Paper flowers for Show & Tell

I found this sweet little craft activity at http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/flowers/handprintflower/which we will use for show-and-tell tomorrow.

Pretty paper flowers/lilies

I got Ms. E to mark out her handprints on paper. She then coloured them in (both front and back), as best as she could, in yellow and red. I then cut the handprints out. We then took each paper 'finger' and curled it around a pencil. We got a straw and stuck about 2 inches of one end in the middle of the 'palm'. We then made a cone from the 'palm' section and wrapped it around the straw, sticking it with cello tape. So there we had our flower and stem, with the petals (fingers) curving outwards. We made two green leaves from the paper and stuck them on the straw too. Repeated the process for the other 'flower'.

There - we have two pretty paper flowers to take to school tomorrow. :)

Paint that puffs up!

As my exploration for interesting and useful activities continues, I came across this excellent post.

http://magicalchildhood.wordpress.com/2011/08/28/easy-puffy-paint/

All we need is self-raising flour, salt, some food colouring and water - and yes, a microwave. (And lest we forget that some parts of the world are not blessed with 24x7 power supply, we need that too.)

Mix equal proportions of the flour and salt, then add just enough water to make a paste. You can divide this lot into little containers/muffin tins/ice cube containers and then add different colours of food colouring to make the different colours.

Let your child paint with these onto thick paper or cardboard. Once the artwork is done, zap it in the microwave for 10 seconds or more, depending on the wetness/thickness of the paste. You have some lovely puffy paint work!!

Bubbles, bubbles!

Who hasn't enjoyed blowing bubbles from a soap solution! We enjoyed this as children and we now relive those carefree fun times with our own kids.

What a lovely pass-time this is - watching oh so many bubbles of different sizes, shimmering with different colours as they catch the sunlight, floating along with the breeze. Listening to my child's shrieks of delight and laughter; watching the amazement, awe and sheer joy of it on her face. Bliss.

Easy to make, no real cost and at least half an hour of a child having fun! Oh yes, let's add the benefit of blowing for the lungs!

Tangram

I found the interesting 'Tangram' a few days ago in the browse-worthy shop Warden. That man stocks almost everything! It's a bit overly priced for pieces made out of plastic - of course, made in China as everything seems to be nowadays - but I picked it up nevertheless, since I think Ms.E will spend many happy hours with it, giving her creativity full rein.

It says 5+ years on the box, but any bright toddler will find it fascinating to put the different shapes together in a myriad ways to see what they can come up with. The Montessori system deals with shapes anyway, so it's never too early to introduce this puzzle.

My husband says there should be a wooden set somewhere in the house - Yay!

Make Your Own Watercolours

Children love to paint and more the mess, the more the fun! Lots of brands of paints are out in the market, but wouldn't it be fun to get them to actually make their own paints? Children love the creativity involved in this and here's a simple enough recipe!

http://www.magicalchildhood.com/crafts/watercolors.htm

Art Materials For Toddlers

Colourful activities - are crayons the only possibilities?? Nowadays when so much of the art supplies available are washable, it's worth exploring other ideas. The Artful Parent came up with a list of 11 art materials that toddlers enjoy, perhaps more than crayons. On a side note, would I want to share my Crayola PipSqueaks with my toddler??

http://artfulparent.typepad.com/artfulparent/2011/07/forget-crayons-11-great-art-materials-for-toddlers.html