I was sorting through the basement and found a bag of shredded sparkly tissue paper that T2 and her friends had played with a few months ago - I was about to toss it out, then decided to have one last hurrah with T2 today.

Great for grabbing.....

'spaghetti scooping'

pouring

scooping

...tong grasping

...dumping

It requires lots of concentration!

It can be quite messy -that doesn't bother me. Putting a mat, newspaper or towel under the table would make for easier clean up - just pick up the corners of the floor covering and shake all the paper into the garbage/recycling.

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After my weekend 'baking' I had lots of oddments of felt - usually I'd toss them if they were really small but this time I used pinking sheers and cut them into shapes for T2 to use as collage material.

This is a city.

T2's cookie baking set - my sewing is pretty bad but I don't think she'll notice! I'll add a little cookie sheet and a rolling pin.

T2's mail - I'm going to make a little mail bag. The envelopes open so I'll make some little cards to go inside. They have her name and address on the front.

T2's new magnetic numbers. I was bored with her small store bought ones so I made some new ones with scrap booking paper, magnetic paper and clear contact paper. She loves them!

My weekend

We had a busy weekend - Huds the puppy had an event we needed to take him to. We are fostering him for Dog Guides Canada and our local mall wanted foster puppies at the mall to spread awareness of the organization and the foster puppy program. It was fun and Huds loved all the attention!

There were the typical errands, play times, meal times, laundry times, sleep times etc etc but I did carve out some time for a few projects of my own - baking, correspondence and number crunching. Why, you may wonder am I bothering to mention this - well, the baking didn't involve an oven, the correspondence didn't involve any paper or stamps and the number crunching didn't involve a calculator. You'll have to see why in my next post because I am going to bed!

More Friday Fun

OK, this is just too cool....

I was blog surfing and saw a craft called Rainbow in a bag over at Artful Parenting, which is a super cool blog.

Mix in a pot....
1 cup cornstarch
1/3-cup sugar
4 cups cold water

Heat stirring constantly.
Once it starts to thicken - remove from heat - it will resemble wall paper paste initially but as it cools, is more like Vaseline.

Divide between as many bowls as you have colours (food colouring). Add some food colouring to each bowl and mix. I chose primary colours only.
When it has cooled (I couldn't wait that long), scoop some of 2 or more of your goop into a ziploc bag (or similar - my eco conscience was able to justify using the bags as it's in the interest of education!!!).

Seal the bag and squish and squeeze to blend the colours - hold bags up to light (window in our case) to see the results in it's full coolness.

Is it odd that I am having so much fun with these and T2 is napping??? She'll love trying them out when she wakes up!

Friday fun

I'm on day 3 of Jillian Michaels 30 day shred and feeling a little stiff and creaky so I didn't feel much inspiration for a craft/activity for today. Then I remembered that I wanted to try playful clay from MaryAnn Kohl's book Preschool Art.

1c baking soda

1/2c cornstarch

2/3c warm water (I added food colouring to the water)

Mix baking soda/cornstarch in a pan, add warm water - stir until smooth

Over medium heat bring to boil stirring until it resembles mashed potatoes.

Allow to cool on cutting board, then knead.

This dough keeps for several weeks in an airtight container but also air dries in a few hours and can then be painted. This is our plan, then I'll put a clear coat on top and glue a piece of felt to the bottom for a paper weight or sculpture depending on the finished result.

The dough has a nice smooth feel and I enjoyed manipulating it as much as T2. We chose to make patterns with Duplo, buttons and spools.

I am looking forward to us painting them when they are dry.

The pot below was made by me in 1976 when I was 3.5-4 years old. I have always loved it - especially the childish fingerprints forever embedded in it. I made it at preschool and for years it was on my parents' shelf until they brought it with them on their last visit. It now has pride of place in our china cabinet.

