'B' is for Banana

Another 'B' wall project - banana threading board.

WE USED:

* cardboard (I cut a side flap from an old box we had)
* yellow paper or card
* glue
* scissors
* small knife (paring or similar) or a ballpoint pen
* wooden skewer
* children's sewing needle (from craft stores)
* embroidery thread or thin wool

Draw a banana shape as large as you would like on your piece of yellow paper/card. Keep in mind you want it large enough for your child to be able to sew around the edge, but small enough to hold/manouvre.
To make the holes I first made small punctures with the tip of a paring knife (a pen would also work) and then pushed a wooden skewer all the way through.

Thread your child's needle and make a knot so that it can't be pulled out accidentally. Tie the thread to one of the holes in your threading board and off they go :-)

Our banana up on our 'B' wall.

Playdough Painting

We make a new batch of playdough every month when the last lot is getting a bit worse for wear, and before we throw it away we use it for messy play. Today we did some playdough paint stamping and it turned out quite well!

Other ideas:
* use a tray of water and turn your playdough into 'sludge'
* mix things with different texures through it, like gravel, sand, dried beans etc... for sensory play
* make a playdough garden by flattening the dough and sticking sticks, leaves, rocks and anything else that looks good into it as though it is a garden bed.
* take your playdough into the sandpit. Make people, boats, houses - anything you can think up!

WE USED:

* playdough
* paper for printing onto
* paint pad (we just use an old dish with a damp sponge inside, and squeeze paint on top)
* newspaper or scrap paper (to put the paint covered dough onto when you are finished stamping)

Cut shapes from the playdough making them as thick as you can (to make them easy to hold).

Our shapes ready for the paint pad.

Have scrap paper or newspaper close by for the used playdough stampers.

Paper Boxes

These little boxes are easy and quick to make, and can be used in so many different ways. We just used paper but they are much sturdier made out of card, or if you want to reinforce the paper you can laminate it using contact on one side (just be sure to draw your design first if you want the contact side facing outwards). You can make the box as large or small as you like by changing the measurements, ours were done on A4 paper and each square was 5cmx5cm.
Bubble loves making these, today we used them to pass each other 'secret notes' :-)

Other ideas:
* make a paper dice or decorate with stickers.
* use small objects to practice prepositions ("put the ball IN the box", "put the ball BEHIND the box").
* write a different action on each side of your box and tape up all sides to make a dice. Use it to play action games.
* Fill with rice or similar, tape up all sides and use as shakers.

WE USED:

* paper (or card)
* pencils and textas
* ruler
* tape

This photo shows how to lay out your boxes on your page. I added tabs to the outside of a few of the boxes so the box could be taped up easier later.

Bubble gets drawing.

The template cut out and ready to fold.

Fold along all lines and tape sides to create your box. You can leave the top open or tape all sides to create a dice.

One of our boxes with a secret note inside.

Cutting Felt

Bubble loves fine motor activities like cutting and drawing, but finds them a bit tricky. To encourage her to develop her skills we give her lots of different textures and mediums to work with, like these felt offcuts for practicing her cutting skills. It's not only nice to cut but requires different pressure and technique than those used for cutting paper, and Bubble liked creating her own little picure from something a bit different. We also vary the types of scissors available to use, giving her a chance to try out different sizes, styles and handle shapes.

'B' is for Bucket

Our third project for the 'B' wall today was the word 'bucket', which was quite fitting since both girls have been quite unwell the last few days! We had plans to do other things but had to stay home and keep our germies away from the public, so this was a great little project to spend the afternoon doing while Squeak (finally) had her nap.

WE USED:

* scrap cardboard (we used a flattened box)
* paints and brushes
* scissors
* snap lock bag
* clear contact/laminate or you could just use tape
* small items to go in your bucket (we used brown lentils and shells)

To start with I cut a (very dodgy looking) bucket shape from the cardboard, also cutting a square window in the centre. Make sure the window is slightly smaller than the snap lock bag you have.

Bubble then painted her bucket.

Then she filled the Snap Lock bag with some lentils...

and added some shells as she had decided ours was a beach bucket.

Once the paint is dry turn the bucket over and position the snap lock bag to fit in the little window in the centre.

You could use tape to secure it, but I just cut a large square of clear contact and laid it over the back of he bucket. This held the bag in place but wasn't visable from the front.

Our finished beach bucket :-) I left the snap lock bag opening visable at the side so we could change what was in it if we wanted to.

Bubble hanging her bucket on the 'B' wall.

Come play at the Childhood 101 We Play link up

'B' is for Breakfast

Our second starts with word for the B wall was breakfast. We have a lot of felt offcuts in our craft box so I used some of those last night to cut out some simple 'breakfast foods' that Bubble could glue to a paper plate. We talked about each food, what they tasted like and which ones we liked and didnt like, and Bubble really enjoyed the hands on experience of this activity.

WE USED:

* felt offcuts/sheets
* glue (we used A LOT of Clag)
* scissors
* paper plate

'B' is for Buttons

Our first starts with word for the 'B' wall was buttons. I considered using real ones but didnt think they'd stick all that well, plus Im a bit of a button freak and didnt want to give up any of the collection for a Clag glue project :-D Instead I just made some simple ones out of coloured paper by tracing the ends of two different sized glue sticks and cutting them out. The buttonhole detailing was added later with black marker and they were ready for gluing!