• 10 Sylvanian Families crafts
    Friends of Sylvanian Families - Kids crafts - playing

    10 Sylvanian Families crafts

    March 20, 2015 - By 

    My 3 year old has fallen in love with Sylvanian Families, just as I did when I was her age. First made in 1985, Sylvanian Families is an adorable range of distinctive animal characters set to turn #30yearsyoung today (20th March 2015). I love to bring crafts into our play and when I saw an egg box boat craft in the latest issue of prima makes I knew we should make it. It only took 10 minutes and kept my 3 year old occupied for an afternoon. We used the bottom of an egg box as a boat, added a knitting…

  • Play dough hot cross buns
    Crafts for kids - Easter - Kids crafts - tutorial

    Play dough hot cross buns

    March 19, 2015 - By 

    Home made play dough is so easy to make and I like the fact I know exactly what’s in it. The other day I made some play dough for my children so they could make some play dough Hot Cross buns. Hot Cross buns are a traditional Easter treat (although they seem to be available in the shops earlier each year!). They are a spiced sweet bun made with currants and marked with a cross on the top. Recipe for home made play dough: 150g plain flour 100g salt 2 tsp. cream of tartar 2 tbsp. vegetable oil 180ml water…

  • DIY SALT DOUGH DINOSAUR FOSSIL
    Kids crafts - playing - UKMums.TV Preferred Blogger

    DIY salt dough dinosaur fossils

    March 17, 2015 - By 

    I love to craft with my son but don’t have so much time now he is at school during the week. He was sent some of Schleich’s new range of prehistoric animals to review and I thought this could be a great crafting opportunity. There are 10 mini dinosaurs in the range and he received 6. You can find out more about the range on Schleich’s website. These mini dinosaurs are perfect for small world play, so he’s played with them in the Tuff Spot creating all kinds of dinosaur landscapes. He’s played sink or float with them at bath…

  • Easter - Kids crafts - Spring - tutorial

    Spring tissue paper wreath tutorial

    March 14, 2015 - By 

    A couple of weeks ago Hobbycraft sent me some craft supplies which included a really colourful pack of tissue paper in beautiful Spring colours. I’ve been wondering what to make with them and today my daughter decided to create a tissue paper wreath, just like pretty blossom and perfect for Spring. We had fun trying something new, so we thought we’d share the steps with you. You won’t need much equipment – tissue paper, scissors, PVA glue and a paper plate. I cut the centre out of the paper plate, cut the tissue paper into small squares and poured some…

  • how to build a fairy house - the gingerbread house
    Fairy garden crafts - Kids crafts - Nature crafts - tutorial

    How to build a fairy house

    March 12, 2015 - By 

    I’m really feeling Spring is on its way lately. The back door has been open letting some much needed fresh air in. We’ve packed our winter coats away and I’m really hoping the sunshine and warmer weather will stick around. The warmer weather means outdoor play! The children love to be outside after school and have been collecting all sorts of things for our Spring nature table. Today I’m joining in with Building Blocks and Acorns’ Outdoor Play Challenge. Every day in March a parent blogger is publishing their idea for a different way of playing outdoors. My 3 year…

  • air dry clay egg decoration
    Easter - Kids crafts - tutorial

    Air drying clay Easter egg decorations

    March 10, 2015 - By 

    I saw a fab tutorial on the Hobbycraft blog for an Air Drying Clay Castle. We love working with play dough and salt dough but we’ve never tried air dry clay before. We were inspired to make mini gingerbread houses but you can probably tell from the title of this post that things didn’t go to plan!   We used: Hobbycraft White Air Drying Clay 1kg rolling pin greaseproof paper knife What we did: We rolled out the Air Drying Clay as to the instructions on the packet. We rolled it on top of a large sheet of greaseproof paper…

  • 15 Thomas & Friends crafts for kids - the gingerbread house
    Kids crafts - tutorial

    15 Thomas and Friends crafts for kids

    March 7, 2015 - By 

    Did you know that this year is the 70th anniversary of Thomas the Tank Engine? It’s an idealised world created by the Reverend W. Awdry, where trains are powered by steam… and they talk! With a strong community ethos typified by a universal willingness to help, practice good manners and hard work, Thomas and his friends continue to inspire and entertain children. My 4 year old has always enjoyed reading and watching the adventures of Thomas and his friends. He has plenty of engines and track to play with but sometimes it’s good to craft too. Today I’m sharing 15…

  • DIY marquee light tutorial - the gingerbread house
    birthday - handmade - tutorial

    DIY Marquee Light Tutorial

    March 6, 2015 - By 

    I saw an amazing DIY at the Hobbycraft press show I attended last month. They had DIY marquee letters in their wedding section and with my son turning 5 later this month I thought I would make a little DIY marquee light in the number 5 for his birthday party. It was a really simple craft but so effective, I know he’s going to love it! Materials needed to make a DIY Marquee Light: gold spray paint 3D papier mache cardboard number white battery operated LED tea light candles center punch scalpel Easy DIY marquee light tutorial: First decide if…

  • Easter Egg Sun Catcher tutorial
    Easter - Kids crafts - Spring - tutorial

    Easy Easter egg sun catcher tutorial

    March 6, 2015 - By 

    My daughter loves her sun catchers so I set up a simple invitation to play; a fun Easter craft to make an extra large Easter egg sun catcher. Materials needed to make an Easter egg sun catcher: White card Cellophane squares Contact paper How to make an Easter egg sun catcher: I drew a large egg shape on a piece of A4 card and covered one side with a sheet of contact paper. She filled the egg with squares of coloured cellophane. She was very methodical when she did this, starting on one side and making sure there were no…