Christmas Day is creeping up on us. I always seem to find that the gap between opening the presents and visiting the family quickly becomes quiet & boring for the little ones so I put my thinking cap on to try & think of ways to resolve it. Thankfully a few nights ago I came up with a solution!

I came up with a poem to leave on a letter from Santa at the ends of their beds on Christmas Eve night. They will awake in the morning to see the letters & wah-lah! we have a solution for the empty time space - a candy cane hunt around the house in our PJ's!

I have left a 2 blank designs below, both the same but with different pictures, but you can make your own of course! We have our printed out on a 4x6 matte photo card because we couldn't find any special Santa Paper - maybe this is a job for next years 'Christmas To-Do List' ;)

Each poem reads:
I have just finished delivering toys,
To all the good little girls & boys,
I left some candy canes behind,
How many of them can you find?

 
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So yesterday I shared an idea to get everyone kick-started with their spring/summer activities. It was a wonderful little trick I started last year with my pair when we found ourselves lost for what to do in what we considered a new & foreign town as we had not long moved to Melbourne & had spent all winter in hibernation because us Queenslanders just weren't used to the cold weather AT ALL! Anyway - this became the birth of the "You're not bored!" Jar, a plastic jar filled with originally 101 rainbow paddle pop sticks with one activity on each stick that were free for kidlets to do (or at least try), over the past year we have slowly added to our collection & I think we are sitting at about 130 ideas now BUT here is the first 101 that we started with :) 

Our list of 101 activities - feel free to add your own!


 
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Bubbles, everyone loves them regardless of age, gender or religion. They are a magical thing that can keep kids occupied for hours, but have you ever tried mixing it up a little bit? Adding a bit of colour, doing a little DIY bubble making, maybe even some art & craft with bubbles? I like to get the kids hands on & covered in soap when playing with bubbles, it's one of the joys of being a kid! So here is one of my way of putting a twist on traditional bubbles.

For this you will need:
1 long piece of wool
2 straws
Scissors
Bubble mix

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If you have bendy straws you will need to cut the bendy part of the straw off first.

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Thread your string straight through both straws then tie a knot at the end of the strings to hold them together.

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Put the string so that the knot slips into one of the straws & you're all set!

Now you can go play with your big bubble makers! :) 



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In my experiences, there is nothing kidlets love more than getting colourfully grubby with finger paints. And most days they will of course stick 10 million tonnes of paint in the one spot until the paper is tearing & decomposing - but that's okay, they are still learning. My only problem with the over-use of paint by kidlets is the price you pay for store bought paint which is never as 'non-toxic' as they say and always comes with that funny smell and hard to get off stain it leaves on clothing & walls. So over the years I have resorted to making my own paints at home - from everyday things you will always find in your cupboard. Both edible and non-edible, tempera powder and food dye - I have tried almost every recipe imaginable, many fails & many successes (as expected!) so to help you avoid all the trials & errors I have compiled my 3 most favourite paint recipes below to share with you all!


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Homemade Bath Paint!

What you need:
muffin tin
shaving cream
food coloring
paint brush

What you do:
  1. Squirt the shaving cream into each muffin hole.
  2. Put a couple of drops of food coloring on to each mound of shaving cream. Stir well.
  3. Go to town painting the bathtub walls (and yourself)! 


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Homemade Poster Paint!

What You Need:
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 cup water
  • Small jars or plastic containers
  • 3 tablespoons powdered tempera paint per container
  • 2 tablespoons water per container
  • 1/2 teaspoon liquid starch or liquid detergent per container (optional)

What To Do:
  1. Measure flour into saucepan.
  2. Slowly add 1 cup water while stirring to make a smooth paste.
  3. Heat, stirring constantly, until paste begins to thicken.
  4. Cool.
  5. Measure 1/4 cup paste into each small container.
  6. Add 3 tablespoons powdered tempera paint and 2 tablespoons water to each container.
  7. For a matte finish, add liquid starch. For a glossy finish, add liquid detergent.
  8. Store covered.


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Homemade Finger Paint!
What You Need:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 tb salt
2 cup cold water
3 1/2 cup hot water
food coloring

What To Do:
1. In saucepan, mix dry ingredients together.
2. Slowly add cold water to the dry ingredients, whisking as you add.
3. Bring to boil, over medium heat, as you add hot water, whisking continuously.
4. Boil mixture for about 1-2 minutes, whisking continuously, until thick and lumps are gone.
5. Allow to cool slightly in pan then transfer to separate bowls to add color.
6. Mix in a few drops of food coloring to achieve desired color.
7. Allow to cool completely before painting.


