Butterfly Puppets

This was one of those activities that wasn't intended to start or end in us "making" anything in particular. It simply began with my desire to try out salad spinner painting with Bean, which is something i'd been familiar with for a while but had been saving for when she had the dexterity to work the spinner alone. For those of you who haven't tried it yet, it's both incredibly simple and super fun to do (two prerequisites for all activities at our house!). All you need is:

• Salad spinner (I got ours at a dollar store)
• Poster paint
• Paper cut into a size that will fit into the bottom of the spinner

I cut the paper into butterflies and diamonds, simply because they were the first shapes that came to mind when i was folding the paper in half!

Place a paper shape in the bottom of the spinner and then add a few colors of paint...

...This was our first attempt and we placed each colour separately, which after being spun turned out like this...

...I was disappointed that the colours hadn't mixed at all during the spinning, so then we tried adding the paint in swirls one colour on top of another, which turned out like this...

...and this...

...Much more what I had in mind! ;-)

The finished batch looked really beautiful and was put to dry overnight. This brings me to another important point about the paint addition...don't add too much! Otherwise it will sit on the surface after spinning, soak through the paper and/or take FOREVER to dry.

I was really happy with the way they turned out, and Bean had a great time using the salad spinner, but I didn't really want the process to end there. Then came a flash of inspiration! (don't you love it when that happens??)

Puppets! We would make the butterflies into puppets! So I gathered some supplies from the craft boxes - drinking straws for the bodies, pipe cleaners for the antenna, and sellotape to secure.

Bean LOVED it. She helped select which bodies and antenna went with which wings...

...and spent ages putting the pipe cleaners in and out of the straws (great threading and co-ordination practice!) which required some extreme concentration...

I twisted the two pipe cleaners together to fit into the straw and then taped the straw to the wings leaving more straw length at the bottom so that it could be held as a puppet.

The wings flapped beautifully, and Bean proceeded to do a butterfly dance...

"Flutter Flutter!" "Flap Flap!"

This activity evolved into something completely unexpected, and so much better than my original plan. Sometimes all we need is an open heart and a little inspiration to find our wings and fly...

Happy Playing!

Bxx

Christmas Cards

I was excited to get into another little seasonal creative activity with Bean a few days ago...making Christmas cards! Simple and fun, as well as being a creative alternative to getting something necessary done ;-)

The invitation looked like this:

And it consisted of:

• Blank pre-cut cards
• Christmas themed stickers
• Christmas self-inking stamp
• Dot art bottles
• Markers
• Crayons

When Bean woke up from her nap she went straight for the cards and stickers (her current obsession!), and relocated them to the floor... 

...She kept busy sticking and stamping, and I handed her fresh cards as they got filled up...

...She didn't take the slightest interest in any of the other art supplies I put out, and I wanted to let her create the way she wanted...

...She thought the Santa stickers were especially fascinating, and so I used it as an opportunity to introduce the concept of Santa and Christmas (which involved repeating 'HO HO HO!' over and over to Bean's giggles of delight! :-)...)

The finished cards were really cute and colourful...now I had better get them mailed out! (bit behind this year!!!)

B xx

Stained Glass Christmas Tree

This is a really simple adaptation of our sticky pictures using the light panel, but could also be done using a low window or glass door on a sunny day.

This time I drew the outline of a Christmas tree onto contact paper with a marker, then laid it sticky side up on top of the light panel using masking tape to secure. One evening last week I cut out lots of bits of the coloured lighting gels I had left over from another light panel project (purchased on eBay), and we used those to stick onto the tree outline...

 

It was beautiful to see all the colours with the light coming through...

When we'd finished sticking I cut another piece of contact paper the same size and stuck it down to seal the picture...

...and that's it! So simple and looks really beautiful in the window...our first Christmas decoration in the house this year :-)

B xx

Home Made Stamps

This is a creative (and easy!) alternative to buying rubber stamps, which can be expensive and also limited to the designs available. The potential for these is limited only by your imagination and the amount of bottle tops you can collect!

All you need is:

• Foam scraps (ours were off cuts from foam stickers so already had sticky backing, but if yours don't just use white glue)
• Scissors
• Bottle tops
• Paint

Originally i had planned to just buy foam stickers to make this even easier, but after searching for a few weeks i couldn't find any small enough to fit the bottle tops i'd saved. Then i found the foam sticker scraps at the craft shop for $3 a bag! Bargain!

