Shell Necklaces

Bubble spent yesterday making some simple shell necklaces for her friends, she had so much fun picking out colours for each one and practicing tying her knots.
We used pre-drilled shells but they are easy to make if you have a Dremel or a drill with a fine diamond point bit. Alternatively search your local beach for shells with natural holes in them.

WE USED:

* shells (pre-drilled or drilled with a fine bit)
* embroidery thread
* embroidery needle
(small enough to pass through the holes in your shells)

Bubble made herself an orange one (her favourite colour) to wear with her fairy costume.

Link to e-How : How To Drill A Hole In A Seashell

Warm Water Play

The weather has been a bit unpredictable here lately, one day we have sunshine the next it's overcast, wet and freezing. On cold days we add warm water to our water table so the girls can still enjoy their favourite outdoor activity.

WE USED:

* warm water
(always test temperature before letting your kids play)
* water table or plastic tub/paddling pool
* water toys
* towel

Other ideas - add food colouring, ice cubes or bubble mix for extra play value.

To do our bit for water conservation (always a priority in Australia!) we use a bucket in our shower to catch the 'warm up water' for the girls play activities (meaning the water that usually goes down the drain while you wait for it to 'warm up'). Add in the rest of the hot water from the kettle after your morning coffee and you have the perfect water play activity for a cold day.

Block Play - Zoo

While we've been stuck at home fighting flu bugs the girls blocks have gotten a big workout. They spent almost half a day playing with this block 'zoo' a few weeks ago, making pens and rooms and houses for all the animals to live in.

WE USED:

* blocks (Mega Blocks and wooden)
* animal figurines

Balloon Powered Boat

I have so many posts to catch up on in here, I'll do my best to get through them over the weekend! We've had two sick little girls with the flu bug so not as much craft action as usual, but these balloon powered boats were a big hit today while we (finally :-D) enjoyed some nice warm weather.

WE USED:

* rectangular plastic container
(we used a cornstarch food container, but an empty margarine/ice cream container would work well too)
* sharp knife/craft knife
* drinking straw
* balloon
* sticky tape
* small elastic band
* scissors
* blu tack/sticky tack

First use your knife to make a small hole in one end of your container just big enough for your straw to fit through.

Cut your straw in half and attach the balloon to one end using sticky tape and the elastic band. It should be secure enough that you can use the straw to blow up the balloon without it leaking around the sides.

Thread your straw through the hole in your 'boat' making sure the balloon end is on the inside.

Use your blu tack to secure the straw on each side so it is watertight. You could also use Plasticine for this.

One balloon powered boat ready for the water!

Using the straw blow up the balloon and then kink or put your finger over the end so the air doesn't escape.

Place your boat in the water, let go of the straw and off it goes :-)

The girls enjoyed racing their boats around the paddling pool.

Animals With Spots And Stripes

We have half a container of cotton buds to use in our craft projects after Squeak decorated the bathroom floor with them recently, so today we used some for painting with. We have used them for unstructured painting before but this time we did something a little more structured and talked about animals with stripes and spots.

WE USED:

* paper
* lead pencil
* black marker/texta
* paint
(we used orange, yellow, brown and black)
* cotton buds

To make the animal pictures minus their stripes and spots I found images on the net and then traced them straight off the screen onto my paper using a lead pencil (be careful not to press too hard against the screen). It was easy to trace what I needed onto my page and omit what I didn't need, then later I went over the pictures with black marker.

We used yellow, brown, orange and black paint to suit the animals we were using.

Some animals Bubble knew the colours and patterns of, but others like the Dalmatian dog weren't familiar to her so we looked them up on the Internet and chatted about what markings they had.

Glass Stone Stacking & Patterning

We use our glass stones for all sorts of things; in our imaginary play scenes, counting games and as 'money' when playing shops, laid side by side to make roads and write letters.
Yesterday we used them for a fine motor stacking activity and also patterning games so that Bubble could practice sequencing and Squeak her colours.

WE USED:

* glass stones
(you can find bags of these at most dollar or home decor shops)

Bubble found stacking the stones challenging, it gave her fine motor control a good workout!

Both girls enjoyed the patterning activity; we made sequences of varying lengths, making them longer as we went.

A two colour sequence.

Three colour sequence.

Paper Plate Stencils

Sorry for the long delays between posting, we are doing a lot of work on Bubble's ABA program which is taking up most (all really!) of our spare time. Both Bubble and Squeak are showing benefits from it though, so we're very excited about that :-)
This activity is one we have done a few times before using both ice cream container lids and paper plates. We find the paper plate versions last for quite a few uses and the the lids last indefinitely.

WE USED:

* paper plates
* scissors
* pen/texta
* paint
* paper
* paint brush

Draw your stencil designs directly onto the base of your plates (or lids).

Cut out carefully using scissors or a craft knife.