DIY ribbon and lace box

It was on holiday that I got the idea for making one of these. Isla is obsessed with laces, labels and tags at the moment (as I'm sure any child her age is). She spends ages playing with them, pulling them, turning them over, waving them in her hands. She just finds them fascinating. Let's face it though, a cord of any kind presents a hazard to children and so, with this in mind, I wanted to make Isla something with ribbons and laces that would actually be safe for her to play with.

To make her 'toy', I used an old shoe box, offcuts of wrapping paper, a variety of colourful laces and ribbons, scissors, cellotape, a knife and a pen. It's better to use a lidded box with a lid that can be completely removed, as this makes it easier for threading the laces and ribbons later on.

I started by covering the shoe box in the wrapping paper. It helps to make a rough net first so that the paper fits neatly around the box. I then used a pen to make holes in the sides and ends of the box and threaded laces through. Once the laces were through each side, I made a large knot at each end so that Isla could pull the laces out slightly but not enough to pose a danger. I should mention at this point that with anything like this, babies should not be left to play unsupervised anyway.

For the ribbons, I used a small sharp knife to cut a slit in the sides of the box and threaded them through. When using the pen/knife to make holes in the box, it helps to wiggle them slightly to increase the size of the holes and this will make it much easier when it comes to threading your materials through. At this point, you could also put some jingle bells (or something noisy) inside the box to make it more multi-sensory. I didn't bother with this though.

I wasn't really sure how well this 'toy' would be received to be honest. Usually when I take lots of time to make something for Isla, it doesn't take long before it's shoved aside in favour of something completely ordinary. However, I was delighted to see her engaging with it for a lot longer than I expected. It's been out on a few occasions since.

A box like this is fantastic for developing a whole host of skills, including concentration, fine-motor skills and problem-solving ability. Making a toy can be a bit soul-destroying when you realise actually they're not so keen on playing with something you've spent a lot of time making and put a lot of thought into. In this case though, my hard work paid off and we've been using the box regularly ever since.

Have you made any DIY toys for your baby before? If so, I'd love to hear your ideas if you have.

Our Summer Bucket List 2015

It's finally beginning to dawn on me that I'll be losing my 'baby' in September when he goes off to school for the first time. I always knew it would be coming this year and yet, somehow, I'd pushed it to the back of my mind because I can't quite frankly begin to contemplate not having Tommy around every single day like I'm used to. Yes. I KNOW school will only be from 9am til 3pm. Yes. I KNOW there are weekends, holidays and, with me being lucky enough to be a teacher, I KNOW we will be spending weeks and weeks of the year together. Yes. I KNOW for three days a week I'll be at work anyway, just like I was before I went on maternity leave when I was pregnant with Isla. Yet I just feel so so sad about it all. I'm trying not to dwell too much on it all, trying not to let it get to me and this is really what has prompted me to come up with a bucket list for the summer holidays - somethin to positive to focus on, rather than dwelling on my thoughts.

As I've just mentioned, we will always spend the summer holidays together, so every year there will be lots of opportunities for fun outings, activities and crafts but I kind of wanted to make this summer one to remember and one that would give Tommy a final 'push' in preparing him for big school. Another reason for compiling a summer bucket list is to really make sure we start and make the most of those precious six weeks together, rather than getting to the end and thinking "what did we really do/achieve during that time?" Six weeks seems such a long time but every single year it flies by - the "back to school" signs are up in the shops before the end of the school year and before you know it, you're back in your classroom introducing yourself to your new class. 

There are a huge number of summer bucket lists on Pinterest or on the Internet, that many that I just didn't know where to start. So instead I scrapped the idea of looking for the most perfect existing list and just wrote my own. our list includes a combination of some really special places to visit, lots of things that we do every week anyway, activities led by Tommy's interests, things Tommy has mentioned he'd like to do but we haven't got round to and simple craft projects. 

