Glowing Egg Hunt!

Another Easter post just in time! Unfortunately I've been slowed down by my health this week so didn't get to put this up this sooner. However, this is really something that's fun for any time of year and particularly now we're heading into shorter days (here in the southern hemisphere) there's more opportunities for little ones to play after dark!

I got the idea for this alternative egg hunt from this post over at Play At Home Mom, and i'd been waiting a year for Bean to be old enough to try it! It's a fantastic alternative to a chocolate egg hunt for those concerned about the Easter sugar overload, and it's also great sensory play for little ones.

All it requires is:

• Plastic eggs (Available at dollar stores and supermarkets this time of year)
• LED lights (Available on ebay here and at Big W)
• A bucket or basket (From the sandpit!)

They don't look all that exciting before the lights go on but then....

...TAADAAAA! :-D So beautiful.

And the LED lights are super easy to do, you just take one out of the packet, twist to turn it on, and pop it into an egg...

...easy! Now to hide the eggs...

I chose to confine the hunt to one room so that i would have the time to set it up without being interrupted!

And since Bean is still very little and it was pretty late, I chose easy spots to hide the eggs...

Turn out the lights and let the hunt begin!

I didn't get many photos as it was so dark and I really just wanted to focus on guiding Bean through it, but I can tell you it was definitely worth the wait!

Happy Playing!

B xx

Easter Sensory Box

I'm finally getting round to posting this one after a very slow week - but just in time for Easter! We actually did this about a week ago and its still being played with now, although its layout has changed somewhat.

This sensory box was very quickly thrown together one day, as most of them are! Largely from items I already had in the cupboard and a few I'd bought a while back in anticipation of doing some kind of Easter themed play. The items included are:

• Furry Bunny Ears (Dollar Store)
• Paper Straw (Already had - available at craft stores)
• Plastic Eggs (Already had - available at dollar stores and Safeway)
• Easter Chicks (Dollar Store)
• Rainbow rice (Already had - home made)

And inside the eggs...

...Chicks!

Some big some small, and all different colours...

...Which Bean LOVED.

There was much excitement in opening each egg, discovering the chicks, and naming the colours...

...lining them up and counting how many...

...feeding them the rice and then pretending to be a chick and eating the rice as well :-)

Then the rice got poured into various containers I had put out with the invitation, and in the end when just the rice was left in the box she starting pouring and mixing in water as well.

Of course not forgetting the bunny ears - which inspired some pretend bunny play...

Priceless!

Happy playing and happy Easter to you all!

B xx

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

Wordless Wednesday - Pumpkin Carving

It's our first time celebrating Halloween, and Bean's first time making the Jack-O-Lantern! :-)...

B xx