All you do is cut out shapes from the foam to fit the size of the bottle tops, stick it on, and stamp away!

I also decided to buy a washable paint stamp pad from the craft shop for $4 to make this activity potentially less messy. However, once Bean gets the hang of it I'll just use poster paint on a plate for more color variation :-)

B xx

Sticky Pictures!

Today's activity was dead simple and so much fun! All you need is this....

• Contact paper
• Scissors
• Masking tape
• Assorted bits to make the picture (Coloured paper, wrapping paper, cellophane, Pom poms, magazine cut outs, ribbon, bows, feathers, etc)

Use the masking tape to stick it to a surface (we used the back of the dining room door) sticky side facing out...then start sticking!

When the picture is complete you can preserve it by sticking a second piece of contact paper to the sticky side, and you could even place of frame of colored paper or cardboard around the edge. Bean is still pretty much in the 'create and destroy' phase, so i didn't back this one! But we'll give that a go next time.

With Bean madly teething at the moment and the weather outside being less than inspiring, i've needed to come up with spontaneous activities fast! This one was a hit!

B xx

Rainbow Rice

This is another fun and colorful medium to use for sensory play - rainbow rice! It's SO easy and quick to make, and Bean loves it. So here's the how to:

1. Take 5 cups of white rice and put inside a sandwich size zip lock bag.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of rubbing alcohol (Brand name 'Isocol' if your trying to find it in Australia).
3. Add 30 - 50 drops of food coloring. This is variable depending on how bright you want the colour to end up, I usually use about 40 or so drops.
4. Close the bag, squeezing out the air, and rub the contents around until the colour is evenly spread through.
5. Empty the rice out onto baking trays or baking paper to dry (overnight is best as it takes a few hours).

...and that's it! Easy peasy!

Rainbow rice has SO many uses. We generally use it either in a variety of bowels for scooping play, or in a clear tub on the light panel, but it would also make a great addition to a sensory table (which is on the Christmas list for Bean!). It can also be incorporated into arts and crafts, and would make a bright shaker in a clear tub or jar for little ones, and the list goes on!

Hope you're having a colorful day!

Bxx

Mementos

Ever since Bean started showing an interest in art and craft I've been actively encouraging her budding creativity. I found a little table and chairs on gumtree, and then cleared two shelves on one of our bookcases so that she could have all her art and craft supplies accessible at her level (Montessori style)...

She does a lot of mixed media pieces, first she goes and gets out her paints and brushes, followed by the dot art bottles, then pens and crayons, and often she finishes off with every kid's favourite - stickers! And of course, being the doting parents we are, her latest works go on display...

...But there's also a rather large stack accumulating on top of the art shelves! which I've begun to sort through every so often...

I love starting to collect these mementos made by Bean, and with the ones I've decided to keep I pencil in the date and her age at the bottom for posterity. I'll probably have a closest full in a few months time!! but I just can't bring myself to throw them ALL in the recycling.

I remember my own mum kept a drawer in the kitchen full of all kinds of keepsakes from my childhood: mothers day cards, paintings, salt dough figurines, books I'd written and illustrated, short stories, and photographs. As I got older I used to look through the drawer from time to time. I liked to remember the times past when I'd lovingly created the various pieces, but most of all it gave me a sense of how much I must be loved. Since my mum had cherished this collection even through all those years, numerous teenage rebellions, and three different houses!

So I hope that one day Bean will enjoy looking through her own assortment of mementos, and perhaps feel that same warmth and appreciation that comes with the knowledge that you and all your creations are treasured by someone you love.

I, however, may need to find some more storage space! ;-)

Bxx

Light play

I first came across the concept of using a light panel for play on Play At Home Mom LLC, those ladies are the experts on this particular piece of equipment - i'm just spreading the word! So here's the original post I read:

http://playathomemom3.blogspot.com.au/search?q=light+panel

Once I was convinced of the idea, I did some research on stockists in Australia, and found this one for the best price at Educational Experience:

http://www.edex.com.au/site/index.cfm?module=edex&bit=item&action=detail&item_edp=27477&minor_cat=0&age=0&kla=0&kwd=light%20panel&start=11

It's definitely NOT a cheap purchase, but it is a truly versatile toy which lasts a child many years, and therefore I see it as a great investment in learning. So with the help of one of Bean's grandparents, we went ahead and bought one for her first birthday. A kind of unusual gift for a one year old perhaps, but 5 months on and it's one of the only toys we have that still gets used every day, often more than once a day (and now that Bean can, she regularly gets it out all by herself, which tells me that it's not only me who really enjoys it!).