There was time for a little button threading

Feeling a little redundant

T2 woke up and was so excited when I told her I had found the Play-doh but she didn't want me to play - she wanted T1 to play instead. I guess they don't need me right now. The good thing is that I got all my chores done during nap time so I get to sit and watch them play together. So far they are getting along nicely - even the puppy is calm.

Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

I found it
I found it
I found it

OK so it wasn't in the clear container I was picturing but I found the Play-doh in the playroom closet in a polka dot box. Wahoooo I know what we'll be doing when T2 wakes up and I'll be able to sleep tonight finally having found it!

You know you must be doing something right when....

.....you're 3 year old tells you "I have a beautiful life". Warmed my heart.

Today we got busy with some clear contact paper and tissue paper to make a sun catcher picture. I cut 2 pieces of contact paper and a construction paper frame and tore up pieces of tissue paper

.

T2 arranged the tissue paper pieces on the sticky side on the contact paper

When she was done, I stuck the second piece of contact paper on top of the tissue paper and trimmed off any extra. T2 chose to glue it to the playroom window. Now we need the sun to shine through it.

Still looking for the wretched Play-doh

Treasure rocks part 2

Tonight while I was making dinner, I gave T1 & T2 their treasure rocks that I made last week. I had hoped to find some mini excavation tools but hunting for MIA play-doh distracted me so forks and spoons were the next best option. I didn't know how successful they would be and my expectations were low, I mean, it's flour, water and used coffee - how good can it possibly be? Incredibly good is the answer. The kids chipped and poked away at their 'rocks' for as long as it took to cook pasta (OK so it was the fresh kind that cooks super fast...), not a "stop....don't do that...leave me alone...Mommmmmmmmmmmmmm" to be heard. I think I even saw a tongue poking out in concentration. They didn't even seem disappointed that the treasure had been borrowed from the toy animal box in the playroom. The only downside - the strong smell of old coffee once the rocks were demolished.

Not much Mom time today

On Tuesday/Thursday T2 goes to preschool for the morning, comes home and has lunch and a nap by which time it is often time to prepare dinner so it seems we hardly have a chance for a conversation on those days but today she woke a little earlier so we were able to spend a few extra minutes together at the craft table. T2 needs to work on her fine motor skills a bit so I pulled out an ink pad and an 'O' stamp and let her stamp green 'O's all over her paper (I since discovered the only way to remove green ink from hands, face and ears is with traditional bar soap and not liquid soap). After she had stamped to her heart's content (and I suggested we finish up with the ink before it spread from skin to clothes, furniture and the dog) we sat and coloured in all the 'O's - (actually she coloured and I hung out at the table and we chatted). In the end it looked like a page of bubbles - she loved it.

Tomorrow is a no school day for T2 so I'm planning a few fun things for us to do - I can't wait!

Play-doh - wanted dead or alive. $1 reward

Where's the &^%&*%$ play-doh?

scratching my head...

...no, not lice. I still haven't found the play-doh aaaaargh

I'm seriously losing my mind

I thought T2 and I would have some fun with play-doh today - we haven't played with it in a while - it was a big hit for a few weeks ago but once T2 lost interest, I packed it away and then we redecorated the playroom and everything was moved around. Now I cannot find the container of play-doh anywhere. I would whip up a batch but I don't have enough flour after our baking session last week. How is it possible in a small, reasonably organized house to lose a big clear container of play-doh? MY head is spinning just trying to think where it might be....

I surrendered

First load of laundry is sloshing about, Vacuum is poised and ready. Going to pick up some clutter - mostly toys and discarded shoes whizz around with my buddy Dyson and then I plan to do nothing other than relax until bedtime - aside from stuffing in the next load of laundry and hanging up the wet clothes to dry......

