Two Ingredient Playdough

On Monday we were lucky enough to have some lovely friends over. I had seen a post on making playdough using corn flour and conditioner over at Laughing Kids Learn and decided we should have a go.
The weather was lovely so perfect for some outdoor (less mess to clean up then) fun!

Here is what you need

2 1/4 Cups Corn Flour
1 Cup Conditioner (we used the cheapest sort I could find)

We spent awhile measuring out and smelling the ingredients and then had a free for all with the mixing!!
It took awhile for the mixture to come together but when it did it was the most amazing soft and sweet smelling playdough. We didn't find that it was stretchy, but wonder if we added more conditioner (something to try next time) it would be. It was super easy and the kids had a great time creating with it. We didn't keep this batch, but think it would last just fine if stored in airtight container. (ours ended up with lots of sticks, leaves and dirt through it)!

Glad we gave this one a go and will try it again with some more conditioner and maybe some food colouring!

We love playdough and here are some links to more of our playdough fun!

http://creativetoddlers.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/jelly-playdough.html

http://creativetoddlers.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/playdough-tracks.html

Valentine's Day Tape Resist Canvas Heart Art

We are loving all things Valentine's Day at the moment. There is just so much fun crafting to be had with hearts! Today we made some Valentine's Day canvas prints for Daddy to take to work.

Here is what you need:

Dot Painters (We used Paint Box Brand)

White Paper

Canvases (I brought some from a cheap shop for $3 each)

Scissors

Sticky Tape

Pencil/Crayon/Marker

We started by drawing hearts on some paper and cutting them out. I then used some low tack tape to tape the hearts in place on the canvas so they wouldn't more around.

I then let the toddler times loose with the dot painters.

It is important to remember to make sure the is an overlap around the edge of the heart so that when you remove the heart, you can see the resist line.

We then made sure that we filled as much of the canvas as possible with more dots for extreame effect! Once we were happy with the way the canvases we removed the hearts. 

Miss M and her very spotty heart resist ready to give to Daddy.

Master E and his brilliant Heart Art!

Hope you enjoyed! Happy Valentines Day!

Valentine's Day Tissue Paper Hearts

Valentine's Day is almost here again. Not a holiday celebrate in our household but one that lends it self to lots of fun craft activities for the kids.
So we are embracing Valentines Day for all of it's wonderful crafting oppotunities!

This week we made some super cute Tissue Paper Hearts which we might use to turn into cards or bunting or just use as window decorations.



Here is what you will need

Paper or Cardboard

Tissue Paper (various colours, we went with hot pink, light pink, purple and red with spots)

Texta (permanent marker)

Glue (we used glue sticks)

Scisssors



What to do

I started by drawing hearts on white paper for the toddler timers using the black marker. We then covered the hearts in glue and tore off pieces of tissue paper to cover/fill the hearts.
We weren't bothered if it went over the edges as once they were dry we cut them out all ready to be used for decorating.

Happy Crafting!!!

Australia Day Cooking ~ Cheese and Vegemite Scrolls

I have seen the recipe for Cheese and Vegemite Scrolls around for awhile and have been meaning to make them. Since today is Australia Day it seemed only fitting to make them today!

The were super easy and the Toddler Timers had fun making them.

Ingredients:

Puff Pastry Thawed (we used 2 sheets)
Vegemite
Grated Cheese

Spread as much or as little vegemite as you like across the thawed pastry sheets.

Sprinkle with cheese.

Sprinkle until covered.

Master E quite impressed with his work!

Roll to form a spiral. (Next time we might not roll them so tight!)

Place on a baking tray covered in baking paper and bake at approx 180 degrees Celsius for about 15 minutes or until golden.

Allow to cool and enjoy!

More Easy Toddler Cooking ~ Apricot Balls ~ No Bake

These school holidays the kids have been nagging me about cooking with them. I am always so reluctant, no idea why. Just the thought of cooking with a 3 and 4 year old makes me shudder. I finally gave in after watching an episode of Playschool where they made Apricot Balls. So here is our version. 
Very messy but so Toddler friendly and a little bit YUMMY too!

Ingredients

500g Dried Apricots Roughly Chopped
2 1/2 Cups of Dessicated Coconut
395g Can Condensed Milk
Extra Coconut for Rolling

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Then stir, (poking your tongue out helps mix!)

And stir some more

Until well combined 

Roll into balls and roll in extra coconut. (Wet hands helps). Refrigerate until firm and eat!!!
Yum!


These tasted great and were super easy. Will surely be making them again soon. 

Sewing Time

We love any kind of threading at the moment and sewing has just become a new favourite especially since purchasing some kids safe sewing needles.
This was very easy and lots of fun and the best bit you can always undo it and start again!

We started with:
Foam sheets
Curling Ribbon
Hole Punch
Scissors
Sewing Needles (Kid friendly ~ I got ours from RIOT)

There is a bit of preparation needed with this activity, but very easy. Firstly I cut the foam sheets into various shapes, then used a hole punch to punch holes all around the edges of the shapes. Cut lengths of ribbon and tied them to the shapes so there was an easy starting point and also tied a needle to the ribbon. All set to go!

Miss G busy with her sewing.

Miss A thinking very hard.

Miss G busy going in and out of the holes, great for fine motor and hand eye coordination. 

Master J working out where to go next.

Miss M working out how to go in and out with the needle.

Miss O all finished and created a handle for hanging.

Miss A and her finished creation.

Master E super impressed with his efforts.

Even Miss S who has just turned 2 was keen to have a go!

The kids all had fun with this one and it is a great way to work on fine motor and hand eye coordination.
Hope  you enjoy it too!

x

Incy Wincy Spider

Winter is well and truly here so out come the Winter Crafts. We have been singing lots of Winter inspired songs lately and Incy Wincy Spider is one of the most popular. Whilst spending lots of time on Pinterest I came across a lovely Incy Craft (unfortunately there is no link for it). Here is our version.

You will need:
Paper Rolls (we used ones from paper towel)
Egg Cartons
Pipecleaners
Foil
Wool
Paint
Hot Glue Gun

A little bit of preparation is need for this craft. I pre-cut lengths of wool, sections of foil and cut the egg cartons. I also used the hot glue gun to join two pieces of egg carton together to make the spiders body.

We started by painting our spiders bodies. There were some very unusual coloured spiders!

Miss L busy painting.

Miss O and her spiders body.

Miss G and her spiders body.

Miss A with her painted spider.

Once we had painted the spiders bodies we wrapped our cardboard tubes with foil to make it look like the water spout. We just tucked the ends down inside the tube so no gluing was needed.

Then came the tricky adult help need part. The mummy's threaded some wool through the cardboard tube and then through the egg carton. We used scissors to poke a hole in the top and bottom of the egg carton, then tied off the wool, so that when you pulled on the wool Incy Wincy would climb up and down the water spout. The children chose 4 pipecleaners to thread through the egg carton to create the spiders legs, the pipecleaners we used were quite thick which meant some of the egg cartons came unglued. We just glued these back together with the hot glue gun.

Miss L with her completed Incy Wincy.

Incy Wincy ready to Climb up the Water Spout.

These were a great hit with the kids they all wanted to play and run around with their spiders. It did take a fair bit of preparation and adult help though, but they were super cute and well worth the effort.
Enjoy x