Colouring in Mandalas

May's Mandala

 



 

At 8 May is always looking for harder pictures to colour. She loves colouring in with Gel pens. Mandalas are good for older children to practicing colouring in. It gives them a chance to create their own patterns and decide their own colours.

I found a great site for printing Mandalas off for free.

Its called Printmandalas

Printmandalas 

 

Alexis

Hard Dot to dots for Kids

 

 

 

May is off sick this week, so its been a hunt on the computer for free printable worksheets. We were looking for worksheets for older children and found  www.Raisingourkids.com

They have lots of nice colouring in pictures for younger children. But more important for me they have hard dot to dot worksheets ,May thought they were great! The link below takes you straight to the dot to dot section.

www.raisingourkids.com/activities/connect-dot-to-dot

Alexis



Alien Junk Spaceship

                                                 James's Space Ship

 

This is my son's English homework. James couldn't see the sense in it, High school kids making junk toys for English. He told his teacher he would have rather done an essay.

After a lot of moaning he got it done !

 2 foil baking trays got stuck together and plastic bottles added for legs. May helped him decorate the top. It turned out well, even lasted a trip into school and back!

James is hoping its back to English for the rest of the term.

Alexis

 

Recycling Lollipop sticks

Keepsake Box

Lollipop Stick Style

 

 

I haven't used lollipop sticks in years , we were in Asda when I spotted a bag of coloured ones. So it was a quiet hour and a trip down memory lane, on how to make a box with sticks.

If I had got an extra bag the box would have been taller but it turned out not bad ! for lollipop sticks and some PVA glue.

May says I just need to add some sparkle !

I have put some more photo's below to show you how it was done.

 

Alexis

Butterfly Suncatchers



 

The windows in my house are getting a makeover at the moment!

Spare black card is getting cut up to make suncatchers, May and I are fed up with the cold dull days and are busy bringing some colour in!

 

 

 Alexis

For more idea,s check out our Nature Arts and Craft Page!

wild Bird Cake Made Easy

( and cheap ! )

 

 

I always like birds in my garden ! and an argos winter sale provided me with a lovely Bird table. May was my messy little helper for May's Bird cake as she called it.

 First it was plastic bottles , I cut them down to make shallow tubs for the cake.Then a bag of wild bird seed and some cheap Lard cut into small cubes. Next came the messy bit, squashing the lard and the seed together! We put some into the tubs and rolled some into balls then added the string. Freeze overnight or until solid .

Its an easy cake to make but just remember ,bin bag table cloths makes it a lot easier to clean up!

Alexis

for more idea's check out our Nature arts and Craft page!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Magnetic Heart Craft

Valentine's Day Gifts

 

 

I must admit I am a fan of the Hobbycraft Stores! This lovely Magnet was only£1.99 add some decoration and it makes a nice little gift on Valentine's Day. It comes as a plain mache magnetic heart ,that you can decorate anyway you like.

 

May and I started with layers of pva and tissue paper ,its messy but it looks good when its dry. One thing my daughter loves is getting messy, never complains!

 Then we decorated it with glitter glue and sticky on stars.Not bad for a cheap magnet ! So if you are looking for Valentine's day crafts check out Hobbycraft for supplies

http://direct.hobbycraft.co.uk/shop/valentine's-day

 

Alexis

Don't forget to take a look at our Valentine's Day Craft Page for more idea's 

 

 



Valentine's Day Candy Pots

Loveheart Tubs

 

 

I am always recycling plastic bottles, I always seem to have lots. May takes one into School every day, she had the habit of being able to break the expensive ones .

The tubs in the photo above are just made from cut down plastic bottles !

Layers of tissue paper and Pva are then put on and decorated. For more ideas check out our Recycling Page!

Alexis

{I did have sweets for the pots but my hubby got there first}

Don't forget to take a look at our Valentine's Day Craft Page for more idea's



Sewing Kits for Children

                                Loveheart Cushions                  

May has always been interested in sewing so we found some good sewing projects in the yellow moon catalogue http://www.yellowmoon.org.uk/
She did a great job on the loveheart cushion pictured above, it was one of a set of 2 mini cushions that cost only £3.99. They also do a selection of other mini cushions ,that are well worth a look { Owls, Sea Life, Elephants, Chicks and Bunny kits}
So if your looking for sewing kits that are suitable for children and dont cost a fortune have a look! They make great homemade presents for any occasions.
Alexis

Don't forget to take a look at our Valentine's Day Craft Page for more idea's

 

Homemade Valentine's Day Cards

Easy Make Valentine's Day Card

 

 

Valentine's Day Cards can be simple this one I have used a lot in the past. To make sure the heart fits, I make a simple stencil like the photo below .