I was also faced with the dilemma of where to write our list. I initially thought about writing it all on a large chalkboard but I was worried about presenting it nicely enough, having enough space on the board to fit everything in, items getting rubbed off or not having any space left to write additional ideas on (I know, I got waaaaaaay too into this at one point!) Eventually, I decided on a (nice and easy!) jam jar with each activity written on a lollipop stick. I've also included some extra blank lollipop sticks should anything else spring to mind. 

So here is my list. It won't be suitable/doable for everyone but it might give you some ideas as to what to include if you are considering making a summer bucket list yourself. My advice is just to pick things that you can easily achieve, places that you can easily get to, some extra-special treats and things that will allow you as a family to spend quality time together. The teacher in me always seeks to find opportunities for different areas of learning too, so you might want to consider this. 

Our Summer Bucket List

1. Go pond-dipping

2. Water balloon painting

3. Go on a pedalo

4. Feed the ducks

5. Make fruit kebabs

6. Make homemad pizzas

7. Fly a kite

8. Paddle in a stream

9. Garden safari

10. Make a den

11. Buy 1st pair of school shoes

12. Go berry-picking

13. Make ice-lollies

14. DIY water wall

15. Floating/sinking experiment

16. Moon/cloud dough

17. Ball-pit balls in the paddling pool

18. Make bird-feeders

19. Go bug-hunting

20. Look for shapes in the clouds

21. Make an ice-cream factory

22. Buy school uniform

23. Paddle in the sea

24. Build a sandcastle

25. Bubble-painting

26. Visit the aquarium

27. Wash the car

28. Ride bike without stabilisers

29. Play crazy golf

30. Ice dinosaur eggs

31. Picnic in the park

32. Water balloon fight

33. Make an obstacle course in the garden

34. Ride a donkey on the beach

35. Visit the farm

36. Play at a splash pad

37. Visit the zoo

38. Face painting

39. Trip to the beach

40. Find our way through a maze

I'm sure we'll think of many more to add to the list. If you can think of anything else, please let me know of anything I've missed. I'd love to hear what makes the summer holidays special for your family. 

I've typed up our list on the laptop, so that I can glance at it in the morning or discuss it with Tommy in order to help to decide what we might do on a particular day. This will be more helpful trying to rifle through the lollipop sticks to find something appropriate! I'm hoping that this list of activities is realistic and achievable. If we do manage to do all of these things, I'm sure it will make for a fantastic summer holiday. Happy holidays everyone! 

Foil Painting

As a child, I loved nothing more than to sit down with a colouring book and some pencils or a pad of paper and just draw/colour away for hours on end. Whilst Tommy definitely looks like me, he certainly isn't like me in terms of the things he enjoys doing the most. He is just an outdoorsy kind of boy; he loves nothing more than running around the garden, playing football, chasing Daddy or the dog and just generally being active. Although he enjoys anything and everything, painting and drawing are probably his least favourite activities. Some people say it's a gender thing, others an age thing but I tend to see it as a personal thing - he's just not really as interested in doing it as he is other things. I am fine with this to an extent, but whilst I want to obviously try and do activities with him I know he will enjoy and not try and force him into doing them, it is important for him to draw and paint regularly to help with his fine motor skills and creative development. Therefore I do build regular opportunities for doing artwork into his time at home.

Whilst Tommy can read a huge number of high frequency words, 'read' numbers up to 100 and knows all of his sounds, he is more reluctant to write and it always feels like I'm pushing him to do it rather than encouraging him. We're trying lots of fun ways of getting him to write at the moment, most of which have been successful, so I really think that I multi-sensory/more practical approach is going to be the route to go down. With this in mind, I've been looking for lots of different ways we can incorporate mark/making and emerging writing into our play. 

We found the idea of foil-painting on Pinterest and thought it would be a good one to try with Tommy. To set it up, we placed long lengths of tin foil in a tuff tray and stuck them down using cellotape. I then drew lots of different patterns on individual coloured cards so that Tommy could practise drawing a range of different shapes. This provided him with a starting point and gave him a little inspiration as to the kinds of patterns he might create. Tommy is getting really good at copying shapes and patterns without having to trace. We used ordinary poster paint for this activity. I was a little worried about how quickly it would dry but it actually surprised me how little time it took. 

