Vegetable printing

Sometimes I find that fresh produce has become unuseable before I have a chance to use it, and it always makes me feel bad to just throw it into the bin. When this happens a great way to use what can't be eaten is to paint with it instead :-) Fruit and vegetable printing is so much fun, and depending on what you are using you can end up with some very cool prints.

WE USED:
* potato, cauliflower floret and onion cut in half (you can use anything you have)
* corn cob holders (use your own judgement about whether or not your child is safe to use something sharp like this, as they can come dislodged from the fruit/vegetable)
* plate
* paper towel
* paintbrush
* paint
* paper to stamp on

Other ideas: Try carving patterns and shapes into the fruit/vegetables to make even more unusual prints. Make some fruit/vegetable stamp flashcards by doing one print in the centre of an A6 sized card and laminating them once they are dry. These could be used for matching the vegetable to it's print, or games like snap and memory if you make enough of them.

Washing up

Washing up is an old childhood favourite (until they get old enough to be able to do it properly, and then its no fun anymore :-D) and Bubble loves pulling on her own pair of rubber gloves and washing some dishes. I set her up with a container of warm soapy water on her little table rather than at the actual sink because we have a garbage disposal unit on one side and it makes me a bit nervous! Having it on her table works well because she can get over the top of what she is doing and not have to balance on a chair as well.

WE USE:

* rectangular container
* warm soapy water
* small rubber gloves
* dishcloth
* water safe objects for washing.

Bubble really enjoys washing her bath toys in this way, which has a double benefit! :-)

Babysafe finger painting

When the girls paint together I like to make a 'babysafe' paint so I dont have to worry about Squeak eating any or wiping it in her eyes etc... I want to let her create her little masterpieces without interfering, so we use a mix of flour, water and food colouring and it doesnt matter where she wipes it then :-) I love watching her swirl her hands in it and make patterns on her paper, and the consistency of the paint can be as thin or as thick as you make it.

Dollshouse renos

I bought the girls a dollshouse in an auction recently and have been slowly doing it up. It had awful wallpaper inside which luckily was easy to remove so I could paint them in a neutral taupe colour, and I found carpet and lino tiles at our local hardware store that could be cut to fit the rooms. Just need to put another coat on the inside walls, and paint the exterior.

Horrible dirty wallpaper that has been very loved.

I went with a neutral colour so we can decorate the walls with mini artworks later.

One of the front bedrooms (there are two more behind).

Lounge.

Kitchen - back area tiled as the 'appliance' area, front area is where the tables and things go.

Bathroom.

Dollshouse with the roof off.

Playdough - salt and glitter

WE USED:

*plain white playdough
* coloured salt
* glitter

Hint: white playdough was made using the instructions on the side of the Cream of Tartar pack, without the colouring added.

Making playdough 'cakes'

Playdough sculptures.

Block play - aeroplane

Playing with blocks is almost a daily occurance at our house, and today we made an aeroplane. We have travelled on planes with Bubble before and are leaving for another trip very soon, so we've been chatting about them a lot trying to prepare her for the flight. Our passengers were all very well behaved luckily ;-D

Foam painting

I planned on wasing the windows today so decided to give Bubble free reign with a can of shaving foam and a paintbrush first. She had a ball and the windows ended up sparkling clean after we gave them a big wash down.

Lots of shaving foam.

And a paintbrush.

= lots of fun :-)