Back from our hike

We all enjoyed our family hike this morning. It was very cloudy and we were concerned that we were not as prepared for a down pour as we should have been. We lucked out, even though it did rain lightly, the tall trees provided a nature umbrella and by the time we emerged from the forest - it was dry once more. The kids loved the pine cones, moss, fungus and cool trees. Huds the dog enjoyed all the smells and was very brave around the other dogs we encountered (he needs to work on his social skills). G & I enjoyed seeing the kids so enthusiastic about nature and exploring. On the way home T2 thanked us for our "fun abventure". Now T2 is taking a nap while G takes T1 to badminton and now I really must tackle the mountain o' laundry and some vacuuming (never did get that done last night!).

Fall fling

We're off for a family walk, cold weather is on it's way so we'll enjoy Fall while it lasts!

Here I sit

It's 7:45 on a Saturday night and I'm home alone. G has taken the kids to see Madagascar 2 at the drive-in. I decided I'd better stay home and keep the puppy company. Outside it's dark and chilly, the rain has since stopped so it is both a perfect night for the drive-in and also for an evening alone with a pile of books and magazines, a laptop, some music to break the silence, a blanket to snuggle under and a puppy to keep my feet warm. I should vacuum the kitchen and mop the floor but a night alone doesn't happen too often so I'm going to relish it - the floor will get cleaned before bedtime but not right now.....

Foiled plans

Our afternoon plan of one last hurrah in our giant leaf pile before bagging them for leaf collection next week, had to be cancelled due to rain - not the nice puddle splashing kind of rain but the cold, chapped face kind of rain. Maybe tomorrow....

A recent pic of T1 launching himself into the leaf pile which is much bigger now!

T1 & T2 - the 'right' kind of rainy day

The downside of blog surfing

I spent much of T2's naptime surfing crafty blogs and looking through my many kid art/craft books and now I have so many more ideas in my head of things I'd like to try with my kids

Shaving cream marbling
Salty water colours
puffy paint
Rainbow in a bag
Post it art display frame
Felt board & felt shapes
home made paper (tried this once but was unsuccessful)
string painting (haven't done this in ages)
string rubbings
spaghetti painting (been a long time for this one too)
and so many more!

Learning with Robert Munsch

Robert Munsch is an awesome Canadian author. His books are a huge hit in our house and we have at least half of the 50+ children's books he has published.

T1 is currently being assessed for several learning disabilities and has lately been struggling with his grade 3 reading comprehension. He can read and understand what he has read but answering specific questions seems to stump him. I figured maybe if he were to answer questions about books he enjoys, he might find it easier. A while ago I bought a book - Reading with Robert Munsch, from our local teacher supply store. It has activities relating to some of his books including reading comprehension.

When T2 went for a very much needed nap, I sat with T1 while he selected a Munsch book (he chose 'Something Good') and read it (he chose to read it silently) and then I asked him the questions from the teacher book. I thought he would make it a long drawn out process as he dislikes anything resembling school work and often decides he can't do something before he has even tried. Surprisingly he was totally into it and answered questions with long detailed responses and when asked to find words in the books with specific consonant blends - he spent quite some time not only finding appropriate words but wanting to find more than the three required.

This was supposed to be a learning opportunity for him - to practice his comprehension skills to help grade 3 be a little easier for him - although I feel it did, the learning opportunity was as much mine. I saw a different side to him - an enthusiastic reader, willing to go beyond the requirements, calm without the after school chaos and content to hang out with Mom and a good book.

Parrot-day

T2 loves, loves, loves animals especially Macaws so I printed her some parrot colouring pages to colour and then adorn with feathers

Her finished Macaw

Bathtime fun

Tonight I'm making tubtime crayons...

1c grated bar soap

1/4c warm water

food colouring

cookie cutters/ice cube trays

Mix the soap, warm water and food colouring together until dough like. Either fill cookie cutters or ice cube trays with mixture. Freeze until firm, but not brittle. Allow to further air dry until hard. Can also be used as bath soap.

I'm looking forward to the kids trying these out tomorrow night. They came out a bit bumpy - I think the soap needed to melt a bit more.