 
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Up until recently I had assumed that everyone knew how to make rainbow rice until I was asked by quite a few how to make it and where I had purchased it from. I shocked a few people when I said I had made it myself at home and because of this I came to the conclusion that it would be far easier and of more value to share this simple trick with the world for those who were unaware that you can make rainbow rice with 3 simple ingredients that everyone has in their home!

To make rainbow rice you will need: 2 cups of long grain rice for each colour you would like to make, 1/4 cup of vinegar for each colour you would like to make, ordinary food dye & a ziplock bag for each colour.

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First, place 2 cups of rice in each bag (measurements don't need to be precise, just a rough measure is fine - just get as close as possible or you may end up with a soggy lump of rice). One bag at a time add 1/4 cup of vinegar then the drops of food dye to the mix. Ziplock shut the bag and give it a good shake. Repeat this step for each colour you would like. To dry out the rice you may leave it in the bag with the ziplock open overnight, lay it flat for 4 hours on a piece of baking paper or you can place it on a lined baking tray in the oven at 100c for 10-15 minutes to quick dry it (be sure to let it cool before allowing the kids to play with it!) 

You can mix whatever colours you want and add as many dye drops as you like to get the vibrancy that you are after. It is completely safe for children to eat (if you have those little ones that believe EVERYTHING belongs in their mouth!) & it's much easier to clean than playdough!

That's all there is to it! Remember - rainbow rice is not just for schools & daycares, it is awesome for sensory play and motor skills, even art & craft if you wanted. 
 
There are hundreds of ways to make scented playdough, but I would like to share some of my favourites with you all. Playdough is fun enough as it is but it's even better when you can make playdough cupcakes and playdough bikkies that actually smell like the real deal! Traditional playdough has a pretty funky smell that some people find hard to mask - well here is a list of other ways to make scrumptious smelling playdough that have all been tried and tested by yours truly! :)
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Fruity Scented Playdough (Non-Edible)

You will need:
1 cup plain flour
2 tablespoons oil
200ml water
50ml fruity fragrant shampoo
½ cup salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
Food colouring to match your scent (green for apple, red for strawberry, orange/yellow for orange/mango)

How to make it?
  • Pour all dry ingredients, flour, salt and cream of tartar together in a saucepan.
  • Add oil, shampoo, colouring and water to dry ingredients.
  • I use a whisk before heating as I find this helps remove lumps and blends the ingredients well.
  • Cook over medium heat constantly stirring until it becomes a thick blob.
  • Then turn out onto a clean surface and knead into a smooth ball. Be careful the play dough will be very hot!
  • Store in a plastic zip lock bag or air tight container. 


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Peppermint Scented Playdough (Edible)

You will need:
1 cup all-purpose flour (sift if lumpy)
1/2 cup salt
2 teaspoons cream of tarter
1 cup brewed peppermint tea
1 1/2 tablespoons oil (vegetable or canola)
1 tablespoon peppermint extract
Food coloring, as desired

How to make it?
  • In a sauce pan, whisk together the flour, salt and cream of tarter. Add the water and oil and whisk until smooth. 
  • Place pan over low heat and cook and stir until it thickens and forms a ball (about 5 minutes for a single recipe). When it's impossible to stir and looks like a big sticky lump, it's done! :)
  • Turn out onto the counter or a mat, scraping pan clean with a spatula. Knead the warm dough a couple times, and place in a loosely-covered container to cool. (Or, let the kids play with it right away!) Store in a sealed container or ziplock bag when not in use.

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Chocolate Scented Playdough (Edible)


You will need:
1 cup all-purpose flour (sift if lumpy)
1/2 cup salt
2 teaspoons cream of tarter
1 cup water
2 1/2 tablespoons oil (vegetable or canola)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

How to make it?
  • In a sauce pan, whisk together the flour, salt and cream of tarter. Add the water and oil and whisk until smooth. 
  • Place pan over low heat and cook and stir until it thickens and forms a ball (about 5 minutes for a single recipe). When it's impossible to stir and looks like a big sticky lump, it's done! :)
  • Turn out onto the counter or a mat, scraping pan clean with a spatula. Knead the warm dough a couple times, and place in a loosely-covered container to cool. (Or, let the kids play with it right away!) Store in a sealed container or ziplock bag when not in use.