I pretty much expected this activity to last for just a few minutes - I always prepare myself for this when we paint or draw, knowing how little Tommy enjoys it. However, we managed to continue this activity for ages. It even warranted me to remove our piece of artwork and replace it with another blank foil canvas and there was a request to do it another day! 

We really enjoyed this activity and it would be lovely to do with a younger child too - the tin foil makes a lovely noise when it's painted on and it's a lovely surface to swirl the paint around on. Here is one of our masterpieces:

2D Spring Flower Suncatcher

I recently shared with you our 3D Spring Flower suncatcher we made together. We had some flowers left over from doing this, so I decided we'd make a few 2D versions. To make them, you'll need some sticky-back plastic, some coloured card or foam and some Spring flowers/leaves/petals.

I started by cutting out some 2D shape outlines out of foam. You could use card for this but I felt foam was a bit thicker and less flimsy. I then cut out sections of sticky-backed plastic big enough to fit the outlines onto and then stuck them on.

Tommy then set about arranging his flowers and leaves on top, pressing them down firmly to ensure they stuck to the plastic. I then sealed the pieces of artwork by adding a layer of sticky-backed plastic on the top and cut off any excess.

Again, I'm really pleased with how these have turned out. They've really brightened up our window and I'm hoping because they're sealed they'll last a little longer than our 3D version. I'd kind of like them to be up on the window for a while!

3D Spring Flower Suncatchers

I have soooooo much love for the Spring season. Everything just seems to be bursting into life and so bright and colourful at the moment. It really is one of my favourite times of the year. We've been taking some time out from what we normally do over the last few weeks, after a difficult time we've had recently and we've been trying to take our mind off things by going out and enjoying the nicer weather. So I've been quite quiet and not posted much on here in the way of craft/play activities because we haven't really done much at all since Easter.

I've always seen it as really important for children to see beauty in what is around them and to appreciate nature. It's something I always try to instill in Tommy and I will aim to do the same with Isla. Life is usually ridiculously busy, with little time to stop and look at what is around where you live or work. Children are constantly surrounded by toys and technology and it's nice to get away from this now and again, to experience some quiet time, to appreciate the environment and reflect on how lucky we are to live where we live. I definitely want our children to value and appreciate everything, particularly the things in life that are 'free' rather than commodities. I want them to get as much (or perhaps more) out of a walk on the beach or in the woods as they would do if we were to take them to Alton Towers. If we 'sell' these things as exciting, they will see them as such.

With this in mind, I wanted to create something that was a reflection of everything that was going on in the environment around us, something that would draw attention to the changes that had been happening as we had entered the season of Spring. We decided on a walk to collect 'evidence' of Spring - buds, blooms, different colours, blossom, leaves, greenery, anything really that suggested growth or new life. We found a large bucket and took it on a local walk around the village, through the park and the woods to collect our materials. There were no rules as to what went in the bucket, as long as it wasn't picked or pulled off a plant/tree. It's been extremely windy here over the last few weeks, so it just wasn't necessary to resort to picking flowers. We did take a few petals or flowers off the plants in our own garden though.

I didn't imagine this walk would be quite the hit it turned out to be. I encouraged Tommy to find as many different colours as he possibly could because our aim was to create a beautiful, colourful piece of art, and it was a challenge he couldn't resist. I also encouraged him to try and find a range of different kinds of materials, from spiky ones to smooth ones, from large-flowered ones to small-flowered ones, from fern-like leaves to broad ones and this really motivated him. We talked about the different plant names as we came across them and I was surprised to learn how much Tommy knew already.

Once we had collected a variety of leaves, flowers, blossom and petals, we returned home and then looked for ideas as to what to do with them. On Pinterest, I stumbled upon the idea of producing a 3D suncatcher. It was the perfect idea for making a piece of art out of our natural materials so we set about making it immediately.