Friday nights

In our house, Friday night is pizza night and has been for years. More often than not we eat our pizza picnic style on a blanket on the living room floor - often accompanied by a kid movie. No movie lined up for tonight so when our tummies are suitably satisfied, we'll pull out a game or two and hang out on the floor - might chow down on a few Hallowe'en treats while we play!

Our night changed direction and we spent our evening playing Wii World Tour - lots of laughing and high-fiving!

I love to recycle

Last week I decided it was time to sort through all our crayons and take out all the broken and grungy ones. In the past I would have either thrown them away or done a melting crayon craft such as this. I peeled off the crayon paper and crammed in as many crayon pieces as I could into 2 molds - 1 a silicon muffin pan and the other an ice cube tray designed to make ice to fit in bottles of water (long and skinny, rather than cubes). I put the molds on a baking sheet and baked them at 200 degrees until completely melted. I cooled mine on the counter but if you're patient enough, it's best to let them cool in the oven so the colours stay more vibrant (they'll mix together when you move them when hot).

Daily Danny Blog has another method using cookie cutters which looks cool too - I plan to try that next. Inspired by a friend (Corie) I plan to add glitter to my next crayon batch.

These crayons are especially good for doing rubbings as they have a nice flat edge to them. We used them to do some leaf rubbings yesterday

Hidden treasure

T1 has in the past received as gifts some cool little excavation kits where you scrape and chip away at a piece of 'rock' ultimately revealing dinosaur bones or similar. I stumbled upon a recipe for 'treasure stones' in one of my Kid Concoction books so I decided to give them a go. I wanted to make these myself initially so the contents would be a surprise for the kids.

1c flour

1c used coffee grounds

1/2c salt

1/4c sand

3/4c water

Mix it all together (dry first, then add the water) until it forms a dough. Break off pieces and form a ball, press a 'treasure' into the middle and seal with some extra dough. You can either bake them for about 15-20 mins at 150 degrees or air dry for 2-3 days until hard.

Arm your kids with some little 'tools' and let them chip away until they find their treasure. We'll be trying ours out in the next few days.

Earlier this week....

...T2 and I spent some time baking. I quite like baking but on the whole my family is not that interested in muffins, tea breads, pies etc so we don't bake very often. I asked T2 if she'd like to and she was very enthusiastic. It's been a while since she helped me make something in the kitchen other than cupcakes from a box so she was totally into scooping, measuring & mixing.

We made bran muffins and whole wheat cranberry scones.

Painty Friday

My blog starts today even though our activities at home have been ongoing for some time. Today, with T1 gone for the day visiting a local Warplane museum with Grandpa (school is closed today), I figured it would be a good day to get out the easel and brightly coloured paints. T2 has been easel painting at school regularly since September but our easel has been in the basement for a few weeks since we redecorated our main floor playroom. T2 was eager to get to work...






As she painted with brushes and rollers, she gave a running commentary. This piece is a safari with a cheetah with spots. It's quite the vibrant safari don't you think?

When we were done with easel painting, we moved onto bubble painting - T2 has never done this and it has been quite some time since I have. It was fun and luckily more paint was blown than swallowed!

2tsp clear liquid dish detergent

3tbsp water

1/4 c powdered tempera paint

Mix in bowls, add straws and blow, blow, blow. When the bubbles are raised above side of bowls, gently rest a piece of paper on top and when you lift it off, you should have a cool bubble pattern on your paper. I forgot to take a picture of the finished result.

We finished off the morning by doing some magic crayon pictures. Following my lead, T2 did a crayon design on her piece of paper.

After completing our crayon designs, we did a colour wash with blue water colour paint. T2 was quite excited to see the design showing through the paint.

We had so much fun - yeah the laundry is piling up and the beds are unmade but I'll get to those at naptime.

The painty clean up was pretty easy today - hand washing, table wiping, picture hanging and this