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Strawberry Scented Playdough (Edible)


You will need:
1 cup plain flour
1 Tablespoon oil
200ml Water
50ml Strawberry Essence
½ cup salt
¼ cup chocolate sprinkles
2 Teaspoons cream of tartar
1 Teaspoon of rose pink food colouring

How to make it?
  • Pour all dry ingredients, flour, salt and cream of tartar together in a saucepan. 
  • Add oil, food colouring, strawberry essence and water to dry ingredients.
  • I use a whisk before heating as I find this helps remove lumps and blends the ingredients.
  • Cook over medium heat constantly stirring until it becomes a thick blob. 
  • Then turn out onto a clean surface and knead into a smooth blob.
  • Allow the play dough to cool before kneading in the chocolate sprinkles.
  • Store in a plastic zip lock bag or air tight container.

Those are the basic ones to get you started, feel free to change it up and experiment - maybe add some glitter, or some pony beads, or even some hundreds and thousands! The possibilities are only as limited as your imagination allows. ;)
 
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We have all seen those crafts on Pinterest and been guilty for creating one of those well known 'Pinstrosities'. Melted crayon art used to be one of my biggest, most common Pinterest fails because I always wanted to let the kidlets help with the actvity and it would never turn out quite right. So I have gone to the drawing board and come up with a list of new twists on the old trick and am here to share them with you week by week I will count down my favorite ways to do crayon melting that is kid friendly and far less likely to result in another 'Pinstrosity'. Today I am sharing a 'splattered' version of melted crayon art.

So to start off with you will need an old fork, a hairdryer/blowdryer, crayons and a canvas. Pick crayons that have contrasting colours, you can go for vibrant rainbow colours or you can go for a boy or girsl themed colour scheme or maybe even the colours of your favourite sports team or the colours of your countries flag - the options are endless, if you choose colours that you are happy with then there will be no possible way to end up with a canvas you aren't happy with.
You will need to break the crayons into different sized pieces, the smaller the pieces the better the end result in my opinion but for this tutorial I did one with bigger pieces to show you a little better how to hold and melt the crayons effectively. Not many people are aware that there is a thin clear wax coat on all wax crayons regardless of the quality or brand name behind them. To get the best melting effect with the crayons you can slightly melt them with the hairdryer then roll them on a piece of scrap paper or an old rag to remove the clear wax from the crayon. This eliminates that yuck watery dribble of clear wax that tends to ruin a lot of potentially great melted crayon artworks.
Grab your fork and stab it slightly into a piece of crayon ready to be melted. The fork helps hold the crayon in place on the flat lying canvas so that the force of the hot air does not blow it all about the canvas. I find that going from the top left corner and working down to the bottom right corner of the canvas looks the mst effective with this kind of crayon melting but you can place the crayons where ever you like and still have an equally awesome outcome. Hold the hair dryer directly above the crayon and fork until you see a residue form, then move the angle of the hair dryer so that it sprays out the melted crayon to create a 'splat' effect. Do this with as many colours as you like in whatever places you like on the canvas until you are happy with the end result.
That is pretty much it, with larger crayon pieces you will have something that looks like the picture below to the left, but with smaller pieces you can create something like the picture to the right. The possibilities of colour scemes and end results is limitless. Completely kid-safe, let them help and make a family art piece today!
 
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Easter is a colourful exciting time of year for a child - and parents aside from the expenses. Every year I try to find age appropriate Easter themed craft for the kids to help them understand the basic 'hallmark' of the Easter holidays and eveyr year colouring Easter eggs always makes it to the list.

There are loads of ways you can colour an egg, the internet is full of methods, some use vinegar, some don't, some use food colouring, others use clothing dye - it all depends on how vibrant you want the colour to be on the egg. When colouring our eggs, we leave them raw and intact - can get messy with clumsy kidlets but it means that the eggs aren't wasted by being drained and avoids them going smelly if we were to boil then colour them, it also means we can use them for things like scrambled eggs or baking which is great!

Before dying our eggs we draw patterns on it with white wax crayons. The wax crayon creates a resistance to the dye so that when the egg is submerged in the dye, where the wax is, the egg remains it's natural colour. You can also use sticky tape or rubber bands to create patterns as well, even create a marbled effect by dripping hot wax over the egg before submerging it in the dye. The dye mix we use is 1/2 cup of water to 2 teaspoons of food dye - this is a pastel kind of dye that is kid friendly, if you want a more vibrant colour to the egg add a teaspoon of vinegar to the dye mix. To get the best results we usually try to leave the eggs submerged in the dye for at least 4 minutes.
              

Video Tutorial - How To Colour Easter Eggs.

Happy Easter Everybody!