To make it, you need a small cardboard box, some sticky-backed plastic, a collection of natural materials and some paint (optional). The box needs to be quite strong if you intend to paint it like we did.

First of all, we cut an aperture out of each side of our suncatcher, leaving a centimetre border around the edges. We cut the top off the box and then painted it white to make it look a little more attractive. The next step was to stick the sticky-backed plastic, with the sticky side facing outwards, onto the inside of the box's sides. Then Tommy carefully placed his leaves and flowers onto the sticky-backed plastic. Some of the leaves/flowers stuck better than others. The best tip I can offer is that the smaller they are, the better they will stick to the plastic. Try to create interest by sticking a variety of plants onto each side. To finish the suncatcher off, you could then cover each side with a further piece of sticky-backed plastic, to sandwich in your flowers/plants and stop them from dropping off. We didn't bother with this step, as I felt it looked just right as it was.

I'm so pleased with how this project turned out. The suncatcher is just so beautiful - it captures the sunlight so wonderfully and looks as though every single tiny piece was carefully and perfectly-placed, even though in reality it was just whacked on! I love how very different it looks from each side.

 

 I know it won't last very long unfortunately, as the flowers will die quickly; I don't know if you could get around this by drying and pressing the flowers beforehand. But I shall enjoy having it on our windowsill in the meantime!

 

Farm Small World

We LOVE a small world at our house and I set them up regularly for Tommy and I to play with together or for Tommy to play with independently. They can sometimes take a long time to plan and set up and it can be a bit soul-destroying if your child plays with them for 5 minutes and then becomes disinterested. It makes you not want to bother again. Luckily for us, small worlds are always a hit with our four-year old. It's usually me that ends up begging to put it away after it's been set up for a week and begins to get in the way. A small world is something I can guarantee Tommy will play with for at least an hour at a time. And there are very few of his toys I could say that about. It is something he is very happy to play with, either with an adult or on his own.

We are huge fans of Schleich models in our house and I remember owning many as a child. They're so useful for imaginative play because they are a decent size, realistic and extremely hard-wearing. We already own a good collection of dinosaurs, wild animals and farm animals.

When it comes to small worlds, I try and plan something that makes use of items we already have, rather than buying new things. Because we had a large collection of farm animals and vehicles, it would be easy to create a farm small world.

For the landscape, I pretty much emptied the kitchen cupboards to see what I could find that might look like animal bedding. I eventually settled on porridge oats, red lentils, cornflakes, rice and spaghetti. I also used several shredded wheat for hay bales.

I then added green tissue paper to make fields, Lego fences, buildings and flowers. Several Lego animals also made an appearance too. I cut out a piece of foam and covered it in cling film to make it look like water and placed this in the centre of the tray to look like a pond.finally, I added the farm animals and several vehicle and it was ready! 

This was such a hit with Tommy. He spent a long time feeding the animals and using the vehicles to carry out jobs around the farm. He used the tractors to move the materials around and invented scenarios involving the different animals. He had so much fun with it. 

 

As with so many of our small worlds, we left this out for a few days, so it could be played with again and again. The only downside was that this small world was made out of edible materials; we went out only to come back and find the dog had eaten all of the cornflakes! :(

Blossom Tree Printing

We haven't been doing an awful lot craft-wise lately, as the weather's been so nice and we've been taking the opportunity to have some lovely days out instead. I've had all kinds of ideas for Spring-related projects but we're only just getting round to doing some of them. We made these beautiful blossom trees the other day and I was thrilled with how they turned out so I thought I'd share them with you all.

To make them, we cut a large piece of scrap wallpaper and then I painted a tree outline that filled the paper. We then pressed a 2 litre bottle into some pink and blue paint and pressed it onto the paper lots of times to make it look like blossom. Tommy really enjoyed doing this activity and it's so easy it could be done by a really young toddler.

We'll continue sharing our Spring projects with you. I'd love to hear your ideas for Spring crafts too. It really is such a lovely time of year - I'm enjoying all the beautiful colours and general prettiness it brings.