The weather has been a bit of a mixed bag lately so we’ve been coming up with lots of Spring crafts to cheer the place up. Spring is easily my favourite time of the year and returning home after a week away I’ve been amazed how our garden has just ‘bloomed’. First of all we made our own Spring wreath. We found a sheet of green cardboard and used plates as a template for a large and small circle. My 4 year old loves to cut with scissors (!) and enjoyed this task so much that we made a couple…
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We love to read and we love to craft, often one inspires the other and vice versa. This year sees the 45th anniversary of Eric Carle’s phenomenal children’s book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar Written in 1969 the book has sold over 33 million copies across the globe and it has been translated into over 45 languages. With his distinctive shape and colouring The Very Hungry Caterpillar is an instantly recognisable character born from the much-loved children’s book. To celebrate the landmark anniversary, Puffin has released a special 45th anniversary edition of the best-selling story. Available…
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Our routine has been established since my little man started nursery sessions every afternoon. When he gets home he’s quite tired but still wants to craft so I’ve started setting up a craft activity ready for when he gets home. Anything using cardboard rolls is generally a success as we have a ready supply of them, so yesterday we did some painting with recycled cardboard flowers. Painting with recycled cardboard flowers We used: cardboard tubes scissors paint I took some cardboard tubes from my stash and cut them in half. Then I cut them again, about an inch down, to…
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A couple of weeks ago we had loads of fun making our own salt dough leprechaun gold coins. There’s loads of imagery around St Patrick’s Day but my 3 year old really loved talking about rainbows so we thought we’d make our own, with handprints. He’s a great age for directing his own crafting (which is kind of scary!) so we got out the supplies together : white paper, paint tray and red, orange, yellow, green and blue paints. I squeezed the paint out whilst he sponged it over one hand, pressing it down on the paper until he had…
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St Patrick’s Day is a while away but that didn’t stop us from making some salt dough Leprechaun gold coins. I’ve wanted to try making our own salt dough for ages and I found a great recipe for it over on RainyDayMum which I have adapted slightly. How to make salt dough coins: 100g salt 200g plain flour 100ml water Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together to form a dough. I turned it out on to a lightly floured board and let my son roll it out and cut out about 20 coins using a cookie…
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Battered boots? Tired trainers? Then why not add some glitz and glamour to everyday shoes! Charlotte Liddle offers the perfect solution for those who need to spruce up their shoe collection with 35 ways to make your feet more fun. We were sent a copy to review and my head is bursting with ideas! Removeable fixes are a non-permanent way to add life and colour to a tired pair of shoes with clip-on flowers and ribbon laces leading the way. You can transform really old shoes more permanently and add a splash of colour with vibrant fabric paints, a splatter…
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My son is really enjoying being a part of his new nursery. I’m enjoying the routine (and a 3 hour break from my son every day, what’s not to love?) and he’s learning more than I could have imagined. This term has been all about nursery rhymes and he came home with a booklet for me which listed all the nursery rhymes they would be learning and some home learning suggestions. I was more than happy to receive the suggestions as, despite my Pinterest addiction, I do occasionally run short on ideas. He’s a busy little soul who’s constantly asking…
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Before I bombard you with Valentine crafts (and there’s a lot!) I wanted to share one last Chinese New Year craft. 2014 is the Chinese New Year of the Horse and although Chinese New Year is celebrated on Friday January 31st, celebrations will take place on Sunday 2nd February across venues including Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Shaftesbury Avenue and of course Chinatown itself. I’m not sure I’m ready to take the children to the celebrations just yet so instead we’ve been having fun at home. We’ve already tried our hand at Chinese New Year lanterns and our latest activity involved paint. Like…
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We’ve been thinking about Chinese New Year lately. 2014 is all about the Chinese New Year of the Horse but animal crafts don’t seem to be our speciality, so far. Instead we opted for some simple Chinese New Year tea light holders. We collected some old (clean!) glass jars from the recycling bin, a bottle of PVA glue, paint brush and red tissue paper which I cut into small squares. I had to google why red is associated with Chinese New Year, apparently the colour red, which corresponds with fire, symbolizes good fortune and joy. Then my son got to…
