wings lift up.

 Pages 7 & 8. The arm (arm?) on the digger moves at the buttons. 

The Train comes apart.

There are four pieces with velcro and one with a button.

The back cover, just like the On The Farm book, only with 

different colours.

Felt Masks

These are the first masks I ever made. The big kids love being

superheros, Bay's is supposed to be like a kings crown however he is sure

that they are teeth and so when wearing the mask he runs around growling at everyone/thing.

These masks are so pretty and so simple to make.

Like always I didn't have any printer ink when I made these

(Bad habit of mine) so I had to draw them by hand but you can

download the templates from here. I went one further with these masks

than the original maker did and I stuffed and backed them. It took maybe two days for me to make these, all hand sewn.

This is my Rudolf. I wanted to make a heap of Christmas masks however by the time I got this one finished I was so over making them. Maybe next year?

Halloween Finger Puppets

So we have a Black Cat (which is brown because I couldn't find any good quality felt in my usual stores), a Mummy, a Skeleton, a Ghost and a Pumpkin.

I do plan on making 5 puppets for every special occasion and animal group however I have been fairly busy lately.