 

Then fold a4 card in half and draw round the stencil and cut out. Making sure the edge of the heart is beside the edge of the card.

May enjoys making homemade mosaic tiles and they look good on cards .I always find them, a great chance for kids to practise their scissor skills.

Alexis

Don't forget to take a look at our Valentine's Day Craft Page for more idea's

 

 

 



Homemae Valentine's Day Presents

    Loveheart Box

 

Hobbycraft stores have a great sale on their Paper Mache boxes at the moment. They come in different shapes and sizes  ,check out their selection http://direct.hobbycraft.co.uk/shop/paper-mache_shapes . This little Heart box was 44p. We covered it with glue then tissue paper and glue again. May added some sticky jewels and glitter glue to finish it off.

Kids looking to make some Valentine's day presents ,this is one of the easiest and cheapest! so give it a go !

Alexis

Don't forget to take a look at our Valentine's Day Craft Page for more idea's

 

Homemade Keepsake Box

One Cardboard Box

Add on one creative 8 year old girl we get this!

Not bad if I say so myself.  May decided she needed a new box to keep some special things in.We covered the soap powder box in pink and purple paper then May decorated it with sticky jewels and shiny tape.The slot at the top she decided was to drop secret notes in. The only thing I didnt let her do was stick a big label  on it saying Big Brother Stay out!
Alexis 

Love Heart Crafts for Children

Foam Hearts

I always like simple crafts for Preschool children. My aim when I worked in nursery schools was to make sure the crafts were done by the children not the adults. This pretty heart was a simple idea ,that also taught kids how to put shapes in order of size. 4 hearts like the ones below can be used or even just 3.

Then they can decorate and give to some one special!

Don't forget to take a look at our Valentine's Day Craft Page for more idea's

Alexis



Foam Butterfly Craft

One Butterfly

{Made on the cheap!}

May had her 2 cousins over last friday ,the 3 girls together can be a handful so it was a quick hunt for something they could make. lucky for me I had been down at my favourite craft shop Poundland! A4 sheets of coloured foam a pound .

Got them making butterflies then the chaos started. Couldnt believe that Scary Mary stories are what 8 year old girls tell each other in the playground ! May wasnt to happy till i told her it was just a story an old story but still a story.

The fun of raising children, I have put another photo of the shapes needed for the butterfly.

   

Cardboard Tube Tree

My First Craft Tree

I have made lots of things with cardboard tubes over the years, but have never tried a tree. We had lots of long cardboard tubes left over at the holidays, [ the ones inside rolls of wrapping paper] that gave me a good length of tube to start with.

The branches, I cut from the cardboard tube as well. Slots cut into the tree trunk helped to slide the branches in. I attached some cardboard to the bottom to make it easier to stand. It took a while but the end result worked !
                                             Alexis

Angry Birds Craft for kids

One Pink Angry Bird

 

 

My hubby has the Angry bird game on his phone, its well used by the kids in the car. I have never tried it myself ,but got curious if I could make my own version. First of all I thought lets try and make a bird that can get thrown at things !

This little Pom Pom bird got made last night and has survived May's tests! Tonight, my daughter has told me I need to make the right platforms too.Then its game time tomorrow.

Alexis

 

 



Recycling Christmas cards

Christmas card Pictures

 

 

This is a nice way to get the kids practicing their scissor skills and get them recycling to. Christmas cards are great for kids to cut out. All the lovely pictures keep their interest going and they can use them to create lovely pictures.

For more ideas about Recycling have a look at our Recycling Page.

Alexis



Recycling Wrapping Paper

Christmas Paper Sun Catchers

 

 

This was a lovely picture May made at school .It looks great on my window .The idea behind it is simple and easy for primary children to do. Fold the black paper in half and draw half a tree coming from the folded edge. Cut along your tree then when you open it out you have a whole tree.

Turn over the paper and glue down strips of light coloured paper.

I thought this was a clever idea ,that can use up left over wrapping paper. Its cheap, easy to make and looks great !

Alexis