 What I find so exciting about the light panel is the endless possibilities it has for play - there are SO many things you can use it for that it's really only limited by your imagination and creativity. In the beginning we used it mostly to enhance sensory play, such as the above photo of Bean exploring coloured rice...

...and coloured feathers from the craft store...

...and glass pebbles from the dollar shop.

Now Bean is a little older and more coordinated we've started doing things like building and stacking on the light panel:

The blocks pictured here are 'Rainbow Crystal Blocks' available online from Kangaroo Toys (http://www.hop.com.au/product?KEY_ITEM=WY2202&KEY_ALIAS=WY2202), and the little cups Bean is stacking are just transparent shot glasses bought at the dollar store. Bean has really taken to the stacking cups lately, and the other night we stumbled across a way to play peekaboo with them using a humble kitchen roll tube...

Here she has a long stack of cups in her hand and uses the tube to cover them up "Where are the cups?" I say....

"Ahhhhhh!" she exclaims pulling the tube off to reveal the stacked cups. So funny! 

Other things we've done so far with the light panel are....

...Shapes. Cut out from some lighting gels that I found on ebay for around $15 (which gets you a lot of them so I have many more shapes still to make)...

 ...Colours. Using colour paddles to demonstrate colour mixing, also available online from Kangaroo Toys (http://www.hop.com.au/product?KEY_ITEM=CT8157&KEY_ALIAS=CT8157)...

...and Magna Tiles, which I picked up on our recent trip to the US from Discount School Supply (these are also available in Australia from Kangaroo Toys, http://www.hop.com.au/product?KEY_ITEM=LS546&KEY_ALIAS=LS546, but unfortunately they're about twice the price as when you buy them from the US). Above we've used them for patterns....

...and here for building (although so far I do most of the construction, whilst Bean is mostly the demolition expert!).

There are heaps of other things I plan to try on the light panel in the coming months, such as painting with watercolours and exploring water beads, and of course as Bean grows and develops the list of activities for this toy only gets longer! So, if you can do it I highly recommend this as an educational and developmental toy...or maybe drop a hint to some helpful relatives around Christmas time! Just sayin' ;-)

B xx

Splish Splash!

Bath time is quite possibly Bean's favorite time of the day. She's always loved water, and when it gets to 5:30 in the evening she knows its time for her bath and will often take my thumb/pants/hem in her little fist and literally drag me down the hallway to the bathroom. However, as with everything in life we all like a bit of variation, so lately i've been trying to think of ways to give bath time a little twist (as much for my own sanity as for Bean, because one can only sing "Three Little Ducks" so many times before you want to send those duckies somewhere REALLY far away).
Bean has been experimenting with art and craft a lot more in the last month or so, and I thought bringing some colour into the bath might be fun...

...So I added food colouring...

 

She loves to watch it swirl around in the water...

 

...and mix it in...

...until the whole bath is coloured :-)

This could also be achieved using non toxic washable water colour paints, available from most craft shops, for those who would prefer not to use food dyes. 

Another way i've found of bringing art and colour to bath time is a product I bought on line for under $10 - Bath Crayons! Bean LOVES these, and they're so easy to use and easy to clean, they literally wipe off the tub with just water and a cloth, leaving no residue at all. Can't recommend these enough!

Bean in the bath this evening drawing very enthusiastically...

Tonight's finished masterpiece! :-)

Sweet dreams everyone...

Bxx

Dot Art

Ok, this is a product found at the craft store which I think is great for toddlers just starting to experiment with making art.

They're called Bingo Bottles or Dot Art bottles, and what they are is a squeezable bottle with a sponge top, filled with non toxic washable watercolor type paint. At I think $4.99 per bottle, they aren't cheap but judging by the amount of paint used each time I'd say they'll last quite a while. Bean has really taken to these since we got them, as they're so easy for her to use, all she need do is grab hold and press (or bang!) the bottle onto the paper - simple and fun! I often set these out before bedtime in the evening as a less messy alternative to painting...

But often it becomes a mixed media piece! ;-)

Goodnight!

Bxx