Fairy houses

How cute are these little Fairy houses found on http://www.netmums.com/activities/g/top-junk-modelling-ideas-for-kids/91171 that can be made from empty toilet rolls or kitchen paper rolls?

So easy to make and you could make different onse to make a little village or a fairy town.  

Low cost, no cost....

You will need:

• Empty toilet paper or kitchen paper rolls
• Cake cases
• Scraps of different papers to decorate them (wallpaper, tissue paper, wrapping paper etc)
• Felt tip pens
• Sellotape  / glue

Simple play....

Yesterday I looked after my friends boys for a few hours. As my boys are in their teenage years and hers a lot younger, I was in my element to be able to be a play mate.

First things first.... The play mobile came out and and they wanted me to help them set up a caravan park. BUT this wasn't just any old caravan park....by the time they had finished I wanted to book myself in for two weeks or longer.

The imagination, creative skills, sharing, taking turns, listening, language skills that were taking place was a joy to observe. The best bit of all it didn't come a penny.

Then they decided they wanted to make something....the craft box was looking a little low as they had been having lots of fun during the holidays so far.  I spotted that Mum had been shoe shopping for them so we emptied the boxes and had a starting point.  We raided the kitchen and found paper plates, plastic cups, kitchen paper, kitchen foil, the stapler and sellotape.  Add a scissors and some coloured pencils and we set to work on Space themed play boxes for their Lego figures.

We had so much fun, I didn't want to leave....until the next time x

Messy play bag

This morning I have had a fun and relaxing time making and playing with this messy play bag.  Messy play is a great sensory fun experience and it can help children to relax too due to the sensation of some of the items used and how it feels on their hands as they play such as gloop, jelly, chocolate etc.

However there are some children that for whatever reason don't like messy play and so this is a really good idea where they can still join in without the mess.

You will need:

• A zip lock bag (You can get these in the pound shop or similar, or you can use food bags that close at the top with a good seal)
• A piece of white paper (which I taped to the back of the bag so that any marks made would be more visible to see)
• Paint in a choice of colours ( I used acrylic paint but you can use any squirty children's paints you have at hand)

At the end of my play session I opened the bag, popped a piece of paper inside halfway in and smoothed the paint over to take a print.  I loved the way the finished product came out with so many different textures on the paper.

Have fun x

My home made cardboard box princess play mat

Ok so I have to admit after making the space mat, I wanted to have a go at making a princess play mat.  Living with three males and having a male cat, I do sometimes have a little urge to be girly.

What I used:

• Larger flattened out cereal box
• Left over slate effect wallpaper to represent the pathways in the grounds of the castle
• 2 x sheets of blue tissue paper
• 1 x pack of funky foam (neoprene) from the pound shop
• Glue gun
• Sellotape
• scissors

1. After flattening the cereal box, I covered it with the wallpaper and secured with tape.
2. I decided on what I wanted to include on the play mat  and cut the pieces out of the foam.  For my play mat I decided on a pink castle (but of course), a pond with goldfish (because the princess who lives here likes to sit by the pond and watch the fish), some flower beds (because she likes pretty flowers), a space for the carriage to be parked, somewhere for her best friend to guard the palace (her dog) and somewhere for her horse to graze and drink with a very large sunshine because the sun always shines here.
3. I then measured and glued the tissue paper in place for the sky before gluing the castle pieces and sunshine on top.  
4. I set out the pieces for the grounds on the board before gluing to make sure I was happy with the positioning. 
5. Finally I added the finishing touches such as the grass, flowers and goldfish.

Unfortunately I don't have a horse or dog figure to add, but I cant wait to find some in the local charity shops.

Cheap, cheerful and ready for play.  Get your little ones involved in making the mats.  As they lie flat and can be stored easily you can make a few of these.  What about the following:

• Zoo
• Jungle
• Road 
• Dolls house - different rooms with printable furniture glued on from the internet

What else can you come up with?

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My home made space play mat

So as promised here is my low cost / no cost home made recycled cardboard box space play mat.  As my boys are a lot older now i don,t have as many toys to add to it but i don't think it turned out too badly.  I have had so much fun putting this together this morning.

What I used:

• Empty cereal box flattened
• Left over wallpaper from when I decorated my sons room which happened to be space themed
• Left over white wallpaper from decorating another room
• Empty egg box carton used to enhance the craters on the moon
• Scraps of wallpaper rolled into balls
• Kitchen foil to warp around the wallpaper balls to make moon rocks
• Sellotape
• Pencil to create craters on the moon
• Empty lime juice bottle for the rocket
• Coloured paper and funky foam (neoprene) to decorate the rocket

What I added:

• Alien finger puppets made for a previous project
• Some of my sons Star Wars Lego characters

The empty cereal box....

Leftover space wallpaper from my sons room....

I used the space wallpaper to cover the cardboard box and secured with tape.....

Then placed another piece on the underside and secured with tape to make the play mat stronger....

After scrunching up scraps of the wallpaper into balls, I then wrapped them in the kitchen foil shaping them to look like moon rocks....

The recycled lime juice bottle ready to make the rocket....

The added white leftover wallpaper cut out to represent the moon and the cut up egg box to add to the crater effect....

Here is the bottle decorated with the coloured paper and funky foam as a rocket....

Then i added some home made alien finger puppets from a previous project to add to the fun ready for play....

Then I added some Lego Star Wars characters, a bit smaller than the aliens but heroes come in all sizes....

Crew on their way to help their buddies conquer the aliens....

One down and one to go....

It doesnt have to cost to develop imagination, creativity, small world play and language skills.  Look around your home today and see what you can come up with.  I would love to see your makes : )

Home made peronalised book marks

I have just come across this fantastic idea on Pinterest.  How cool are these personal bookmarks? You could make these with your children to give out as gifts for them to use with their favourite book or yours.  Simple to make and fabulous to keep!

For more information pop on over to http://www.cometogetherkids.com/  They have lots of other fantastic ideas too!

Dinosaur home made play mat

A while ago I was asked to make a dinosaur play mat for a friends son which ended up as a sen bag which could be taken on holiday etc and had pockets to carry his dinosaurs as well as his name on.  

You don't have to be able to sew to produce a play mat that your child will love.  Here I have used scrap pieces of fabric left over from past projects and some very strong child friendly fabric glue.  The various textured fabric pieces add to the sensory play element of the play mat.  Mountains, rocks, palm trees, a river, a drinking / washing pool and a place to roam as well as a volcano of course.  Just add dinosaurs : )